10 signatures reached
To: Senate President Scutari and Assembly Speaker Coughlin
NJ State Legislature must convene regularly
We are grateful for the leadership that you and your colleagues have shown in safeguarding New Jersey residents from some of the most harmful policies being advanced in DC. Like you, we are deeply committed to protecting the people of our state from the rising extremism at the federal level that is putting our democracy at risk.
However, we were extremely concerned to learn that the State legislature is not currently scheduled to reconvene until after the November election, other than for matters related to the budget. We note that last calendar year (2024), the State legislature met starting in mid-September and then frequently throughout October. Delaying meeting until sometime in November is, therefore, particularly alarming due to the rapidly evolving crisis at the national level that threatens our democracy and directly harms the residents of our state.
We fully expect that you know what we are concerned about. Attacks on immigrants, the LGBTQ+ community and those who rely on life-saving programs such as SNAP and Medicaid have intensified and continue to do so every day. Our environment and our very voting rights are being threatened. At this moment, state leaders need to meet and take what actions they can to block immediate threats and prepare to resist the future ones that are coming.
We respectfully but firmly urge you to work with members of the Legislature to ensure that it meets on a regular basis beginning in September to address the new challenges now facing New Jerseyans.
Why is this important?
We need our New Jersey state legislature to protect our state from the threats from the federal government on our most vulnerable residents and our democracy. Last week's budget cuts threaten food and housing security. Due to the astronomical increase in ICE funding, we anticipate that actions taken by DHS will increase to the level seen in California, including tanks and military being deployed to MacArthur Park. We have elected our legislators to fight for New Jersey and we need them to be able to react urgently to the unprecedented attacks on our state coming from D.C.