216th New Jersey Legislature explained

216th New Jersey Legislature
Body:	New Jersey Legislature
Country:	United States
State:	New Jersey
Term Start:	January 14, 2014
Term End:	January 12, 2016
Before:	215th Legislature
After:	217th Legislature
Chamber1:	New Jersey Senate
Membership1:	40
Control1:	Democratic Party
Chamber1 Leader1 Type:	President
Chamber1 Leader1:	Stephen M. Sweeney
Chamber1 Leader2 Type:	Minority Leader
Chamber1 Leader2:	Thomas Kean Jr.
Chamber2:	New Jersey General Assembly
Membership2:	80
Control2:	Democratic Party
Chamber2 Leader1 Type:	Speaker
Chamber2 Leader1:	Vincent Prieto
Chamber2 Leader2 Type:	Minority Leader
Chamber2 Leader2:	Jon Bramnick

The 216th New Jersey Legislature began on January 14, 2014, at the end of Chris Christie's first term as Governor of New Jersey, and ended on January 12, 2016, halfway through Chris Christie's second term as governor.

Background

The elections for the 216th Legislature were held on November 5, 2013, alongside Chris Christie's landslide re-election. In the Assembly the composition didn't change while in the Senate the composition did not change either.

Composition

Assembly

Affiliation		Members
	Democratic Party	48
	Republican Party	32
Total		80

Senate

Affiliation		Members
	Democratic Party	24
	Republican Party	16
Total		40

Senate

The Senate has 40 members, one for each district^[1]

Leadership

The leadership for the 216th legislative session, which started on January 14, 2014, is as follows:^[2]

Position	Name	District
President of the Senate	Stephen M. Sweeney	District 3
Majority Leader	Loretta Weinberg	District 37
President pro tempore	Nia Gill Paul Sarlo	District 34 District 36
Assistant Majority Leaders	James Beach Linda R. Greenstein Teresa Ruiz	District 6 District 14 District 29
Majority Conference Leader	Robert M. Gordon	District 38
Majority Whip	Sandra Bolden Cunningham	District 31
Minority Leader	Thomas Kean, Jr.	District 21
Deputy Minority Leader	Diane Allen	District 7
Minority Conference Leader	Robert Singer	District 30
Deputy Minority Conference Leader	Jennifer Beck	District 11
Assistant Republican Leader	Joseph Pennacchio	District 40
Republican Budget Officer	Anthony Bucco	District 25

Senators

District	Name	Party	Residence	First served
			Dem		2008
			Dem		2008
			Dem		2002
			Dem		2004
			Dem		2014†
			Dem		2009†
			Rep		1998
			Rep		2010†
			Rep		2008
			Rep		2012
			Rep		2008
			Rep		2012
			Rep		1992
			Dem		2010
			Dem		1998
			Rep		2008
			Dem		2002
			Dem		2014
			Dem		1998
			Dem		1983
			Rep		2003†
			Dem		2004
			Rep		2009
			Rep		2008
			Rep		1998
			Rep		2008
			Dem		1982
			Dem		1986
			Dem	Newark	2008
			Rep		1994
			Dem		2007†
			Dem		1994
			Dem		2008
			Dem		2002
			Dem		2012
			Dem		2003†
			Dem		2005†
			Dem		2008
			Rep		1982
			Rep		2008^1

† First appointed to the seat
¹ O'Toole had previously served in the Senate from 2001 to 2002

Committees and Committee Chairs, 2014-2015 Legislative Session

Committee chairs : (All are Democrats)^[4]

Committee	Name
Budget and Appropriations	Paul Sarlo
Commerce	Nia Gill
Community and Urban Affairs	Jeff Van Drew
Economic Growth	Raymond Lesniak
Education	Teresa Ruiz
Environment and Energy	Bob Smith
Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens	Joseph Vitale
Higher Education	Sandra Bolden Cunningham
Judiciary	Nicholas Scutari
Labor	Fred H. Madden
Law and Public Safety	Linda R. Greenstein
Legislative Oversight	Robert M. Gordon
Military and Veterans' Affairs	James Beach
State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation	Jim Whelan
Transportation	Nicholas Sacco

Assembly

The Assembly has 80 members, two for each district.

