New Jersey General Assembly

Coordinates: 40°13′15″N 74°46′09″W / 40.220813°N 74.769301°W / 40.220813; -74.769301
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For the current session, see New Jersey General Assembly, 2020–21 term.
New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey State Legislature
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
New session started
January 9, 2018
Leadership
Speaker of the General Assembly
Craig Coughlin (D)
since January 9, 2018
Majority Leader
Louis Greenwald (D)
since January 10, 2012
Speaker pro Tempore
Gordon M. Johnson (D)
since May 24, 2018
Minority Leader
Jon Bramnick (R)
since January 17, 2012
Structure
Seats80
Political groups
Majority
  •   Democratic (52)

Minority

Length of term
2 years
AuthorityArticle IV, New Jersey Constitution
Salary$49,000/year
Elections
Plurality-at-large voting
Last election
November 5, 2019
(80 seats)
Next election
November 2021
(80 seats)
RedistrictingNew Jersey Apportionment Commission
Meeting place
General Assembly Chamber
New Jersey State House
Trenton, New Jersey
Website
New Jersey State Legislature

The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.

Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average populations of 210,359 (2000 figures). To be eligible to run, a potential candidate must be at least 21 years of age, and must have lived in their district for at least one year prior to the election, and have lived in the state of New Jersey for two years. They also must be residents of their districts. Membership in the Assembly is considered a part-time job, and many members have employment in addition to their legislative work. Assembly members serve two-year terms, elected every odd-numbered year in November. Several members of the Assembly hold other elective office, as they are grandfathered in under a New Jersey law that banned multiple office holding in 2007.

The Assembly is led by the Speaker of the Assembly, who is elected by the membership of the chamber. After the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey and the President of the New Jersey Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly is third in the line of succession to replace the Governor of New Jersey in the event that he or she is unable to execute the duties of that office. The Speaker decides the schedule for the Assembly, which bills will be considered, appoints committee chairmen, and generally runs the Assembly's agenda. The current Speaker is Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge).

Salary and costs

Members of the NJ General Assembly receive an annual base salary of $49,000 with the Senate President and the Assembly Speaker earning slightly more.[1][2] Members receive $110,000 for staff salaries. In addition, they receive 12,500 postage stamps, stationery and a telephone card. They receive New Jersey State health insurance and other benefits. The total cost to the State of New Jersey for each member of the general assembly is approximately $200,000 annually.[3]

History

See: New Jersey Legislature#Colonial period and New Jersey Legislative Council#Composition

Composition

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total
style="background-color:Template:Democratic Party (United States)/meta/color" | style="background-color:Template:Republican Party (United States)/meta/color" |
Democratic Republican Vacant
Previous legislature (2018–2019) 54 26 80 0
Current legislature (2020–2021) 52 28 80 0
Latest voting share 65% 35%
A map for the 2018-19 term of the New Jersey General Assembly


Committees and committee chairs

Committee chairs for the 2020-2021 Legislative Session are:[4]

List of past Assembly Speakers

See also: List of New Jersey state legislatures
Note: The first three subsections below end with a constitutional year: 1776, 1844 or 1947. The fourth subsection ends in 1966, the year of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that required legislative apportionment based on the principle of "one person, one vote".

The following is a list of Speakers of the Assembly since 1703.[5]

1703–1776

  • 1703-04: Thomas Gardiner, City of Burlington
  • 1704-06: Peter Fretwell, City of Burlington
  • 1707: Samuel Jennings, City of Burlington
  • 1708-09: Thomas Gordon, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1709-14: John Kay, Gloucester
  • 1716: Daniel Coxe, Jr., Gloucester
  • 1716-19: John Kinsey, Middlesex
  • 1721-22: John Johnstone, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1723-24: William Trent, Burlington
  • 1725-29: John Johnstone, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1730-33: John Kinsey, Jr., Middlesex
  • 1733-38: Interregnum: No Assembly called or elected.
  • 1738: John Kinsey, Jr., Middlesex
  • 1738-39: Joseph Bonnel, Essex
  • 1740-44: Andrew Johnston, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1744-45: Samuel Nevill, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1746-48: Robert Lawrence, Monmouth
  • 1748-51: Samuel Nevill, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1751-54: Charles Read, City of Burlington
  • 1754-58: Robert Lawrence, Monmouth
  • 1759-62: Samuel Nevill, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1763-65: Robert Ogden, Essex
  • 1765-70: Cortlandt Skinner City of Perth Amboy
  • 1770-72: Stephen Crane, Essex
  • 1773-75: Cortlandt Skinner City of Perth Amboy

On December 6, 1775, Gov. William Franklin prorogued the New Jersey Legislature until January 3, 1776, but it never met again.[6] On May 30, 1776, Franklin attempted to convene the legislature, but was met instead with an order by the New Jersey Provincial Congress for his arrest.[7] On July 2, 1776, the Provincial Congress approved a new constitution which ordered new elections; on August 13 an entire new legislature was elected.

1776–1844

1845–1947

The Constitution of 1844 expanded the General Assembly to 60 members, elected annually and apportioned to the then-nineteen counties by population.[8]

1948–1967

1968–present

Past composition of the Assembly

Main article: Political party strength in New Jersey

See also

References

  1. ^ "How pay for N.J. lawmakers compares to other 49 states". NJ.com. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  2. ^ NJ.com, Published June 2011
  3. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-04-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ New Jersey Legislature Committees and Membership 2018-2019 Legislative Session - Assembly Committees, New Jersey Legislature. Accessed January 13, 2018.
  5. ^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey. J.A. Fitzgerald. 1977.
  6. ^ Journal of the Governor and Council Vol. VI (1769-1775), Archives of the State of New Jersey, First Series, Vol. XVIII; The John L. Murphy Publishing Co., Printers, Trenton, New Jersey, 1893. p. 566
  7. ^ "The Governors of New Jersey 1664-1974: Biographical Essays", New Jersey Historical Commission, Trenton, New Jersey, 1982. p. 75
  8. ^ Also in the Constitution of 1844, the Legislative Council was renamed the Senate, to be composed of one member from each of the state's 19 counties, serving a three-year term. In addition, the new constitution provided for a direct popular election of the governor, with the power to veto bills passed by the Legislature. See: New Jersey Legislature#The Constitution of 1844.

External links

40°13′15″N 74°46′09″W / 40.220813°N 74.769301°W / 40.220813; -74.769301

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