Wayne DeAngelo

Biography

Assemblyman DeAngelo was born in Trenton, New Jersey. He is a fourth-generation Hamilton Township, Mercer County resident of Italian-American descent. He lives in the township with his wife Toni and their two daughters. DeAngelo attended Steinert High School and the Rupert John Trade School. He is the Assistant Business Manager of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 269. DeAngelo is a former Hamilton Township councilman. DeAngelo and John Bencivengo, Hamilton's mayor, served as Grand Marshals of the 2008 Hamilton Township Columbus Day Parade.

Legislative career

DeAngelo was first elected to the Assembly in 2007 winning a close race with his Democratic running mate, incumbent Assemblywoman Linda R. Greenstein against Republicans Adam Bushman and Tom Goodwin and Libertarians Jason M. Scheurer and Ray F. Cragle. While Greenstein won 27% of the total vote, DeAngelo eked out a win by getting 821 more votes than third-place winner Goodwin. He subsequently won another full term to the Assembly with Greenstein in 2009; since 2011, DeAngelo won re-election with Dan Benson.

DeAngelo serves in the Assembly on the Telecommunications and Utilities Committee (as Chair) and on the Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee (Vice-Chair). Upon entering the state legislature, Assemblyman DeAngelo stated working on property tax reform and preserving New Jersey's open space.

Energy legislation

In the wake of the "Green Recovery" report released last fall by several environmental organizations, including the New Jersey Sierra Club, Assemblyman DeAngelo called for the creation of a broad coalition of people to make the state an epicenter for the green jobs movement.

Assemblyman DeAngelo sponsored a bill signed into law in January 2009 that makes it easier for towns, schools and colleges to improve their buildings’ energy efficiency affordably. Public entities will thus be able to reduce their energy consumption in New Jersey.

In 2009, DeAngelo expressed his frustration with the New Jersey Department of Transportation's speed in processing and approving a smart development plan on a unified U.S. Route 130 commercial corridor.

This past February, Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo enabled his legislative office to connect residents with the NJ SHARES program. This program allows a household to receive a one-time energy grant for up to $700 for natural gas and up to $300 for electricity.

Worker’s rights

In his role with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Assemblyman DeAngelo consistently advocates for workers rights. In the past, he has been present at work site protests when companies in his area choose to practice allegedly unfair labor practices.

In the fall of 2008, DeAngelo, in his role as Mercer/Burlington Building Trades Council President, led a protest outside the site of All Star Honda in Hamilton. DeAngelo was there to emphasize that the protest was "a wage issue" because the developer was paying workers on site below the area’s prevailing wage.

In early March 2009, as Governor Corzine was preparing to present his new state budget for the next fiscal year, Assemblyman DeAngelo made it clear that he would oppose Corzine’s plan for a wage freeze and furloughs for public employees.

Assemblyman DeAngelo and fellow 14th District legislator Linda Greenstein were the primary sponsors of the Family Leave Law. The bill offers up to six weeks paid leave to workers needing to give care to a newborn or sick relative. DeAngelo was instrumental in pushing through the bill, stating, "New Jerseyans support family leave because they realize that their friends and neighbors should never be forced to quit their jobs and accept unemployment to tend to an urgent family need." The 14th District’s State Senator, Bill Baroni, was one of the few Republicans who voted in favor of the successful bill.

Assemblyman DeAngelo further demonstrated his bipartisan approach in October 2008, stating that "the biggest message is we need to work together, Republicans and Democrats," while dealing with the state’s stimulus package in light of the economic crisis.

With the economic crisis in mind, Assemblyman DeAngelo sponsored a bill in 2009 to establish a state food pantry fund in order to compensate for recent shortages at food pantries coinciding with 250,000 new food pantry clients statewide this past year.

Other legislation

Consequently, a portion of his legislative work has focused on child safety and municipality versus state issues.

In the summer of 2008, DeAngelo sponsored a bill that would allow municipalities to create "predator-free zones," in response to a judge’s ruling that Megan’s Law could not be interfered with by local municipalities concerned about where their registered sex offenders could live.

DeAngelo sponsored a set of bills in March 2009 aimed at protecting children from internet predators. The bills criminalized sexual communication towards minors, removed the possibility of anonymity online for registered sex offenders, and mandated that discoveries of child porn on computers be reported.

DeAngelo successfully advocated for local control over traffic signals and speed limits when he sponsored a bill in August 2008 attempting to eliminate state oversight of municipalities erecting stop signs or changing speed limits on its roads. The bill was signed into law by Governor Jon Corzine in December 2008.

DeAngelo cosponsored a bill in 2008 to encourage higher voter participation in local school board elections. The bill would eliminate the need for special school elections and save taxpayers more than $5 million a year, while bringing more visibility and accountability to school officials by moving these elections to the November general election.

In September 2008, Governor Corzine introduced a package of ethics reform measures aimed at reducing the impact of money on the state’s political system. The package called for legislation requiring more detailed disclosures of their financial interests. DeAngelo had been an early proponent of this reform, saying the push for tighter rules was fueled by recent legal and ethics scandals in Trenton.

District 14

Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the New Jersey Senate and two members in the New Jersey General Assembly. The other representatives from the 14th District for the 2014-2015 Legislative Session are: