Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ROY FREIMAN
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Assemblywoman ELLEN J. PARK
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblywoman MITCHELLE DRULIS
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Peterpaul and Quijano
SYNOPSIS
Supplements General Assembly Rules to require members of General Assembly to be addressed as State Representative.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Assembly Resolution supplementing the Rules of the General Assembly to require members of the General Assembly to be addressed as State Representative.
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Rule 25:1 is added to read as follows:
25:1. Addressing Members of the General Assembly
All members of the General Assembly shall be addressed, and referred to, as State Representative.
2. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This resolution supplements the General Assembly Rules to require that all members of the General Assembly be addressed as State Representative. State Representative is a gender-neutral term that provides all members of the General Assembly with the same title. Currently, members of the General Assembly are referred to as Assemblyman and Assemblywoman.
The New Jersey State Constitution of 1947 refers to persons elected to the General Assembly as members, not as Assemblyman or Assemblywoman. 45 states and territories use the term representative for members of the lower body. While other states and territories have other genderless titles for members of their lower house, only New Jersey, New York, Nevada, and California call their members Assemblyman and Assemblywoman. New Jersey would be joining the large majority of states by choosing a genderless title for its General Assembly members.