Sen. President Pro Tempore Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) today at her annual family picnic. 

PRINCETON - Sen. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) had a simple reply today when asked about a running mate for presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, whom she supported in New Jersey’s Feb. 5th primary and later stumped for in Philadelphia.

"Someone from a red state," said the Senate’s president pro tempore at her 16th annual family picnic at the Princeton Country Club.

"And I’d put Virginia at the top of the list," she added.

Eighteen women have served in the New Jersey State Senate: Mildred Barry Hughes (D-Union) in 1966, Jerry English (D-Union) in 1971, Wynona Lipman (D-Essex) in 1972, Anne Martindell (D-Mercer) and Alene Ammond (D-Camden) in 1974, Leanna Brown (R-Morris) and Catherine Costa (D-Burlington) in 1984, and Martha Bark (R-Burlington) in 1997. Diane Allen and Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) took office in January 1998, Barbara Buono and Nia Gill in 2001, and Teresa Ruiz, Dana Redd, and Sandra Cunningham in 2007.

Ellen Karcher in January 2004, and Loretta Weinberg the following November. Jennifer Beck defeated Karcher last November – the first time one woman unseated another.

TURNER - NEW JERSEY MUST CONTINUE TO ADDRESS CRIME EPIDEMIC IN URBAN COMMUNITIES

TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner, D-Mercer, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on today’s hearing of the FY 2009 Department of Law and Public Safety Budget:

SENATOR TURNER STATEMENT ON FIRST PUBLIC BUDGET HEARING

NEW BRUNSWICK – State Senator Shirley K. Turner, D-Mercer, a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on the first public hearing on Governor Corzine’s proposed FY 2009 Budget, which was held today in the Student Center at Rutgers University:

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senator Shirley K. Turner, which would help regulate the ordering and sale of college textbooks was approved today by the Senate Education Committee.

            “While it’s no secret that the cost of textbooks is ever-increasing, it is important that schools don’t ‘break the bank’ when choosing required texts for classes,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer, who chairs the Senate Education Panel. “Technology changes and improves, new scientific findings are made, and those discoveries are among the reasons why textbooks are constantly being updated.  Schools bookstores must make sure that the cost they charge for textbooks is reflective of the price they pay to buy them from the publishers.  Schools cannot use marked-up book prices to profit off of our students.”

Clinton supporter from left, U.S. Rep. Donald Payne, U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, and U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone

Mark Alexander assumed the familiar posture this week of a man with a phone in his hand making calls for presidential candidate Barack Obama. This time, however, the scenery was different, as he occupied unfamiliar territory on the other side of the Delaware River somewhere in a mid-western American state called Ohio, a rust-belt cousin of New Jersey.

"It’s raining," the former Jersey state director for the Obama campaign told PoltickerNJ.com in a 30-second conversation between calls, where Obama and his Democratic Party rival Sen. Hillary Clinton are competing today as well as in three other primary states: Texas, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Two measures aimed at providing relief to constituents - public Senate President Pro Tempore Shirley Turner (D-Mercer)sector cuts proposed in the Gov. Jon Corzine’s 2009 budget, and the Paid Family Leave Act - landed in Sen. Shirley Turner’s (D-Mercer) district this week with all of the ceremony of friendly fire.

The president pro tempore can’t support the governor’s budget because it posits 3,000 job cuts that Turner said would devastate her district, which includes Trenton and the environs where a lot of public employees live.

"I’m going to fight to protect as many of my constituents as possible, to make sure they don’t go after the rank and file," the senator told PolitickerNJ.com. "I’m discussing those proposed cuts with the governor, and I know he believes the most humane and sensible way is to offer early retirement packages. These are workers at the top of the salary grade, and at an age where they can retire."

Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, one of the sponsors of the Assembly version of paid family leave, which came out of committee today. 

The lobbyists' feeding frenzy continued in Trenton today as representatives from both the business and labor communities zeroed in on lawmakers in the hallways of power and attempted to elicit the promise of a yes or no vote on the issue of paid family leave.

The measure would extend state liability insurance to employees for up to six weeks, enabling workers to care for themselves, a newborn or a sick relative. Funding would come from the workers contributing on average a dollar a week from their salaries.

On the eve of the New Jersey presidential primary and with most polls showing his rival trying to maintain a slight lead here, Sen. Barack Obama made a last stop in the Garden State today, telling voters that his message of hope is not one of naivete but of common purpose.

Sen. President Pro Tempore Shirley Turner encounters fellow Obama supporter Mustafo Shabazz in Trenton on Saturday.