SWEENEY: “MY WORK REMAINS”
I dedicated my legislative career, and a great portion of my life to the 3rd district. The lack of services for individuals with disabilities was the driving force behind my passion to serve. Serving the State of New Jersey as its Senate President was a true honor; each day brought new challenges, new friendships, and new demands for solutions.
My passion for public office is driven by my daughter Lauren and our experience with how individuals with disabilities are treated. We were fortunate to obtain more funding for direct service providers, more life and job training, and more income flexibility to increase independence. Additionally, we succeeded in spreading unified sports an inclusive opportunity for athletes with special needs.
In addition to advancing opportunities for those with disabilities, we were fortunate to succeed on many fronts:
Codified Gay Marriage and the Right for a woman to make her own healthcare decisions.
Eliminated cash bail.
Provided opportunities for individuals with disabilities to be more independent.
Grew jobs in new industries including renewable energies.
Significantly increased support for public schools
Made college more affordability.
Created a truly fair minimum wage, gave all workers paid time off, and expanded paid family leave.
Stabilized State Pension System
To this day I remain grateful-to my colleagues for entrusting me to lead the Senate - to the people of the 3rd district- to my family, for always standing by me. I have spoken to many of them over these last few months as I considered a potential return to the legislature. After great consideration I have decided not to return to the legislature, not because the work is done, quite the contrary.
By no means does this mean my elected days are over, I remain committed to addressing these challenges. We must come together - combining leadership and experience to face the challenges of the Garden State.
As I have done for the entirety of my career, including this last year, I remain committed to creating solutions, finding common ground and working across the partisan divide to bring New Jersey residents the quality of life they deserve. I remain committed to helping the Democratic Party increase its control in the legislature this year while winning county commissioner, mayor and council races up and down the state.
