The new class of legislators isn’t even seated yet, but that won’t stop us from speculating about the Assembly election in 2009.

Granted, two years is a political eternity, and which party will hold an advantage in that time depends most heavily on who’s at the top of the ticket. But when the new Assemblymen and women take their places in Trenton early next year, there will be 25 freshmen – several from competitive districts. Those represent the best opportunity for each party to knock off some incumbents.

Right now, however, from this great distance, it doesn’t appear as though any new districts will come into the fold, or that control of either legislative body is likely to shift. Indeed, it’s more likely that 2009 will see a smaller number of districts in play.

BUONO-KARCHER-VITALE BILL TO PROTECT AGAINST FRAUD IN CHARITY CARE APPROVED BY SENATE

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Barbara Buono, Ellen Karcher and Joseph F. Vitale which would improve State oversight over the hospital charity care subsidy program, which provides funding for emergency health care for the uninsured, was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 36-0, receiving final legislative approval.

KARCHER-VITALE BILL TO INFORM PREGNANT MOMS OF OPTION TO DONATE UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD, PLACENTAL TISSUE APPROVED IN SENATE

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Ellen Karcher and Joseph F. Vitale which would require hospitals and health care professionals to advise pregnant women of the option to donate umbilical cord blood and placental tissue to a public or private blood bank was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 37-0.

KARCHER-VITALE BILL TO INFORM PREGNANT MOMS OF OPTION TO DONATE UMBILICAL CORD BLOOD, PLACENTAL TISSUE APPROVED

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Ellen Karcher and Joseph F. Vitale which would require hospitals and health care professionals to advise pregnant women of the option to donate umbilical cord blood and placental tissue to a public or private blood bank was approved by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee today by a vote of 8-0.

KARCHER RESOLUTION CALLING ON CONGRESS TO REVERSE FORT MONMOUTH CLOSING APPROVED IN COMMITTEE

TRENTON – A resolution sponsored by Senator Ellen Karcher which would urge the President of the United States and Congress to reverse the decision by the Base Relocation and Closure Commission (BRAC) to close Fort Monmouth was approved by the Senate Law, Public Safety and Veterans Affairs Committee today by a vote of 4-0.

Gov. Jon Corzine is optimistic about New Jersey's futureSeated at a back table in an Ironbound restaurant on Wednesday afternoon, Gov. Jon Corzine listened as he heard the leadership of his party described as a three-headed hydra; an image used by Republicans on the campaign trail to characterize Senate President Richard Codey, Speaker Joseph Roberts - and Corzine.

The governor thinks it's ridiculous.

"We have a Constitution that separates power for a reason," said Corzine: to prevent one branch of government from usurping the authority that individuals have in each branch.

The appointment of former Attorney General Stuart Rabner to the office of state Supreme Court Justice is one of his proudest accomplishments as governor, given the quality and preparedness of the man, Corzine said. However, the judiciary is not the troubled branch of government by the reckoning of Corzine's fiercest critics - maybe philosophically with decisions such as Abbott - but at least not immediately.

Remember all those ethics complaints during the campaigns?  Wonder what happens to them?

We’ll see tomorrow, when the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards meets to rule on the five complaints that have been filed since the committee last met.  But if history is any guide, they’ll mostly be dismissed. 

While legislators who sit on the committee say that complaints occasionally have at least some level of validity, some say they’re filed more to get a headline in the heat of a campaign rather than pointing out a real, troubling ethical infraction.  They also say they’ve noticed it happening more often in recently, with candidates taking advantage of a committee – one with a reputation for being toothless and ineffective -- for their political ends.   

Indeed, 2007 was the year of the ethics complaint, with 10 filed so far- the most of any year on record, going back to 1972.  Five have been settled, all of which were dismissed.

The South Gate Manor in Freehold resembles a mausoleum but inside on Tuesday night, the mood was far from dead as the competitors and operators and Republican revelers joyfully watched the Democratic Party sink inch by inch into oblivion.

Not a great cycle for Message & Media hotshots Steve DeMicco and Brad Lawrence: their two State Senate candidates got beaten – Ellen Karcher received 46% in District 12, and Seema Singh took just 37% in the fourteenth.

And now DeMicco and Lawrence have a bigger problem: their mail in the 37th district for Democrats Loretta Weinberg, Gordon Johnson and Valerie Huttle – the reformer pieces – seems to have really annoyed Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero. Does this but DeMicco and Lawrence in a war with the powerful Ferriero?

Tom Fitzsimmons becomes the first Republican campaign manager in ten years to oust an incumbent Democratic State Senator with Jennifer Beck’s defeat of Ellen Karcher. The last one was Michael DuHaime, who managed Anthony Bucco’s campaign against Gordon MacInnes in 1997. DuHaime is now the National Campaign Manager of Rudy Giuliani’s White House bid.