Barbara Buono
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Barbara Buono (born July 28, 1953) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 2002, where she represents the 18th Legislative District.
Before entering the Senate, Buono served in the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, the General Assembly, from 1994 to 2001, where she served as the Minority Parliamentarian. In the Assembly, Senator Buono became the ranking Democrat on the Assembly Budget Committee.
She began her career as a criminal trial attorney for the New Jersey State Department of the Public Advocate and later entered private practice. Buono served on the Metuchen Borough Council from 1993 to 1994 where she worked to achieve fiscal responsibility to the community by stabilizing tax rates without lowering the quality and availability of local services. While the Metuchen Police Commissioner, Senator Buono worked to increase safety in suburban neighborhoods and instituted Metuchen's community policing program.
Senator Buono is currently serving as the Democratic Conference Chair. She is also the Chair of the Senate Wagering, Tourism, and Historic Perservation Committee, and the Vice Chair of the Senate Intergovernmental Relations Commission. Buono is also on the Budget & Appropriations Committee along with the Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee.
Senator Buono has authored New Jersey's "Anti-Bullying Law" which requires school districts to implement anti-harassment and bullying prevention policies to make schools safer for children. She was also the prime sponsor of consumer protection measures restricting telemarketing by creating the most stringent "Do Not Call" database legislation in the nation. Senator Buono is also the prime sponsor of the law prohibiting the practice of predatory lending, in which lenders issue loans with hidden costs and excessive fees to homeowners, eroding their financial security and putting their homes at risk.
Buono received a B.A. in 1975 from Montclair State College in Political Science and was awarded a J.D. in 1979 from the Rutgers University School of Law.
[edit] District 18
Each of the forty 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 18th Legislative District are:
- Assemblyman Peter J. Barnes, and
- Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan
[edit] External links
- Senator Buono's Senate Website
- New Jersey Senate Democrats Website Biography
- New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003
- New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure form for 2005 (PDF)
- New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure form for 2004 (PDF)
