Stephen M. Sweeney

Stephen M. Sweeney (born June 11, 1959) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has served in the New Jersey State Senate since 2002, where he represents the 3rd Legislative District. Sweeney also serves on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders, a post he has held since 1997, and has been the Freeholder Director since January 6, 2006.^[1] On November 23, 2009, Sweeney was selected as Senate President-designate, replacing Richard Codey. Sweeney took office on January 12, 2010.

Sweeney attended Pennsauken High School.^[1]

Senate career

Sweeney serves in the Senate on the Joint Budget Oversight Committee and the Budget and Appropriations Committee. He is the Senate's Democratic Majority Leader and Conference Chair.^[1]

In 2001, Senator Sweeney defeated eight-term incumbent State Senator Raymond Zane, a former Democrat turned Republican. The race was the most expensive legislative race in New Jersey history at the time, totaling $2.4 million dollars, with Sweeney's $1.8 million tripling up Zane's $600,000.^[2] The record stood until 2003, when $4 million was spent in Fred H. Madden's successful race to unseat George Geist.

He simultaneously holds a seat in the New Jersey Senate and as Freeholder. This dual position, often called double dipping, is allowed under a grandfather clause in the state law enacted by the New Jersey Legislature and signed into law by Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine in September 2007 that prevents dual-office-holding but allows those who had held both positions as of February 1, 2008, to retain both posts.^[3] On the afternoon of November 23, 2009, the New Jersey Senate Democrats chose Sweeney as State Senate President over the incumbent, former governor Richard Codey. He took office on January 12, 2010.

In the absence of the governor and lieutenant governor, Sweeney served as acting governor of New Jersey during the eastern seaboard storm of December 2010.^[4]

Following Governor Chris Christie's liberal use of the line item veto on the states 2011 budget, Sweeny was quoted by The Star-Ledger as being incensed. The Star-Ledger, New Jersey's paper of record, openly speculated on July 3, 2011 that the political alliance between Sweeney and Christie was in jeopardy, that the state budget battle is personal, and that it could have a "seismic impact" on state politics.^[5] Two days later, Sweeney was unapologetic about what The Star-Ledger described as a "tirade" against Christie. Saying "[...] I don't apologize for it. The governor was wrong to hurt people." in response to further questions about the earlier reports which quoted him as describing Christie as a "rotten bastard," a "punk" and "Mr. Potter from It's a Wonderful Life." Sweeney went on to say that he plans on scheduling a Senate vote in order to override the Governor's vetoes.^[6]

Accomplishments

Senator Sweeney sponsored the new law allowing municipalities and other public entities to enter into project labor agreements (PLAs) when beginning a construction project. PLAs are agreements that have been adopted by private industry which allow the contractor and the employer to enter into a contract prior to the beginning of construction which establishes the terms and conditions of employment and prohibits the use of strikes and lockouts. PLAs save money in the long run because they lessen the chance of cost overruns and work stoppages, and contribute to decreased labor unrest, which can sometimes cause shoddy workmanship on a project.

Senator Sweeney also sponsored a law authorizing the Delaware River and Bay Authority to establish an ethanol plant in Southern New Jersey, the first of its kind in any of the Mid-Atlantic States. Ethanol, a gasoline additive, is the product of the distillation of corn and other plant material. The plant is expected to generate jobs for South Jersey and supply a new market for farmers in the region.

In response to heightened security warnings around potential targets such as nuclear plants since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, Senator Sweeney pushed to allow security guards at these plants to carry assault weapons and high-powered ammunition to better protect the security of New Jersey residents. The bill, which was signed into law in September 2003, also requires guards to undergo mandated training in the use of the firearms before getting access to the weapons.

The Senator has worked to make sure that family members of police, firefighters and emergency response workers killed in the line of duty are fairly compensated for their loss. He sponsored the law which provides state pensions to surviving family members of volunteer firefighters and emergency services workers who die in the line of duty, as well as the law that removes the remarriage prohibition to receive death benefits for spouses of police officers and firefighters killed while serving the public good. Senator Sweeney also sponsored the law providing health benefits to New Jersey National Guard members who serve for 30 days or more on state active duty.

