Assembly budget committee gets three new members

The powerful Assembly Budget Committee has three new members.

William Spearman (D-Camden) will take the seat of his former running mate, Patricia Egan Jones (D-Barrington).  Jones did not seek re-election last year.

Ralph Caputo (D-Nutley) replaces John McKeon (D-West Orange).  Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Trenton) takes the seat of Raj Mukherji (D-Jersey City), who instead assumes a key post as chairman of the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Mukherji’s departure from the committee leaves Hudson County without a seat on the Assembly Budget Committee.  Another Hudson County legislator, State Sen. Sandra Cunningham (D-Jersey City), is vice chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

Eliana Pintor Marin (D-Newark) will begin her third year as chair.

Remaining on the committee: John Burzichelli (D-Paulsboro), Dan Benson (D-Hamilton), Gordon Johnson (D-Englewood), Carol Murphy (D-Mount Laurel) and Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson).