The author of more than 260 bills that have been signed into law, Senator Patrick J. Diegnan Jr. is in his 24th year as a state legislator.
Senator Diegnan currently chairs the Senate Transportation Committee and serves on the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
He served eight terms in the General Assembly before joining the Senate in 2016.

Senator Diegnan is a former Deputy Speaker and Parliamentarian of the General Assembly, where he also chaired the Education and Higher Education committees.

Senator Diegnan graduated from Seton Hall University in 1970, earned a juris doctorate at Seton Hall Law School in 1973, and was admitted to the New Jersey bar in 1974. He has a private law practice in South Plainfield.

A former instructor of law and accounting at Middlesex College, Senator Diegnan has sponsored numerous bills supporting education. They include the New Jersey Student Tuition Assistance Rewards Scholarship (NJSTARS) program, which provides scholarships to qualified high school students to attend county colleges and universities. Senator Diegnan’s landmark legislation reformed New Jersey’s teacher tenure law, protecting the bargaining rights of teachers while ensuring accountability in the classroom.

Senator Diegnan’s legislation regarding sudden cardiac arrest, concussion and exertional heat stroke helped make New Jersey the country’s leader in health and safety policies for high school student-athletes, according to the Korey Stringer Institute’s national rankings.

Senator Diegnan led legislation ending dangers synthetic plastic microbeads commonly used in personal care products posed to state waterways and maritime life. Congress adopted his “New Jersey Microbeads Law,” which President Obama signed into law.
His legislation requiring New Jersey to implement an electric school bus program to provide students with a healthier and more environmentally friendly transportation is also now law.

In response to the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) in health care facilities statewide during the pandemic, Senator Diegnan authored legislation requiring long-term care facilities and hospitals to have PPE readily available in the event of a public health emergency. Another of his bills establishes a commission to create the New Jersey COVID19 Frontline and Healthcare Worker Memorial for those who valiantly fought and risked their lives battling the coronavirus.
The youngest of seven children, Senator Diegnan was born to parents who experienced the Great Depression firsthand after emigrating from Ireland in the late 1920s. The Diegnan children learned the value of hard work, family, and faith from their parents.
Senator Diegnan and his wife, Anita, to whom he has been wed for 49 years, are the proud parents of daughters Heather Paragano-Utt and Tara Webster, and proud grandparents of Vanessa, Alexa, Brooke, and Andrew.

Paula Rogovin taught in the New York City public elementary schools for 44 years. She has 3 sons and 6 grandchildren. Paula has been an activist all her life. She co-founded Educators Against Racism and Apartheid, the Teaneck Peace and Justice Vigil, which has stood vigil every Wednesday since 2005, and the Coalition to Ban Unsafe Oil Trains. Paula is currently the Co-chairperson of Food and Water Watch, North Jersey Volunteer Team. She has written several books, which she wrote to assist educators in developing social justice curriculum: Apartheid is Wrong, A Curriculum for Young People (United Nations Center Against Apartheid), and 3 Heinemann books: Classroom Interviews, a World of Learning, The Research Workshop, Bringing the World into Your Classroom, Why Can’t You Behave, a Teachers’ Guide to Creative Classroom Management).

Intro 1524, introduced on behalf of her kindergarten class of 2013 -14, was finally passed (unanimously) into law by the New York City Council on Earth Day, April 22, 2021. The children learned about pesticides during their research about tomatoes. The Law bans toxic pesticides in all NYC parks, playgrounds, and public spaces!! 

Melissa McNally is a physical education teacher of 27 years at Hurffville Elementary School in Washington Township.  In 2011, she was named Teacher of the Year and has since mentored dozens of future physical education teachers from Rowan University over the past 15 years. Also in 2011, she began serving as a union representative for the WTEA, later became a senior representative, and eventually the elementary vice president of the WTEA, a role she enjoys immensely. Her other passion has been coaching gymnastics. In her 23 years of coaching, she has had the privilege to coach a state championship team and over 15 individual state champions. She has two beautiful children, born and raised in Wenonah, New Jersey, and the oldest currently attends Stockton University. She enjoys tennis,  pickleball, and crochet, and loves beach days and lighthouses. She has been an ongoing advocate for healthy workplaces and plans to continue her advocacy to improve the working environment in our schools with the help of WEC and NJEA.