Senator Sweeney received national attention for his sponsorship of "Maggie's Law," which establishes driving while seriously fatigued as a form of driver recklessness.^[7] The first law of its kind in the United States, "Maggie's Law" was signed by Governor of New Jersey Jim McGreevey in August 2003. It requires sleep-deprived drivers, who have been up for 24 hours or more, face up to 20 years in jail and fines up to $150,000 if they get into fatal car accidents caused by their lack of sleep. Senator Sweeney first pursued the legislation when he was contacted by the mother of Maggie McDonnell, a Washington Township resident who was killed in a car accident by a driver who had been up for over 30 hours without sleeping.^[8]

Controversies

On June 1, 2006, Senator Sweeney and two Assembly Democrats, Paul Moriarty (D, 4th legislative district) and Jerry Green (D, 22nd legislative district), held a press conference to announce their support for significant cuts (on the order of 15%) to New Jersey state worker salaries and benefits. This effort appears to have been put forth to avoid a one-point increase in the state's sales tax, which had been proposed by Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine to fill in a multi-billion dollar budget gap. Significant negative reaction from the state's labor unions resulted primarily because of Sweeney's position as an Ironworkers business agent and treasurer from Gloucester County for Ironworker's Local 399, and also due to his position as the chairman of the Senate Labor committee, which controls most labor-related bills.^[9]

He also advocated that those workers affected by the state shutdown in July 2006 should not be able to collect pay for the time they were furloughed.^[10] Gloucester County workers are paid in the event of an emergency that closes county services, and this is approved by Sweeney as the Freeholder Director.

State unions have pointed out that Sweeney's multiple public and private sector jobs add up to much more than the salaries of the vast majority of their members. Sweeney makes $123,000 at Local 399, according to its federal disclosure form, as well as $49,000 as a state senator. Sweeney told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he donates his $18,000 salary as Freeholder Director of Gloucester County to charity and would like to take only one public pension, but can't. All told, Sweeney's income from these multiple sources appears to place him at an almost 4 to 1 advantage over the typical state worker's compensation (amounting to about $50,000) which he seeks to cut.

In spite of Sweeney's vocal opposition to the one-percent increase in the state sales tax rate, an overall increase in the state budget and pay for furloughed state workers affected by the state shutdown, Sweeney ultimately voted to approve all three. After adoption of the fiscal 2007 budget by lawmakers, State Republicans listed several "pork" projects earmarked for funding in the new budget, including $200,000 for a diesel-powered electric generator in West Deptford, Sweeney's hometown. According to The Gloucester County Times on July 11, 2006, "State Sen. Stephen Sweeney admitted he was "shocked" to find his projects funded, since he refused to support the one-cent sales tax increase".^[11] Sweeney could not be reached for comment by The Express Times, according to an article on July 8, 2006, concerning the Republican's aforementioned disclosure of the list of projects included in the new budget.^[12]

Shortly after Sweeney was elected President, he continued to attract controversy. On January 7, 2010, Senate President-elect Sweeney abstained when the New Jersey Senate voted on the question of allowing same-sex couples to marry. Under the rules of the New Jersey Senate, an abstention is equal to a "no" vote.

Sweeney's abstention earned him widespread criticism from both the media and grassroots organizations allied with Sweeney's own Democratic party. News organizations took Sweeney to task for shirking his responsibility as a legislator to vote. They said it was particularly disturbing that the new leader of the Senate showed the opposite of leadership in abstaining, especially on such a major issue. The firestorm prompted Sweeney to apologize within a day for his abstention. He said he was wrong to abstain and that had he voted, he would have voted yes on the bill to allow same-sex couples to marry.

Progressive organizations, including Garden State Equality, the state's largest LGBT civil rights organization, and Blue Jersey, the state's leading progressive blog, heavily criticized Sweeney for his abstention, particularly since he had indicated before the vote that he would vote yes on the bill.

Senate President Stephen Sweeney’s outburst came after Christie vetoed $900 million in spending added to the budget by Democrats, the New York Post reported. “This is all about him being a bully and a punk,” Sweeney told the Newark Star-Ledger. “I wanted to punch him in the head. “He is a cruel man. He’s mean-spirited. He’s angry. If you don’t do what he says, I liken it to being spoiled.” Sweeney also called Christie a “rotten prick” Sweeney's outburst has been likened to a "childish, spoiled brat who didn't get his way"

Together with Republican Thomas Kean, Jr. and fellow Democrat Raymond Lesniak, Sweeney has sponsored Senate Bill S2664, the "Market Competition and Consumer Choice Act" in 2011, which Verizon says will encourage the firm to create additional jobs in the state, freeing the firm from regulations established when it was the landline monopoly requiring it to pay for service outages and to provide Government-access television (GATV) channels for municipalities on cable TV. The New Jersey State League of Municipalities has opposed the provisions on elimination of Public-access television channels and on rules requiring free Internet accessed for municipal and school facilities. Consumer groups argue that the bill would lead to lower-quality service and increased rates, though Verizon promised in a letter sent to the bill's sponsors that committed the company to keeping rates level for basic service in the first two years following approval into law.^[13]

District 3

Each of the forty districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 3rd Legislative District for the 2010-2011 Legislative Session are:

• Assemblyman John J. Burzichelli (D)
• Assemblywoman Celeste Riley (D)

Election history

References

External links

• Senator Sweeney's legislative web page, New Jersey Legislature
• New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure forms
  • 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004
• New Jersey Senate Democrats Website Biography
• New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003
• Gloucester County Freeholder biography
• Vote Smart biography