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2019 New Jersey legislative session

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New Jersey State Legislature

Seal of New Jersey.png
General information
Type:   State legislature
Term limits:   None
Session start:   January 9, 2019
Session end:   January 14, 2020
Website:   Official Legislature Page
Leadership
Senate President:   Stephen Sweeney (D
House Speaker:  Craig Coughlin (D)
Majority Leader:   Senate: Loretta Weinberg (D)
House: Louis Greenwald (D)
Minority Leader:   Senate: Thomas Kean Jr. (R)
House: Jon M. Bramnick (R)
Structure
Members:  40 (Senate), 80 (General Assembly)
Length of term:   4 years (Senate), 2 years (General Assembly)
Authority:   Art Article IV, New Jersey Constitution
Salary:   $49,000/year
Elections
Last election:  November 7, 2017
Senate
Assembly
Next election:  November 2, 2021
Senate
November 5, 2019
Assembly
Redistricting:  New Jersey Redistricting Commission has control

New Jersey convened its legislative session on January 9, 2019, and legislators remained in session until January 14, 2020. Democrats had a majority this legislative session, just as they did in 2019. Following the 2017 elections, Democrats had a 25-15 majority in the Senate and a 54-26 majority in the Assembly. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democratic state government trifecta.

At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session:
  • Democrats held a majority in the New Jersey state Senate and Assembly.
  • New Jersey was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas.
  • New Jersey's governor was Democrat Phil Murphy (D).

    • Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2019 Assembly elections.
    Black.png Click the links to read more about the 2017 state Senate and Assembly elections.

    Partisan control in 2019

    See also: State government trifectas

    New Jersey was one of 14 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2019 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

    New Jersey was also one of 28 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

    The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the New Jersey State Legislature in the 2019 legislative session.

    New Jersey State Senate

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 24
         Republican Party 15
         Vacancy 1
    Total 40

    Between 1991 and 2017, partisan control of the New Jersey State Senate shifted from being heavily Republican to a Democratic majority. Republicans went from having a 14-seat advantage following the 1991 elections to being at a 10-seat disadvantage after the 2017 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the New Jersey State Senate following every general election from 1991 to 2017. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    New Jersey State Senate election results: 1991-2017

    Party 91 93 97 01 03 07 11 13 17
    Democrats 13 16 16 20 22 23 24 24 25
    Republicans 27 24 24 20 18 17 16 16 15

    From 1991 to 2001, Republicans held large majorities in the chamber, the largest following the 1991 election when Republicans held a 14-seat advantage. In elections between 1993 and 2001, the Republican majority in the state Senate stayed at 24-16 until the 2001 election when the chamber became tied at 20-20. It was the first legislative tie since 1919.[1] Because of the split chamber, the Senate was ran from 2002 to 2003 by co-presidents John Bennett (R) and Richard Codey (D). Republicans won the 27 seats required for a two-thirds supermajority just once.

    Democrats took control of the New Jersey State Senate in the 2003 elections. Democrats picked up two seats in that election and won a 22-18 majority. Between 2003 and 2017, Democrats held their largest majority following the 2017 elections when they held a 10-seat advantage. Despite the national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D), the New Jersey State Senate was resistant to that trend. Democrats never fell below 24 seats during Obama's presidency. From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats all together.

    New Jersey General Assembly

    Party As of January 2019
         Democratic Party 54
         Republican Party 26
    Total 80

    Between 1991 and 2017, partisan control of the New Jersey General Assembly shifted from being heavily Republican to a Democratic majority. Republicans went from having a 36-seat advantage following the 1991 elections to being at a 28-seat disadvantage after the 2017 elections. The table below shows the partisan history of the New Jersey General Assembly following every general election from 1991 to 2017. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

    New Jersey General Assembly election results: 1991-2017

    Year '91 '93 '95 '97 '99 '01 '03 '05 '07 '09 '11 '13 '15 '17
    Democrats 22 27 30 32 35 44 47 48 48 47 48 48 52 54
    Republicans 58 53 50 48 45 36 33 32 32 33 32 32 28 26

    From 1991 to 2001, Republicans held large majorities in the chamber, the largest following the 1991 election when Republicans held a 36-seat advantage. In elections between 1993 and 1999, Republicans lost seats in every election. Republicans won the 54 seats required for a two-thirds supermajority just once.

    Democrats took control of the New Jersey General Assembly in the 2001 elections. Democrats picked up nine seats in that election and won a 44-36 majority. Between 2001 and 2017, Democrats held their largest majority following the 2017 elections when they held a 28-seat advantage. Despite the national trend toward Republican state legislatures during the presidency of Barack Obama (D), the New Jersey General Assembly was resistant to that trend. Democrats never fell below 47 seats during Obama's presidency. From 2009 to 2017, Democrats experienced losses in state legislative elections, totaling 968 seats all together.


    Leadership in 2019

    New Jersey State Senate

    New Jersey General Assembly

    Regular session

    The following widget shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2019 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation met these criteria in 2019. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

    Standing legislative committees

    See also: Standing committee and List of committees in New Jersey state government


    A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

    At the beginning of the 2019 legislative session, there were 43 standing committees in New Jersey's state government, including five joint legislative committees, 16 state Senate committees, and 23 state House committees.

    Joint legislative committees


    Senate committees


    House committees


    Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

    In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

    The methods by which the New Jersey Constitution can be amended:

    See also: Article IX of the New Jersey Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in New Jersey

    The New Jersey Constitution provides for a legislative process to amend the state constitution.

    Legislature

    See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

    The New Jersey Constitution provides two legislative methods for referring a constitutional amendment to the ballot. First, the legislature can refer an amendment to the ballot through a 60% vote of both chambers during one legislative session. That amounts to a minimum of 48 votes in the New Jersey General Assembly and 24 votes in the New Jersey State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Second, the legislature can refer an amendment through a simple majority vote (50%+1) in each legislative chamber during two successive legislative sessions. That amounts to a minimum of 41 votes in the New Jersey General Assembly and 21 votes in the New Jersey State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.


    Historical partisan control

    The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of New Jersey.

    New Jersey Party Control: 1992-2025
    Fourteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Eight years of Republican trifectas
    Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

    Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
    Governor D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D
    Senate R R R R R R R R R R S S D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
    Assembly R R R R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D


    See also

    Elections New Jersey State Government State Legislatures State Politics
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    New Jersey State Flag-Close Up.jpg
    State Houses-Tile image.png
    State Courts-Tile image.png


    External links


    Footnotes

    1. ↑ Google Books, "Me, Governor?: My Life in the Rough-and-Tumble World of New Jersey Politics," accessed September 26, 2017
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