New Jersey Senate and Assembly Reorganize; Governor Murphy gives 2024 State of the State Address
January 9th marked the beginning of the 221st Legislative Session in New Jersey
It was a rainy day in Trenton, as the new State Legislative session officially kicked off. At noon, the Senate and Assembly began their reorganization meetings. The Senate reorg occurred in the Assembly Chambers while the reorg for the Assembly was held at the War Memorial. The Democrats will once again have control of both chambers. Democrats will have 25 in the Senate and 52 in the Assembly while Republicans will have 15 in the Senate and 28 in the Assembly. These are the same numbers both parties had from the 219th session.
Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) was once again elected Assembly Speaker. This makes Coughlin the longest-tenured Speaker in New Jersey history. Nick Scutari (D-Union) will serve another term as Senate President. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) will serve as the leader of the Senate Dems. In contrast, Anthony Bucco (R-Morris) will serve as the leader of the Senate GOP. Louis Greenwald (D-Camden), who is currently the longest-tenured Assemblyman serving since 1996, will serve as leader of the Assembly Dems while John DiMaio (R-Hunterdon) will serve as the leader of the Assembly GOP.
At around 3:30 pm, Governor Murphy walked into the Assembly Chambers where he would give his 6th State of the State (SOTS) address. As usual, Murphy touted his accomplishments as Governor followed by what he believes the legislature should be focused on for the next two years. Murphy touted being a “property tax champion” despite NJ having the highest taxes in the country. He also mentioned NJ being “popular” even though NJ led the country in outbound migration this past year. The Governor blamed the Christie Administration for his administration's current failures. At this point, blaming a previous administration is not an excuse anymore since Murphy has been in power for six years. Many points the Governor made were based on national issues which is incredibly interesting considering his wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, is running for U.S. Senate where she will most likely be taking the oath of office for U.S. Senator come January 3, 2025.
In the end, a lot of what was said in the SOTS was a lot of Democrat talking points. Essentially making Murphy’s SOTS a campaign speech. There was no mention of decreasing taxes, providing relief to small businesses, and taking out the controversial education curriculum in public schools.
The taxes are high, abortion is available up until the moment of birth, and residents are leaving in droves. Murphy continues to duck accountability. The state of New Jersey is currently in a state of disaster.
Watch the 2024 State of the State.
Watch the Republican Response.
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