In March 2009, 3rd District Assemblyman
Douglas H. Fisher was appointed to head the
New Jersey Department of Agriculture. Riley was chosen among a special convention of Cumberland,
Gloucester, and
Salem county Democrats to replace him in the Assembly. She was sworn in on March 19, 2009 becoming the first woman to represent the district. Riley sponsored legislation (A-1491) that tightens restrictions on repeat domestic violence offenders by raising bail requirements. She also sponsored A1561, which creates a diversionary program designed to educate teens on the dangers of "
sexting" instead of automatically criminalizing the behavior. Riley sponsored legislation such as, A-3063 and A-3064 that would enhance the State's farm winery industry and could bring more tourism to the area. The Assemblywoman sponsored legislation that would have increased State support during State Fiscal Year 2011 for the Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled Program, the Senior Gold Prescription Discount Program and the Homestead Property Tax Rebate/Credit program. Assemblywoman Riley has passed legislation that protects assisted living residents from eviction for using Medicaid, after reports from the state Office of the Public Advocate indicated that certain facilities were evicting patients after they exhausted their personal finances and were eligible for Medicaid, in favor of private-pay patients. In New Jersey, it is no longer legal for employers to specify in their job ads that unemployed persons will not be considered. Assemblywoman Riley was a primary sponsor in legislation that bans overt discrimination against the jobless in print or online was signed into law March 29, 2011, by Gov. Chris Christie and is the first legislation of its kind in the United States. Employers would face a penalty of $1,000 for the first offense and $5,000 for subsequent offenses. In recognition of the importance of the
American Red Cross, she was the primary sponsor of legislation, signed by Gov. Christie, that designates March as "American Red Cross" month for the State of New Jersey. In the
2011 apportionment based on the results of the
2010 United States census,
Dominick DiCicco was moved from the
4th Legislative District into District 3.
John J. Burzichelli (with 25,172 votes) and Riley (23,960) won re-election, defeating DiCicco (20,268) and his running mate Bob Villare (20,528) DiCicco's loss made his seat the only gain by the Democrats in the Assembly in the 2011 election cycle.
District 3 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 3rd District during the time she was in the Assembly were: • Senate President
Stephen M. Sweeney • Assemblyman
John J. Burzichelli ==County Clerk==