LESNIAK STATEMENT ON NEED TO REFORM COAH

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, and Chairman of the Senate Economic Growth Committee, issued the following statement before the Committee’s consideration of his bill, S-2485, which makes various reforms to the rules and mandates imposed by the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH). The bill was approved by a vote of 4-0, with one abstention:

“Our President Barack Obama, in his Inaugural address, said ‘What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them – that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works – whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. Those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account – to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day – because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.’

Raymond Lesniak moved up to the Senate in 1983 after John Gregorio's criminal conviction.

After today's special election convention in District 23, a full one-quarter of the Senate will have entered the upper house by way of a special election: Raymond Lesniak (1983), Ronald Rice (1986), John Girgenti (1990), Robert Singer (1993), Thomas Kean, Jr. (2003), Paul Sarlo (2003), Loretta Weinberg (2005), Sandra Cunningham (2007), and James Beach (2009).  An eleventh Senator, Kevin O'Toole, initially served in the Senate in 2001 after winning a special election convention; he later returned to the Assembly and won a Senate seat in November 2007.

Lesniak replaced John Gregorio, who left the Senate following his criminal conviction.  Rice, Girgenti and Singer were elected following the deaths of Senators John Caufield, Frank Graves and John Dimon, respectively.  Kean took the seat of Richard Bagger, who resigned to concentrate on his career at Pfizer.  Sarlo became a Senator when the incumbent, Garry Furnari, was appointed to serve as a Superior Court Judge.  Weinberg won the seat of Byron Baer, who resigned for health reasons.  Cunningham replaced Joseph Doria, who resigned to become state Community Affairs Commissioner.  Beach, the most recent addition to the Senate won a special election convention after John Adler was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

If State Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City) was running for Mayor of Jersey City, then State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) wouldn't have attended Mayor Jerramiah Healy's campaign kickoff last night.

The speculation that State Senator Sandra Cunningham will run for Mayor of Jersey City in 2009 is likely over, even though Cunningham has not yet announced her plans.  The attendance of one of her close friends and political allies, State Senator Raymond Lesniak, at a rally for Mayor Jerramiah Healy last night is a clear signal that Cunningham will not run. 

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State Sen. Raymond Lesniak (right) joins Linda Stender and former President Bill Clinton at a campaign rally the Saturday before the 2008 general election.

State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, the de facto leader of the Union County Democratic organization, says he viewed Republican Leonard Lance as the best candidate for Congress in the hotly contested seventh district race and wanted him to win over Democrat Linda Stender, a four-term Assemblywoman from Union County who had Lesniak’s endorsement. 

Speaking on the Senate floor yesterday on a resolution honoring Lance on his departure from the State Senate, Lesniak said: “Senator Lance knows I said to him before the election ‘I really want you to win, Senator.’  I didn’t want to lose him in this body, but he by far was not only the best candidate, but he’s earned it and he deserves it.” Lesniak’s statement, which could be explained as post-election courteousness, underscores some substantial criticism by Democrats of Stender and her campaign – and could be another signal that the Union Democratic organization will back a different candidate for the State Assembly if Stender seeks re-election in 2009.

John Rooney, the longest serving member of the New Jersey State Assembly, has not yet made a decision about seeking re-election to a fifteenth term in 2009.  The 69-year-old Bergen County Republican has been battling some health issues lately, and hinted last year that he might not run again.  Rooney also faces the threat of a contested GOP primary now that Republicans who have been at odds with him in recent years control the county organization.

Rooney was first elected to the Assembly in 1983, when he won a special election to replace Joan Wright.  Wright became Director of the state Division of Women under Governor Thomas Kean.

If Rooney retires, Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts would become the senior member of the State Assembly.  Roberts won an Assembly seat in a 1987 special election following the death of Francis Gorman.

MEDIA ADVISORY - LEADERS TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE TO ADDRESS SURGE IN PRIVATE SCHOOL CLOSURES, SUPPORT UEZ JOBS SCHOLARSHIP ACT

ELIZABETH – Senator Raymond Lesniak, prime sponsor of Senate bill 1607, the Urban Enterprise Zone Jobs Scholarship Act, will host a press conference tomorrow, Wednesday, December 10th at 10:30 A.M. to address the closure of two parochial schools in his hometown of Elizabeth. Senator Lesniak will be joined by Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, Chair of the Assembly Education Committee, Mayor Chris Bollwage of Elizabeth, and Mayor Cory Booker of Newark (invited).

Lawyers will be the minority on the 2009 State Senate Judiciary Committee headed by engineer Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge)

For the first time since the new State Constitution was approved in 1947, a majority of members of the 2009 New Jersey State Senate Judiciary Committee -- six of eleven -- are not lawyers.  Chairman Paul Sarlo and Vice Chairman John Girgenti are not attorneys, as is fellow Democrat Loretta Weinberg.  Among the Republicans, Gerald Cardinale (who serves as the unofficial ranking Republican), Joseph Kyrillos and Jennifer Beck are not attorneys.

The lawyers on the Judiciary Committee are Democrats Raymond Lesniak, Nicholas Scutari, Robert Smith and Nia Gill, and Republican Bill Baroni. 

Senate President Richard Codey, who is responsible for the non-lawyer a majority -- a move some pols are applauding -- is one of a few non-lawyers to serve as Senate President.

Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth)

TRENTON – Members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee this evening responded favorably to news that state Sen. President Richard Codey (D-Essex) is poised to name state Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) as committee chairman.

No one expressed any concern that Sarlo, an engineer by trade – lacks legal training.

“Paul’s an able guy and he’s been in the senate several years now,” said state Sen. Joseph Kyrillos (R-Monmouth). “He will bring a non-attorney’s perspective, which I think will be refreshing to many. I would urge Paul to take our institutional responsibility seriously, that we should not be and the people expect us not to be, a rubber stamp for the executive branch, despite the fact that governor and majority party are the same party.”

In terms of Sarlo’s close relationship with Codey, whom critics of the senate president regard as a control freak, Kyrillos said, “That’s not news.”

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Former President Bill Clinton with Linda Stender in the closing days of the 2006 campaign

CRANFORD -- Speaking in support of Assemblywoman Linda Stender's congressional bid at Union County College today, former President Bill Clinton said Hillary had sent him.

"She said that New Jersey had been good to me and good to her, and we needed to be good to New Jersey by helping Linda Stender get elected to Congress," said Clinton.

Clinton spent the bulk of his time giving his usual stump speech for Barack Obama, but he started off by rattling off some of Stender's accomplishments in the legislature.  He characterized her as an integral part of a sweeping change needed in Washington.

"I have reviewed Linda Stender's record very carefully, and if you look at the needs of America today, I think you can make a very compelling case that she has a record that is one of the finest not only in the legislature in New Jersey, but in the entire United States of America," he said.

Clinton specifically mentioned Stender's global warming bill, her previous work dealing with mortgages, her support for stem cell research and her bill to ban junk food in school cafeterias.

He also demonstrated some familiarity with her last race against now-retiring U.S. Rep. Mike Ferguson.

"She lost by 3,000 votes last time.  There are enough people in this room to turn 3,000 votes between now and Tuesday," he said.

He was less familiar with the margins he won New Jersey by in his two elections.  Clinton said he won the first time by one percent, and the second time by 15 percent.

"We haven't won by less since," he said. (John Kerry beat President Bush in the New Jersey by 6%).