New Jersey State Senator Jennifer Beck has been serving the community for over nine years, with no signs of slowing down
By Jennifer Vikse
Jennifer Beck has always been on the move. At nine years old, she was the first girl to play ice hockey in a league in her hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. Throughout school, she played co-ed soccer and went on to Boston College, where she ran track and served as co-captain of the team with her best friend in her senior year (and graduated with a degree in physics and mathematics). Now, she finds time to compete in triathlons and conserve outdoor space while serving Monmouth County as State Senator.
Beck, who currently represents the 11th district, was elected to the post in 2007—the first Republican elected to the seat in over two decades. In addition, she is one of but three women in the state legislature currently serving the district (a triad completed by Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande). The distinction is unique, she notes, because it’s not easy to convince women to run for public office.
“The challenges for women are not so much that we don’t have the opportunity,” she said. “I think it’s that women have to balance multiple roles,” including, she added, home, family, work, and other commitments.
For Beck, public service is a priority. She earned a Masters in Government Administration degree from the Fels School of Government at the University of Pennsylvania and started her career as Chief of Staff for Assemblyman Joe Azzolina. She then served one term as an assemblywoman and two terms on the Red Bank Borough council before being elected to the state senate. In addition, she is president of JAB Marketing, a media relations and marketing firm.
One of her first objectives under Assemblyman Azzolina was to improve the treatment of rape victims after attacks.
“We developed a bill to provide a room in the hospitals for rape survivors to do the exam,” explained Beck. “When they go to the ER, they were told to sit and wait, and there were all these obstacles to prosecuting rapists. Most ER physicians didn’t want to get involved; they didn’t want to be called to testify, and it takes two hours or more to collect the evidence.”
Modeling new protocol after a program she’d read about in Oklahoma, Beck, along with the assemblyman’s office, worked with three hospitals to address all these issues.
“It has now gone statewide and was signed into law by then Governor Whitman. Each county now has nurses and advocates that go out,” she noted, citing collaboration with several parties to make the program work, including the county, New Jersey’s Department of Criminal Justice, and the hospitals.
“You can affect change on a really large scale,” she said. “It’s a youthful notion that you can go out and change the world and when you are an elected official, but you really can. I always tell young people not to dismiss a career in public service. We are able to help people—give a voice to people who have no voice. That’s inspiring to me and that’s why I serve.”
These days, Beck added that the major issues she sees in her district vary dependent on where one looks.
“Our urban centers like Asbury Park have traditional urban challenges, including gangs and poverty. As you go west, it’s rural, horse country with lots of farms. Our biggest issue in the suburbs is the abuse of painkillers.”
In addition to working on those issues with authorities, she and her staff have been working diligently over the last year to help those in eastern towns who were devastated by Hurricane Sandy.
“A number of towns were impacted by the hurricane. We still have a lot of people who are not back, who are still struggling, probably thousands,” she said thoughtfully. “We spend time helping them navigate grant programs, and offer other support when they need it. One of the things we’ve seen is the national flood insurance program… how dysfunctional it is. People are counting on support that isn’t there. One of the things I hope to do is give our state some control on how flood claims are administered.”
The senator noted, too, that many insurers have left homeowners in the lurch.
“It’s almost criminal what they are doing to people. We have families in Union Beach that have no house left and are being told that they will only get $35,000 for a home that has been washed out to sea.”
But perhaps the biggest policy issue Beck has worked on recently is pension health benefits reform.
“I think the governor would agree that that’s one of his most significant accomplishments. It’s going to save taxpayers $120 billion in the next 30 years. Without those reforms, many folks would have come to retirement age and been left with nothing,” she said, having worked hard on the reform.
As a member of the senate budget committee, Beck has also been successful in slowing the rate of property tax increases. While she knows homeowners want to know when a tax reduction will come, she was quick to point out that this year marked the lowest property tax increase in 20 years.
“We’re working toward a decrease,” she added. “But we are proud of the fact they have only gone up 1.6 percent, the lowest rate in two decades.”
With her demanding roles, it’s a wonder that Beck finds time at all to enjoy the community she represents. A resident of Red Bank, she observed that “…It’s not a secret anymore; it’s a fabulous pace to live. The quality of life is unmatched anywhere, and there’s something old fashioned about it. There are quirky, trending, interesting places to shop and eat. We sit on a river and are close to the beach; I feel like we’re perfectly placed.”
Beck, who was re-elected to her seat on Nov. 5, said that she will continue to work on her district’s affordability issue.
“It’s driving everything that happens in this state,” she said. “For business owners, it’s a struggle. It’s expensive to live in New Jersey. If we are going to prosper over the long haul, we’ve got to make it more business friendly and more affordable for our residents.”
Photos: By Vinnie Amessé © www.amessephoto.com
Senator Jennifer Beck
New Jersey’s 11th Legislative District
beck.senatenj.com
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