Leadership

Speaker: Vincent Prieto

Majority Leader: Louis Greenwald

Minority Leader: Jon Bramnick

Members

District	Name	Party	Residence	First served
			Dem		2013^[5]
			Rep	Vineland	2014
			Rep	Ventnor City	2012
			Rep	Northfield	2014
			Dem	Paulsboro	2002
			Dem	Woolwich Township	2015
			Dem	Washington Township (Gloucester)	2006
			Dem	Gloucester Township	2012
			Dem		2015
	Seat vacant
			Dem	Voorhees Township	1996
			Dem	Cherry Hill	2006
			Dem	Delanco Township	1998
			Dem	Palmyra	2011
			Rep	Evesham Township	2012
			Rep	Evesham Township	2014
			Rep	Long Beach Township	2009
			Rep	Little Egg Harbor	2003
			Rep	Toms River	2012
			Rep	Brick Township	1992
			Rep	Ocean Township (Monmouth)	2008
			Rep	Colts Neck Township	2008
			Rep	Matawan	2012
			Rep	Plumsted Township	2002
			Rep	Lincroft	2006
			Rep	Little Silver	2008
			Dem	Hamilton Township (Mercer)	2011
			Dem	Hamilton Township	2008
			Dem	Trenton	1996
			Dem	Pennington	2015
			Rep	Hillsborough Township	2011
			Rep	Readington Township	2012
			Dem	Franklin Township (Somerset)	2014
			Dem	New Brunswick	2002
			Dem	South Plainfield	2002
			Dem	East Brunswick	2014
			Dem	Woodbridge Township	2010
			Dem	Sayreville	1996
			Dem	Elizabeth	2008
			Dem		2015
			Rep	Westfield	2003
			Rep	Summit	2009
			Dem	Plainfield	1992
			Dem	Scotch Plains	2002
			Rep	Hackettstown	2009
			Rep	Franklin Township (Hunterdon)	2009
			Rep		2013
			Rep		2015
			Rep	Boonton Township	2010
			Rep	Morris Township	1996
			Rep	Morris Plains	2012
			Rep	Morris Plains	2008
			Dem	South Orange	2007
			Dem	West Orange	2002
			Dem	Bloomfield	2008^[6]
			Dem	Newark	2008
			Dem	Newark	2013
			Dem	Newark	2008
			Rep	Wall Township	2012^[7]
			Rep	Wall Township	2008
			Dem	Jersey City	2010
			Dem	Bayonne	2010
			Dem	West New York	2012
			Dem	Secaucus	2004
			Dem	Hoboken	2014
			Dem	Jersey City	2014
			Dem	Montclair	2006
			Dem	East Orange	2004
			Dem	Paterson	2012
			Dem	Paterson	2012
			Dem	Ridgefield	2012
			Dem	Passaic	2006
			Dem	Englewood	2006
			Dem	Englewood	2002
			Dem	Maywood	2012
			Dem	Paramus	2014
			Rep	River Vale	2012
			Rep	Old Tappan	2010
			Rep	Wayne	2008
			Rep	Ridgewood	1990

Former members from this term

District	Name	Party	Residence	First served	Term end	Notes
			Dem	Franklin Township (Somerset)	2002		Appointed to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
			Dem	Bridgeton	2009		Elected Cumberland County Clerk
			Dem	Union Township (Union)	2002		Elected Union County Sheriff
			Dem	Ewing Township	1998		Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives
			Dem		2010		Appointed deputy clerk for Camden County
			Rep		2003		Resigned to focus on job as Franklin borough business administrator
			Dem	Camden	2010		Resigned to become Camden County Sheriff

Vacancies

Assembly

District	Original	Party	Period of vacancy	Appointee	Party of Appointee
17th	Upendra J. Chivukula^[9]	Democratic Party	September 30, 2014 – October 16, 2014	Joseph Danielsen	Democratic Party
3rd	Celeste Riley^[10]	Democratic Party	January 1, 2015 – January 15, 2015	Adam Taliaferro	Democratic Party
20th	Joseph Cryan^[11]	Democratic Party	January 4, 2015 – January 29, 2015	Jamel Holley	Democratic Party
15th	Bonnie Watson Coleman^[12]	Democratic Party	January 3, 2015 – February 5, 2015	Elizabeth Maher Muoio	Democratic Party
5th	Angel Fuentes^[13]	Democratic Party	June 30, 2015 – November 9, 2015	Patricia Egan Jones	Democratic Party
24th	Alison Littell McHose^[14]	Republican Party	October 17, 2015 – December 3, 2015	Gail Phoebus	Republican Party
5th	Gilbert "Whip" Wilson^[15]	Democratic Party	December 2, 2015 – January 12, 2016	Successor not seated in session	None

See also

• List of New Jersey state legislatures

Notes and References

1. Web site: Legislative Roster. https://web.archive.org/web/20141013045810/http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/Roster.asp. dead. 13 October 2014. njleg.state.us. 20 March 2019.
2. Web site: New Jersey Legislature - Leadership . New Jersey Legislature . March 1, 2015 . May 4, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120504080328/http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/members/leadership.asp . dead .
3. News: Norcross being sworn in today . Gaudiano, Nicole . . November 12, 2014 . March 1, 2015.
4. Web site: New Jersey Legislature Committees and Membership - 2014-2015 Legislative Session . New Jersey Legislature . March 1, 2015 . February 21, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150221190027/http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/committees/Committees.asp?House=S . dead .
5. First appointed to the seat
6. Served in the Assembly as a Republican from 1968–1972
7. Served in the Assembly from 2002–2008
8. Web site: Norcross being sworn in today. Gaudiano, Nicole. Courier-Post. November 12, 2014. March 20, 2019.
9. Web site: Commissioner Chivukula . 2014 . New Jersey Board of Public Utilities . March 20, 2019.
10. News: New county clerk officially sworn in . January 7, 2015 . Kov, Daniel J. . . March 20, 2019.
11. Web site: Cryan steps into sheriff role at Union County reorganization . January 4, 2015 . Politicker NJ . Brush, Chase . March 20, 2019.
12. News: U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman sworn into Congress, holds ceremony for supporters . Davis, Mike . . January 6, 2015 . March 20, 2019.
13. News: South Jersey assemblyman resigns to take Camden County job . June 23, 2015 . NJ Advance Media for NJ.com . Friedman, Matt . March 20, 2019.
14. News: McHose resigns from Assembly . October 16, 2015 . Jennings, Rob . . March 20, 2019.
15. News: Democratic assemblyman abruptly resigns . Friedman, Matt . Politico New Jersey . December 2, 2015 . December 2, 2015 . Wilson resigned because of a 1971 law that requires sheriffs to take their oaths of office within 30 days of their elections, and because a more recent law that bans dual elected office-holding, according to Wilson attorney Bill Tambussi. . https://web.archive.org/web/20151205190220/http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/new-jersey/2015/12/8584478/democratic-assemblyman-abruptly-resigns . December 5, 2015 . dead.