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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ JANUARY 2014
Government Affairs
Here we go again!
At noon on Jan. 14, 2014,
the current NJ State Legislature, including all of the
bills, voting actions and
unfinished
business,
ceased to exist, and a brand
new Legislature was sworn in to replace it. While
this sounds like a fresh start, the reality is that the
new Legislature is almost exactly identical to the
old Legislature in many ways. But this doesn’t
mean to say that the Legislature will act the same
or make the same decisions as it did on issues in
the prior two years. What PBA members need to remember is
that the Legislature and its calendar may have rolled over but the
role of the PBA in Trenton never changes.
In effect, nothing changed in Trenton with the 2013 Elections.
The governor is still Chris Christie, the Legislature is still controlled by Democrats and the size of their Senate and Assembly
majority remains unchanged. But there are some notable differences facing the new Legislature.
Most significantly, the Assembly elected a new speaker, Hudson County Democrat Vincent Prieto. The speaker ultimately
controls the direction of the Assembly – he makes committee
appointments, determines what bills are considered and steers
State House
Report
Rob Nixon
the policy direction of the Assembly. There are also a number of
new Assembly members and Committee Chair roles may shift.
But ultimately the future of the Assembly rests with Speaker Prieto and his leadership team.
The Senate also remains even more status quo. Senate President Sweeney and his leadership team remain in place and his
role as the quarterback of the direction of the Senate is unquestioned. There is only one new Senator – Democrat Peter Barnes
will be sworn in to replace Barbara Buono – but no other changes
in the Senate came of the election.
The recent eruption of the controversy surrounding the
George Washington Bridge closing does nothing to diminish
Gov. Christie’s authority, influence and policy making direction
in Trenton. There can be no doubt that the governor has a clear
understanding of how he wants to steer the State of New Jersey
and his policy directives have changed little since 2010. The
growing chatter about his interest in running for U.S. President
has reached broad national coverage. If his goal is to pursue the
Republican nomination for president then he will need to make
a number of critical decisions during the course of 2014 which
could have far reaching impact in the State. But speculating
about what the governor may do nationally overlooks that he is
still very much in control as governor.
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