Sheila Oliver, who had run for both Assembly and as
Phil Murphy's running mate as
Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey in the November 2017 general election, won both seats but was prohibited from serving in both simultaneously; her running for both seats provided Oliver with a backup in case she lost her race with Murphy and would allow the Democratic county members to choose a successor if she won both seats. After taking office in the Assembly on January 9, 2018, she resigned from her seat that same day. On January 29, Timberlake, who had been the only African American woman in the state serving as freeholder director, was sworn in to replace Oliver, a fellow resident of East Orange who had been the first African American woman to serve as speaker of the General Assembly and the first to be elected to a position covering the entire state. During her tenure, in addition to being a prime author of the $15 minimum wage bill which became law in 2019, Timberlake introduced the Fair Work Week Act. This Act was to preserve shift workers’ access to rest in between shifts and permits shift workers access to consistent schedules that allow for time with family, rest, school, travel to and from work. In January 2019, a bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Timberlake was signed into law requiring the NJ Attorney General to handle the investigation and prosecution of a crime in the event a person loses their life during an interaction with or while in the custody of law enforcement. This law garnered the support of the American Civil Liberties Union, the People’s Organization for Progress, the New Jersey State NAACP, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, New Jersey Working Families, Faith in New Jersey, and countless other advocacy groups. Assemblywoman Timberlake has also been a vocal advocate for gun control. In addition to supporting legislation to regulate fire arm purchases, in 2018, she called for a prohibition on the sale of certain toy guns and imitation firearms. The bill was created in response to the death of
Tamir Rice, an Ohio resident killed during an interaction with a police officer while holding an imitation firearm. This bill was signed into law by Governor Murphy in January 2020. Assemblywoman Timberlake has also been instrumental in improving maternal and infant health outcomes. She advocated for the passage of several bills aimed at reducing health disparities amongst women of color. These bills include requiring hospital emergency departments to ask any person of childbearing age about their recent pregnancy history; mandating health benefits coverage for fertility preservation services under certain health insurance plans; mandating health benefits and Medicaid coverage for breastfeeding support; and screening of newborn infants for spinal muscular atrophy, etc. In 2020, she sponsored a bill to amend the process through which certain environmental permits are issued. The bill requires the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection to evaluate, when reviewing certain permit applications, the environmental and public health stressors on overburdened communities of certain facilities such as landfills, waste incinerators, sewage plants and others that are a "major source" of air pollution as defined in the federal
Clean Air Act. The status of being "overburdened" will be determined based on most recent U.S. Census data where at least 35 percent of households are low-income, at least 40 percent residents identify as a minority, or at least 40 percent of households have limited English language proficiency. The bill was signed into law in 2021. She also sponsored a budget resolution to restore $46.5 million in funds to the state’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund to assist families. ==New Jersey Senate==