Joseph Vitale

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Sen. Joseph Vitale

Joseph F. Vitale (born November 10, 1954) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 1998, where he represents the 19th Legislative District. He is also the former Mayor of Woodbridge Township, having been elected by the Township Council in July 2006 to fill a temporary vacancy, following the death of Mayor Frank Pelzman. Senator Vitale came to the Senate in 1998 filling a vacancy created when Jim McGreevey stepped down from his seat as part of his ultimately unsuccessful bid for election as Governor of New Jersey in 1997.

Senator Vitale is the current Deputy Majority Leader in the Senate. He is the Chairman of the Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee, and he serves on the Wagering, Tourism, and Historic Preservation Committee and the Economic Growth Committee.

Vitale is the sponsor of the 1999 New Jersey Homeless Youth Act, which allows minors to seek homeless shelter without parental approval. He is also the sponsor of bills to allow needle exchange programs for drug users and to prohibit gun ownership by those convicted of domestic violence offenses. Senator Vitale was the prime sponsor of over forty bills that were signed into law, including bills establishing the KidCare and FamilyCare health care coverage programs, as well as a bill which would require nursing aides to undergo certified criminal background checks, a bill which would prohibit the use of mandatory overtime in health care facilities except in emergency situations, and the "New Jersey Health Care Access and Patient Protection Act," which requires the State to compile information on doctors, such as office location and medical malpractice history, in a database available to the public.

Senator Vitale serves on the Board of Directors for the Middlesex County Habitat for Humanity and on the Board of Trustees of the Visiting Nurses Association of Central Jersey.

[edit] Mayor of Woodbridge

Following Pelzman's unexpected death in July 2006, Vitale volunteered to serve as Woodbridge's interim mayor. He was nominated by the township's Democratic Committee and voted in by the Township Council to serve a four month term as mayor. He said he was taking on the mayor's job in order to continue Pelzman's programs and to provide leadership during the interim period. Vitale said the time constraints of dual office holding were making him rule out seeking the remaining 14 months of Pelzman's term during the November 2006 special election for mayor. Vitale has endorsed former State Treasurer John McCormac in the special election. Vitale served as mayor until November 13, 2006, when McCormac was sworn in.

[edit] District 19

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 19th Legislative District are: