2026 New Jersey legislative session

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2026 New Jersey legislative session
General information
Scheduled session start:    Jan. 13, 2026 Scheduled session end:    Dec. 31, 2026
Leadership
Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D) House Speaker Craig Coughlin (D) Majority Leader Senate: Teresa Ruiz (D) House: Louis Greenwald (D) Minority Leader Senate: Anthony M. Bucco (R) House: John DiMaio (R)
Elections
Next Election:    November 2, 2027 Last Election:    November 4, 2025
Previous legislative sessions
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018
Other 2026 legislative sessions
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In 2026, the New Jersey State Legislature is scheduled to convene on January 13, 2026, and adjourn on December 31, 2026.

The legislators serving in this session took office following the 2023 and 2025 elections. Democrats won a 25-15 majority in the Senate in 2023 and a 57-23 majority in the Assembly in 2025. The party also controlled the governorship, creating a Democratic state government trifecta. At the start of the 2026 session, New Jersey was one of 23 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers.

At the beginning of the 2026 legislative session:

Democrats held a majority in the New Jersey state Assembly and state Senate.

New Jersey was one of 16 Democratic state government trifectas.

New Jersey's governor was Democrat Mikie Sherrill.

Leadership in 2026

See also: Leadership positions in state legislatures

New Jersey State Senate

• Senate president: Nicholas Scutari (D)
• Majority leader: Teresa Ruiz (D)
• Minority leader: Anthony M. Bucco (R)

New Jersey General Assembly

• Speaker of the Assembly: Craig Coughlin (D)
• Majority leader: Louis Greenwald (D)
• Minority leader: John DiMaio (R)

Partisan control in 2026

See also: State government trifectas

New Jersey was one of 16 Democratic state government trifectas at the start of 2026 legislative sessions. A state government trifecta occurs when one political party holds the governor's office, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. For more information about state government trifectas, click here.

New Jersey was also one of 23 state legislatures where neither party had a veto-proof supermajority in both chambers. Veto overrides occur when a legislature votes to reverse a veto issued by an executive such as a governor or the president. If one party has a majority in a state legislature that is large enough to override a gubernatorial veto without any votes from members of the minority party, it is called a veto-proof majority or, sometimes, a supermajority. To read more about veto-proof supermajorities in state legislatures, click here.

The following tables show the partisan breakdown of the New Jersey State Legislature in the 2026 legislative session.

New Jersey State Senate

Partisan composition, New Jersey State Senate

As of February 2026
Party	Members
Democratic	25
Republican	15
Other	0
Vacancies	0
Total	40

New Jersey General Assembly

Partisan composition, New Jersey General Assembly

as of February 2026
Party	Members
Democratic	57
Republican	23
Other	0
Vacancies	0
Total	80

Regular session

The list below shows up to 25 pieces of legislation in the 2026 legislative session that most recently passed both chambers of the legislature, were signed by the governor, or were approved by the legislature in a veto override. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation has met these criteria yet in 2026. This information is provided by BillTrack50.

Standing legislative committees

See also: Standing committee and List of committees in New Jersey state government

A standing committee of a state legislature is a committee that exists on a more-or-less permanent basis, from legislative session to session, that considers and refines legislative bills that fall under the committee's subject matter.

At the beginning of the 2026 legislative session, there were 47 standing committees in New Jersey's state government, including six joint legislative committees, 16 state Senate committees, and 25 state Assembly committees.

Joint legislative committees

• Economic Justice and Equal Employment Opp Committee
• Ethical Standards Committee
• Housing Affordability Committee
• Joint Budget Oversight Committee
• Public Schools Committee
• State Leasing and Space Utilization Committee

Senate committees

• Budget and Appropriations Committee
• Commerce Committee
• Community and Urban Affairs Committee
• Economic Growth Committee
• Environment and Energy Committee
• Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee
• Legislative Oversight Committee
• Senate Education Committee
• Senate Higher Education Committee
• Senate Judiciary Committee
• Senate Labor Committee
• Senate Law and Public Safety Committee
• Senate Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee
• Senate Rules and Order Committee
• State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee
• Transportation Committee

Assembly committees

• Aging and Senior Services Committee
• Agriculture Committee
• Appropriations Committee
• Budget Committee
• Commerce and Economic Development Committee
• Community Development and Affairs Committee
• Consumer Affairs Committee
• Education Committee
• Environment and Solid Waste Committee
• Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee
• Health Committee
• Higher Education Committee
• Homeland Security and State Preparedness Committee
• Housing Committee
• Judiciary Committee
• Labor Committee
• Law and Public Safety Committee
• Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee
• Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee
• Regulated Professions Committee
• Science, Innovation and Technology Committee
• State and Local Government Committee
• Telecommunications and Utilities Committee
• Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee
• Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee

Legislatively referred constitutional amendments

In every state but Delaware, voter approval is required to enact a constitutional amendment. In each state, the legislature has a process for referring constitutional amendments before voters. In 18 states, initiated constitutional amendments can be put on the ballot through a signature petition drive. There are also many other types of statewide measures.

