New Jersey State Legislature

One lawmaker says gay marriage will be on the New Jersey Legislature's agenda next week. The New Jersey Legislature convenes for its lame duck session Monday and a gay marriage bill will be on the agenda, says one lawmaker. State Senator Loretta Weinberg says Senate leaders have assured her the bill will reach the Senate floor for a vote, nj.com reported. Weinberg, a Democrat, ran as Governor Corzine's running mate. Just last week, Senator Paul Sarlo, who chairs the Judiciary Committee overseeing the bill, said he would not bring up the bill unless enough committee members favored passing the bill on to the Senate floor. ?Today, as I stand here, we do not have the votes in the Judiciary Committee,? Sarlo, a Democrat from Wood-Ridge, told reporters. ?Until somebody can demonstrate that we have the votes in the Judiciary Committee, it will not be posted. I'm not going to put people in harm's way where they have to vote 'yes' or 'no' when we don't have the votes to get it out [of the comm

Poll says support for gay marriage in New Jersey has jumped. Support for gay marriage in New Jersey has jumped, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this morning. A majority (49%) of the people surveyed now support gay marriage in the Garden State, while 43 percent oppose it. A similar poll conducted in the winter of 2006, as the New Jersey Legislature was debating granting civil unions to gay and lesbian couples, showed only 44% percent of respondents approved of gay marriage and 50% opposed it. That's a jump of nearly 5% in just over 2 years. ?Two years after New Jersey's civil union law went into effect, sentiment for allowing same-sex marriage in the state has shifted from six points against to six points in favor,? said Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement. ?Support of the same-sex civil union law has risen dramatically and New Jersey voters do not see gay marriage as a threat to traditional marriages