Senate President Richard Codey (D-West Orange)

Democratic Party auditions are ongoing for the state’s first lieutenant governor, but if there are any white males interested in playing Banquo to Jon Corzine’s Macbeth, their soliloquies at present are decidedly understated – even inaudible.  

Sources close to state Senate President Richard Codey (D-West Orange), for example, say the former governor who shouldered executive office duties after Jim McGreevey’s 2004 bow-out, doesn’t want the lieutenant governor’s job, although some party insiders say the regular guy lawmaker – or someone like him - could provide the right bounce to a ticket headed by Gov. Jon Corzine.

New Jersey’s electorate breaks roughly into three ideological sections: 25% liberal, 25% conservative, and 50% moderate. 

Of course, Republicans will seize on spending during the last eight years and a budget ballooned from $25 billion up to $33 billion to brand Codey a bloated government Tip O’Neill lib, but the former governor’s coach and family man cred lends him the kind of Christmas card patriarch appeal arguably doable with suburban white moderates. And if Codey couldn't convince as a moderate, he at least would have little trouble wearing the label "political pragmatist."

Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer

TRENTON – There was Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on a television set and Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer listening with deepening skepticism. Palmer, a short-list candidate for lieutenant governor, thought Jindal’s Tuesday night GOP bite-back at President Barack Obama’s federal stimulus speech was especially poor. 

“I think he’s being panned a lot,” Palmer said of the Republican governor who in his remarks likened an aid package to federal bureaucrats haplessly attempting to micromanage Hurricane Katrina relief, and who would refuse a profusion of new federal funds to his state.

“Bobby Jindal’s either hypocritical or he’s putting politics ahead of his responsibility as governor of Louisiana,” said Trenton’s mayor since 1990. “Louisiana especially should welcome aid, and it’s his job to make sure that money is used effectively. Look, we tried the governor’s approach and it’s not going anywhere.” 

LESNIAK-SWEENEY ‘VOTE BY MAIL LAW’ APPROVED IN SENATE COMMITTEE

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Raymond J. Lesniak and Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney which would create a Vote by Mail system to allow more New Jerseyans to take part in the democratic process was approved by the Senate State Government Committee today by a vote of 3-2.

SWEENEY MEASURE TO ESTABLISH FINANCIAL LITERACY PILOT PROGRAM ADVANCES

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney which would create a three-year pilot program to provide high school students with financial literacy education was unanimously approved by the Senate Education Committee today.

“A major contributing factor in the current national economic crisis is the fact that too many people don’t know the basics of personal finance,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem. “It’s easy to fall for the traps of the credit card mentality when you don’t understand the terms and conditions of your credit card, or don’t know the importance of balancing your checkbook. This bill would give students the instruction they need in personal finance to become self-sufficient and hopefully avoid the economic pitfalls which have hurt older generations.”

PREVIEW - SENATE COMMITTEES TO REVIEW COAH, UNDERAGE DRINKING MONDAY

Committees Will Also Look at ‘Silver Alert’ for Missing Persons; Public Reporting of Hospital Errors

TRENTON – On Monday, Senate Committees will meet to review current issues impacting affordable housing in New Jersey, including efforts to reform the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH), and the Governor’s calls to delay a 2.5% commercial developer’s fee in light of the current national economic crisis.

SWEENEY - ’LATEST UNEMPLOYMENT FIGURES TROUBLING’

Senate Majority Leader Pledges to Continue Working to Shore Up UI Fund, End Diversions

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem, issued the following statement today regarding the Governor’s announcement of the unemployment numbers’ for December and the need for action in the Unemployment Insurance (UI) fund to avoid a massive tax increase on employers in New Jersey:

“Today’s announcement of a 1 percent increase in the unemployment figures from November to December is certainly troubling news. As we continue to feel the effects in New Jersey of the national economic downturn, we have to be open to doing whatever we can to help put people to work and improve our economic standing.

SWEENEY - ‘STATE COLLEGES DESERVE SHARE OF FEDERAL ECONOMIC STIMULUS’

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney today said that any federal economic stimulus proposal would be incomplete without a portion of the stimulus being directed to New Jersey state colleges and public universities for infrastructure projects within the Garden State. He said he would urge federal representatives to include education infrastructure funds in the final economic stimulus legislation.

“Higher education absolutely deserves its share of the federal economic stimulus proposal,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem. “Our economic salvation depends heavily on how well New Jersey can attract new businesses, and a highly-skilled, well-educated workforce encourages businesses to set root here. As the details come out regarding the federal stimulus package, I will be working with State leaders to ensure that our colleges get a piece of the investment.”

TRENTON – A measure sponsored by Senators Fred H. Madden and Steve Sweeney, which would provide workers’ compensation benefits to surviving spouses of police officers and firefighters who have died in the line of duty was approved today by the full Senate.

            “When a public safety official gives his or her life in the line of duty, their loved ones are left behind to pick up the pieces,” said Senator Madden, D-Camden and Gloucester.  “In situations like this, the families also become victims, because they are left with the unexpected responsibility of having to make ends meet.  The benefits that would be afforded through this bill would allow spouses to move on financially – we owe this to them.”

            “The goal of this bill is to allow the spouses of police officers and firefighters who have paid the ultimate price protecting our safety, to continue to receive the benefits to which they are entitled,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem.  “I certainly don’t think it’s too much to ask, and we owe these benefits to these families.”

TRENTON – State Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney today released the following statement thanking the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, for bringing a major campaign to the Garden State, designed to warn residents of the dangers and severe penalties of illegal straw purchasing.

            The campaign, called “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy,” is a cooperative effort between members of the firearms industry through NSSF, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), designed to deter straw gun purchases, or purchasing a firearm for someone who is not legally allowed to buy one.

            “I am thankful for the initiative taken by the National Shooting Sports Foundation to educate residents and others who might seek to bring straw purchased firearms from other areas of the nation into our cities and towns,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem.  “This program can make a real difference in our efforts to make New Jersey a safer state.”

New Jersey Senate Democratic Photo

Senate President Richard Codey administers the oath of office to State Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-Jersey City) in 2007. Cunningham could wind up as Senate Labor Committee Chairman, if Codey picks Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) to head the Judiciary Committee

If Paul Sarlo becomes the new Senate Judiciary Chairman when John Adler leaves for Washington in January, Senate President Richard Codey will need to name a new Chairman of the Senate Labor Committee.  The two other Democrats on the panel now are Frederick Madden and Sandra Cunningham.  Statehouse watchers say that one could be a no-brainer: Codey will pick Cunningham, his ally, and not Madden, who is aligned with Codey's rival, South Jersey Democratic Chairman George Norcross.  

Madden, elected in 2003, is the most senior Senate Democrat without a committee chairmanship, followed by Loretta Weinberg, who entered the Senate in 2005.