44
NEW JERSEY COPS n JULY 2014
How a bill becomes law
Mount Arlington EMT Judy Shoudy is fighting to pass a law that will
allow permanent roadside memorials for fallen first responders
n BY JOSHUA SIGMUND
There was palpable tension in Committee Room 12 at the
State House Annex in Trenton on June 14 as Judy Shoudy and her
supporters prepared to address the New Jersey State Assembly
Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee. But
armed with Bill A-410, a measure that establishes a Department
of Transportation (DOT) roadside memorial program for fallen
police officers, EMS workers and firefighters, Shoudy felt hesitant confidence.
“Who could be against it?” she pondered. “But it’s never a sure
thing.”
For Shoudy, this moment is the
culmination of a trying period that
began on Oct. 16, 2011, when she
wo