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TRENTON: Local senator has new leadership role

Sen. Linda Greenstein becomes assistant majority leader

By Jen Samuel, Managing Editor
   TRENTON — Senator Linda Greenstein, of the 14th Legislative District, is now serving as the assistant majority leader for the state Senate’s 2012 to 2013 session.
   This is Sen. Greenstein’s first title position in the Senate although she held leadership positions while serving in the General Assembly.
   Sen. Greenstein told the Herald on Wednesday that she hopes to be very active as a leader in her new assistant majority position.
   In the last legislative session, Sen. Greenstein held a seat on the Budget and Apportions Committee, of which she remains a member.
   Sen. Greenstein also served as a member of the five-member Energy and Environment Committee during the last legislative session.
   This year, Sen. Greenstein was named the vice-chairwoman of the Senate’s Energy and Environment Committee for the new legislative session.
   She has also been named vice-chairwoman of the Law and Public Safety Committee.
   "I’m looking forward to it,” Sen. Greenstein said. “It gives an extra focus when you are in a leadership (role) in a committee.”
   Sen. Greenstein has previously called for a state constitutional convention to address property tax reform.
   This legislative session, the economy will remain a key focus for the senator.
   "I will continue my commitment to creating jobs and putting New Jerseyans back to work during these tough economic times,” Sen. Greenstein stated previously. “We must continue to focus our attention in a bipartisan manner to revitalize the economy and fight for the working class, making sure that all New Jerseyans can find good jobs and have the ability to provide for themselves and their families.”
   In a successful bid to shift to the Senate from the General Assembly, Sen. Greenstein won a special election in 2010. She was sworn in a month later. Sen. Greenstein had been serving her sixth term in the General Assembly prior to the switch.
   Sen. Greenstein won her first full term in the Senate last November. She was sworn in to her first full state Senate term on Jan. 9.
   Sen. Greenstein, a Democrat, represents the newly redrawn 14th Legislative District comprised of nine towns in Middlesex and Mercer counties. The revamped 14th district includes East Windsor, Hightstown, Jamesburg, Cranbury, Monroe, Hamilton, Plainsboro, Robbinsville and Spotswood.
   An attorney, Sen. Greenstein has supported and sponsored legislation to strengthen the legal protection of New Jersey’s children and families.
   As recent as Jan. 9, “Caylee’s Law” was signed into law — of which the senator was a prime sponsor. The new law makes it a felony for a parent or guardian to fail to report the disappearance of a child within 24 hours.
   Furthermore, Sen. Greenstein is the prime Senate sponsor of Jessica’s Law that would protect New Jerseyans against drivers with road rage, legislation that she has fought for both during her tenure in the General Assembly and now in the Senate.
   "As the vice-chairwoman of the Law and Public Safety Committee, I will work to protect New Jersey’s most vulnerable,” Sen. Greenstein said previously.
   For more on “Caylee’s Law,” pick up next week’s issue of the Herald available Jan. 27.