The methods by which the New Jersey Constitution can be amended:

See also: Article IX of the New Jersey Constitution and Laws governing ballot measures in New Jersey

The New Jersey Constitution provides for a legislative process to amend the state constitution.

Legislature

See also: Legislatively referred constitutional amendment

The New Jersey Constitution provides two legislative methods for referring a constitutional amendment to the ballot. First, the legislature can refer an amendment to the ballot through a 60% vote of both chambers during one legislative session. That amounts to a minimum of 48 votes in the New Jersey General Assembly and 24 votes in the New Jersey State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Second, the legislature can refer an amendment through a simple majority vote (50%+1) in each legislative chamber during two successive legislative sessions. That amounts to a minimum of 41 votes in the New Jersey General Assembly and 21 votes in the New Jersey State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments do not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

Historical partisan control

The table below depicts the historical trifecta status of New Jersey.

New Jersey Party Control: 1992-2026
Fifteen years of Democratic trifectas  •  Eight years of Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year	92	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	07	08	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26
Governor	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Senate	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	S	S	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D
Assembly	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	R	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D

Historical Senate control

Democrats won control of the New Jersey State Senate in 2003. In 2023, they won a 25-15 majority.

The table below shows the partisan history of the New Jersey Senate following every general election from 1991 to 2023. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

New Jersey State Senate election results: 1991-2023

Party	91	93	97	01	03	07	11	13	17	21	23
Democrats	13	16	16	20	22	23	24	24	25	24	25
Republicans	27	24	24	20	18	17	16	16	15	16	15

Historical House control

Democrats won control of the New Jersey General Assembly in 2001. In 2025, they won a 57-23 majority.

The table below shows the partisan history of the New Jersey General Assembly following every general election from 1991 to 2025. All data from 2006 or earlier comes from Michael Dubin's Party Affiliations in the State Legislatures (McFarland Press, 2007). Data after 2006 was compiled by Ballotpedia staff.

New Jersey General Assembly election results: 1991-2025

Year	'91	'93	'95	'97	'99	'01	'03	'05	'07	'09	'11	'13	'15	'17	'19	'21	'23	'25
Democrats	22	27	30	32	35	44	47	48	48	47	48	48	52	54	52	46	52	57
Republicans	58	53	50	48	45	36	33	32	32	33	32	32	28	26	28	34	28	23

Analysis

Adopted legislation, 2011-2024

See also: The State Legislative Decade - New Jersey

In 2024, Ballotpedia released analysis of bills enacted in each state in the preceding decade. The charts and table below detail legislation passed each year by party sponsorship.

See also

Elections	New Jersey State Government	State Legislatures	State Politics
New Jersey State Senate elections, 2027 New Jersey General Assembly elections, 2027	New Jersey State Legislature New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey State Senate Governor of New Jersey New Jersey Supreme Court	State legislative elections, 2026 State legislative special elections, 2026 State legislative elections, 2024 State legislative elections, 2022	State government trifectas State government triplexes Veto overrides in state legislatures State executives State courts Ballot measures

External links

• Search Google News for this topic
• New Jersey State Legislature homepage

Footnotes

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2026

State legislative elections (2026) • State legislative special elections (2026) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2026 Session Dates

2025

State legislative elections (2025) • State legislative special elections (2025) • Primary dates and filing requirements • 2025 Session Dates

Historical elections

2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 • 2009 • 2008 • 2007 • 2006 • 2005 • 2004 • 2003 • 2002 • 2001 • 2000

Features of state legislatures

How vacancies are filled in state legislatures • States with a full-time legislature • State legislatures with term limits • Comparison of state legislative salaries • When state legislators assume office after a general election • Population represented by state legislators • State constitutional articles governing state legislatures • State legislative sessions • Resign-to-run law • State legislature candidate requirements by state • Official names of state legislatures • State legislative chambers that use multi-member districts • Factors Affecting Competitiveness in State Legislative Elections

State senates

Length of terms of state senators • State senators • Partisan composition of state senates • State senators sorted by year first elected

State houses

Length of terms of state representatives • State representatives • Partisan composition of state houses • State representatives sorted by year first elected

Leadership positions

President of the Senate • President Pro Tempore • Senate Majority Leader • Senate Minority Leader • House Majority Leader • House Minority Leader • State Speaker of the House

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