BREAKING: Full Assembly Passes APANJ-Backed Pension Bill!

Members:

We did it! Moments ago, the Assembly voted overwhelmingly 55-19 in favor of our bill. The Legislature has spoken and passed our bill to restore the Prosecutors Part for ALL Assistant Prosecutors and DCJ-DAGs in New Jersey! Congratulations to everyone who worked tirelessly in this effort to get through the Legislature, especially my fellow APANJ Officers and Trustees. The bill now goes to the Governor for his review and signature (within 45 days). We are not done yet! Please support us in the effort to urge Governor Phil Murphy to sign our bill!

What a journey this has been getting through the Legislature. Everyone said it couldn’t be done... But here we are. This bill is the most powerful tool in our arsenal to attract and retain career assistant prosecutors. It is the antidote the criminal justice system needs right now to ensure experienced prosecutors keep calling the shots as we help usher in criminal justice reform. We are proud of the Legislature’s swift action on our bill.

Six weeks ago from today Senator Joseph Lagana (Paramus) courageously introduced S3780 in the New Jersey Senate, a bill we wrote to restore the Prosecutors Part pension, which closed May 21, 2010. Within a week, Deputy Majority Leader Senator Paul Sarlo (Wood-Ridge) joined the bill, followed by co-sponsors Majority Conference Leader Senator Vin Gopal (Ocean Twp.) and Senator Nicholas Sacco (N. Bergen). Simultaneously, companion bill A5785 was introduced in the Assembly by Assemblyman Vincent Mazzeo (Northfield), who was later joined by co-sponsors Dep. Majority Leader Assemblywoman Carol Murphy (Cinnaminson) and Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (Belleville). With today's Assembly vote 55-19 and Monday's Senate vote 37-3, there is bipartisan support for this legislation. The bill now heads to the Governor for his signature.

I couldn’t be more proud of this association for spearheading this effort. We are grateful to those legislators who supported us and sponsored our bill, and for those who voted to enact it. We are now on the precipice of the bill becoming law with the Governor’s approval. Join us in this final effort to urge Governor Murphy to sign the bill and restore the Prosecutors Part!

Track our journey to restore the Prosecutors Part on our website.

Thank you for your support of the APANJ!

David V. Calviello
President, APANJ