ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION No. 157 STATE OF NEW JERSEY 217th LEGISLATURE INTRODUCED JUNE 1, 2017 Sponsored by: Assemblywoman NANCY J. PINKIN District 18 (Middlesex) Assemblyman ROBERT J. KARABINCHAK District 18 (Middlesex) Assemblyman CRAIG J. COUGHLIN District 19 (Middlesex) SYNOPSIS Designates August 29, 2017 as Governor James Florio Day in New Jersey. CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT As introduced. AJR157 PINKIN, KARABINCHAK 2 1 A JOINT RESOLUTION designating August 29, 2017 as Governor 2 James Florio Day in the State of New Jersey. 3 4 WHEREAS, The Honorable James J. Florio, the 49th Governor of this 5 State, was born on August 29, 1937 in Brooklyn, the oldest of three 6 sons to Vincenzo “Jim” and Lillian Florio, moved as a child to 7 Flatbush near Ebbets Field, became a Dodger and Pete Reiser fan, 8 and developed an interest in the sport of boxing; and 9 WHEREAS, At the age of 17, Governor Florio enlisted in the Navy, 10 served from 1955 to 1958, and then served in the Naval Reserve 11 until 1975 and retired with the rank of Lieutenant Commander; and 12 WHEREAS, While in the Navy, Governor Florio received his high 13 school equivalency diploma, and boxed as a middleweight, 14 compiling a 12–3 record before retiring, and was inducted into the 15 New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990; and 16 WHEREAS, Governor Florio enrolled at Trenton State College upon his 17 discharge in 1958, graduating magna cum laude, went on to study 18 public law and government at Columbia University after winning a 19 Woodrow Wilson Fellowship, and received a law degree from 20 Rutgers School of Law-Camden in 1967 and was admitted to the 21 State bar; and 22 WHEREAS, Governor Florio began his career in public service as the 23 assistant city attorney for the City of Camden, and was later 24 solicitor for the towns of Runnemede, Woodlynne, and 25 Summerdale; and 26 WHEREAS, Governor Florio was elected to the General Assembly in 27 1969 and twice re-elected, first from the First Legislative District 28 then the Fifth Legislative District, which covered parts of Camden 29 and Gloucester counties, and served on the State Government and 30 the Federal and Interstate Relations Committees; and 31 WHEREAS, Governor Florio was elected to the United States House of 32 Representatives from this State’s First Congressional District in 33 November 1974 and served until January 16, 1990; and 34 WHEREAS, In Congress, Governor Florio was best known as the 35 author of the Superfund legislation, designed to clean up toxic 36 waste sites and penalize those responsible for the pollution and 37 require such responsible parties to pay for its cleanup, and he was 38 the author of the Railroad Deregulation Law, which saved from 39 bankruptcy the nation’s freight railroads, including Conrail; and 40 WHEREAS, Mr. Florio was elected to the governorship on November 41 7, 1989, and made his first priority automobile insurance reform, 42 calling a special session of the Legislature six days after his 43 inauguration to consider a series of changes to existing law, and on 44 March 12, 1990 he signed into law a program designed to reduce 45 premiums for most drivers by 20 percent; and 46 WHEREAS, During his term in office, Governor Florio accomplished 47 signing into law the Clean Water Enforcement Act (1990), which 48 was the strongest environmental law of its type in the United States, AJR157 PINKIN, KARABINCHAK 3 1 the Quality Education Act, which provided greater equity in New 2 Jersey’s school finance system, a landmark welfare reform package, 3 and the nation’s toughest assault weapons ban; and 4 WHEREAS, After leaving office as Governor, Governor Florio, with 5 his wife Lucinda, moved to Metuchen and went into private 6 practice as an attorney, served as Chair of the New Jersey Pinelands 7 Commission, became a Senior Fellow for Public Policy and 8 Administration at the Edward J. Bloustein Graduate School of 9 Public Policy at Rutgers University, was appointed to the board of 10 directors of NJ Future, became Chairman of the Board of Directors 11 of the Federal Home Loan Bank in New York, and in 2014 was 12 inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame; and 13 WHEREAS, Governor Florio holds numerous honorary degrees, was 14 the 1993 recipient of the “Profile in Courage Award” bestowed by 15 the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, and in 2008, was 16 designated a Lifetime Honoree Member of the New Jersey Short 17 Line Railroad Association; and 18 WHEREAS, Through the years, Governor Florio has been blessed by 19 the love and support of his children and grandchildren, including 20 his son Christopher and daughter-in-law Helen, his daughter 21 Catherine Pipas and son-in-law Marc and their daughters Stephanie 22 and Victoria, his son Gregory and daughter-in-law Ann and their 23 children Matthew, Alexandra, Chelsea, Elizabeth, and Peter, and by 24 his wife Lucinda’s son Mark Rowe and daughter-in-law Shelly and 25 their sons Jack, Bret, and Troy; and 26 WHEREAS, Given his record of achievement and service to this State 27 and to the nation, it is fitting and proper that the State of New 28 Jersey honor Governor Florio by designating August 29, 2017 as 29 Governor James Florio Day in New Jersey; now, therefore, 30 31 BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate and General Assembly of the 32 State of New Jersey: 33 34 1. August 29, 2017 is designated as Governor James Florio 35 Day in the State of New Jersey in recognition of his many 36 outstanding contributions to this State and the nation. 37 38 2. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately. 39 40 41 STATEMENT 42 43 This Joint Resolution designates August 29, 2017 as Governor 44 James Florio Day in the State of New Jersey, in recognition of his 45 many outstanding contributions to this State and the nation. .