Rice bill would bar bills reliant on unpassed measures

State Sen. Ron Rice (D-Newark) is sponsoring a bill that would bar the legislature from passing measures with start dates that depend on the passage on separate laws.

“We shouldn’t be passing legislation that is contingent upon another piece of legislation,” Rice said. “I think it is bad policy-making. We have people we want to help, but sometimes can’t because a piece of legislation is tied to another. We have to end this unjustifiable practice.”

Rice is the third longest-serving member of the New Jersey State Senate.  He won a 1986 special election following the death of State Sen. John F. Caufield (D-Newark) and has been re-elected ten times.