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Legislative Happenings in New Jersey
As a result of the November elections State Senator Nellie Pou and Assemblyman Hebert Conaway were elected to open Congressional seats with several candidates running for their now open state legislative positions.
In a post-election interview Gov. Murphy said he believes he’s “on the same page” as President-elect Trump but acknowledged “offshore wind will be a much trickier issue.”
On November 21, 2024, Governor Murphy requested all departments of state government to provide his office with a 5% reduction in spending and to freeze new hires and salary increases.
On November 18, 2024 Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a Montclair Democrat who first joined Congress after the 2018 Democratic wave, announced that she is running for Governor.
On November 18, 2024, Senator Henry introduced S-3870. S-3870, which provides a sales tax exemption for the retail sale of energy-saving products and services that are primarily designed and marketed to reduce energy consumption in residential and commercial buildings. The bill was referred to the Senate Environment and Energy Committee. An identical bill, A-4998, was introduced last month by Assemblyman Sauickie.
On November 15, 2024, Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly) launched his long-expected campaign for governor. Gottheimer declared he would be New Jersey’s “lower-taxes, lower-cost governor” in a speech mainly focused on affordability. In his announcement, the congressman touted his bipartisan, centrist record and signaled he would take that lane in the Democratic primary.
On November 13, 2024, Jack Ciattarelli, Republican candidate for the Governor’s race in 2025, sent a letter to Democratic gubernatorial candidates urging them to disavow energy policies championed by Gov. Murphy. Ciattarelli, who came close to unseating Murphy in 2021, disavowed Murphy’s “pie-in-the-sky” energy policies and proposals. Ciattarelli, for example, pointed to offshore wind projects, which played a central role in the GOP’s 2023 legislative campaigns. The former assemblyman also pledged to end a rule that would bar the sale of gasoline-powered cars in the Garden State by 2035.
Other Democratic candidates for the 2025 Governor race include former state Senate President Steve Sweeney, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, and New Jersey Education Association President Sean Spiller. On the Republican side, state Sen. Jon Bramnick, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, former state Sen. Ed Durr, NJ 101.5 host Bill Spadea, real estate broker Robert Canfield, and former Burlington City Mayor Jim Fazzone are running for Governor.
On November 14, 2024, Assemblyman D’Angelo introduced A-5047, which requires certain large developments, to be used as retail facility or warehouse, to be designed and constructed to accommodate load associated with solar panels. Senator Burzichelli introduced an identical bill, S-3840, last month.
