Understanding Your NJ Government: How State Government Works in New Jersey | Executive and Legislative Branches

This is the third article in an ongoing series intended to help NJ residents, especially students, understand their local and state government. 

NJ has three branches of government (like the US): Executive, Legislative and Judicial. All three are defined and governed by the NJ Constitution which we’ll cover more in depth in another article.

The Executive

The executive branch is headed by the Governor, who is elected to a four-year term and can’t serve more than two terms in a row. He/She is responsible for:

• Proposing the state budget
• Appointing department heads and judges (with Senate confirmation)
• Issuing executive orders
• Reviewing laws passed by the Legislature

One of the governor’s most powerful tools is the veto and there are four ways that can go down.

Regular Veto (blocks a bill completely.), Conditional Veto (sends the bill back to lawmakers with revisions), Line-Item Veto (allows the Governor to remove specific spending items from a budget bill while approving the rest) and Pocket Veto (Governor takes no action on a bill after the Legislature adjourns for the year).

The Legislature can override a veto with a two-thirds vote in both chambers, but historically that’s been difficult to achieve.

Other key positions in the Executive include…

Attorney General – leads the Department of Law and Public Safety and represents the state in legal matters.

State Treasurer – manages finances, revenue collection, and bond issuance.

Secretary of State – oversees elections, business registration, and state records.

Most of the state’s actual work happens inside the executive. Agencies like the Department of Education, the Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Transportation write regulations, enforce laws, distribute funding, and implement laws through the rule-making process.

Oh yeah, we should probably cover that here.

So, while legislators write the laws, agencies under the executive usually decide how they actually play out in real world applications.

Remember back in August when we covered the DOL’s proposed changes to the ABC test?

With that said, proposed rules must be published in the New Jersey Register and open to public comment before they’re finalized – which is why we were able to provide feedback on the DOL proposal.

Decisions made by the executive can have big impacts on the local level. DEP stormwater rules, as an example, determine how towns design drainage systems to manage flooding. DOE graduation standards shape how schools measure student progress.

Executive orders can also have far-reaching consequences, as we saw with the shutdown orders during the COVID pandemic.

The Legislative

The New Jersey Legislature is a bicameral body – made up of two separate chambers – the Senate and the General Assembly whose powers are derived from NJ’s state constitution.

One hundred twenty lawmakers representing every NJ community and region write, debate, amend, and pass laws. They also approve the state budget, oversee agencies and shape how state policies affect local governments, schools, and residents.

The Senate

The New Jersey Senate consists of 40 members…one from each legislative district, who serve four-year terms. The only exception is the first term after each decennial redistricting when the term is two years. This 2/4/4 cycle is meant to align elections with population changes reflected in the U.S. Census. After the census, legislative districts are examined and altered depending on how population shifts land.

Key responsibilities of the Senate…

• Votes on all legislation that comes from either chamber
• Confirms the Governor’s appointments to the judiciary and state offices
• Participates in budget approval

The Senate is smaller than the Assembly, so individual senators have strong pull, especially when they occupy leadership roles and committee assignments.

The Senate President is elected by the chamber’s members as the most powerful position within that body, they set the legislative agenda -they are the gatekeeper of which bills come up for a vote AND appoint committee chairs and members.

Other important leadership positions include the Majority Leader (they coordinate the party’s legislative priorities) and Minority Leader (leads the opposition party and helps shape debate).

Senate committees are where the work of making laws takes place – holding public hearings, hearing testimony from experts and residents, debating amendments, and deciding whether a bill should advance to the full Senate. Major committees include Budget and Appropriations, Education, Judiciary, Health, and Environment and Energy.  A bill that fails in committee usually does not move forward, which makes committee assignments and leadership roles highly influential and a reason why the Senate President is so powerful.

The General Assembly

The General Assembly consists of 80 members – two representatives from each legislative district -serving two-year terms. All 80 seats go up for election every two years. The more rapid election cycle is meant to tie Assembly votes closer to public sensibilities.

It’s clear that NJ is modeled after Congress … the Senate is about stability, and the House is about on-the-ground representation.

The Assembly Speaker is the chamber’s presiding officer and one of the most powerful political figures in the state. Like the Senate President, the Speaker controls the flow of legislation, assigns bills to committees, and makes appointments to committees. The Majority and Minority Leaders play the same role in the Assembly as they do in the Senate.

The Assembly also mirrors the Senate in its committee system – specialized committees focus on areas like Transportation and Independent Authorities, Labor, Education, State and Local Government, and Budget. Committees shape bills early in the legislative process and serve as the first arena for public input. Testimony at committee hearings can prompt amendments and even determine whether a bill lives or dies.

How a Bill Becomes Law

Legislation can originate in either chamber, though budget bills usually begin in the Assembly. Once it’s introduced, a bill is assigned to a committee based on what it covers. If it’s approved at the committee level it goes to the full chamber for debate and vote. If passed, the bill is sent to the other chamber, where the process is repeated. Amendments made in the second chamber may require a conference committee (a temporary panel of members from both chambers) to resolve differences before final passage. For example, if a bill originates in the Assembly and the Senate amends it, a conference committee with members of the Assembly and Senate may get together to reconcile both versions.

Once both chambers pass the same version of a bill, it lands on the Governor’s desk where it’s either signed, vetoed or conditionally vetoed.

If the bill is vetoed, the Legislature can override the decision with a two-thirds vote in both chambers. This process is part of a system of checks and balances.

Joint Sessions and the Budget Process

Occasionally, the Assembly and Senate meet in joint session for the Governor’s annual State of the State address or to vote on constitutional amendments and bond acts.

One of the Legislature’s most important responsibilities is passing the state budget which starts with the Governor’s proposed budget.  The Assembly starts the review and modifies it before sending it to the Senate. Both chambers need to approve the final version by the end of the fiscal year (June 30). Because the budget funds schools, municipalities, and state programs, this process holds the most important and impactful debates of the year.

The actions of the legislative branch often shape local policy. As an example – affordable housing obligations originally stemming from legislation and later shaped by the courts, dictate how towns plan for growth. Education formulas lead to how much funding each district receives. These choices define the boundaries within which local governments operate.

Check Wiki for Full Series (developing)

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