Jessie Gómez is a reporter at Chalkbeat Newark, covering state education policy and education in Newark. A proud Latina and first-generation college graduate, she brings deep experience covering local, Black, and Latino communities. Before Chalkbeat, Jessie covered Morris and Bergen County communities for The Record/Northjersey.com. She also completed a one-year fellowship at MuckRock, a Boston-based non-profit news site focused on public records law and FOIA work, and has additional experience in political communications, broadcast, and digital media.

Ron Sabol has spent more than 25 years fighting for working people across New Jersey and Delaware. A member of SMART-TD Local 1447 in Newark since 2000, he has served as the local’s president since 2005 and as SMART-TD’s New Jersey/Delaware Safety and Legislative Director since 2016. He also serves as a vice president of the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, secretary-treasurer of the Mercer County Central Labor Council and a member of the Mercer County Advisory Council on Special Transportation. In 2025, Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill selected Sabol to serve on her transportation transition team, ensuring that workers had a direct voice in shaping the state’s transportation policies. 

Sabol’s leadership extends well beyond the rail industry. As president of the New Jersey Society for Environmental and Economic Development (NJ SEED), he brings labor, business, environmental and community leaders together to advance responsible economic development, modern infrastructure and good union jobs. His ability to build trust among people with different interests has helped strengthen SEED’s influence and ensure that workers remain central to conversations about public investment and New Jersey’s environmental and economic future. 

Whether he is advancing landmark protections against assaults on transit employees, improving transportation access for seniors and people with disabilities, strengthening rail safety or fighting for the livelihoods of SMART-TD members, Sabol approaches every responsibility with persistence and purpose. His many titles reflect the trust others place in him, but his tireless service to working families, and his belief that economic progress and environmental responsibility must move forward together, best defines his career.

Barbara Rosen, RN, BSN, is one of HPAE’s most respected leaders and one of New Jersey’s most enduring voices for nurses, healthcare workers, and patient safety. A longtime nurse, educator, and union activist, she has devoted nearly 52 years to nursing, labor leadership, and public service. Her career spans Bergen Pines, Bergen Regional Medical Center, and Bergen New Bridge Medical Center, where she has been a constant and respected presence through decades of change in healthcare.

Barbara’s commitment to workers and patients began early. In 1978, she was part of the successful effort to unionize the hospital, helping lay the foundation for stronger representation for healthcare workers. She went on to serve as President of HPAE Local 5091, later as Secretary-Treasurer of Health Professionals and Allied Employees (HPAE), and currently serves as HPAE First Vice President. Throughout her leadership, she has been a determined advocate for safe staffing, fair labor practices, quality patient care, and respect for healthcare workers.

One of the defining moments of Barbara’s career came after she was stuck by a contaminated needle involving exposure to HIV and Hepatitis C. She became a leading voice in HPAE’s fight for the New Jersey Needle Safety and Prevention Act, enacted in 1999, which later helped serve as a model for federal needle safety legislation. Her advocacy helped turn a personal workplace injury into lasting reform that has protected countless healthcare workers.

Barbara also holds the distinction of leading the 2004 strike at Bergen Regional Medical Center, when Local 5091 stood up against deteriorating patient care and working conditions under a for-profit administration. It remains a landmark moment in the history of the local.

Beyond her union leadership and clinical work, Barbara oversees HPAE’s health and safety programs, including efforts addressing workplace violence, and plays an important role in HPAE’s education programs. She also has contributed to the broader nursing profession and her community through service on the board of the New Jersey Work Environment Council, the Felician University School of Nursing Advisory Board, and as a Nurse Planner for contact hour programs provided through the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). Her public service has also included the River Vale Board of Adjustment, Planning Board, and Town Council.

Alex Ambrose is a Senior Policy Analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective where she researches policies with a focus on climate justice and transportation.

Prior to NJPP, Alex served as Policy Associate at the Association of NJ Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) and Policy Assistant at New Jersey League of Conservation Voters (NJLCV). In those roles, she worked on policy and legislation to protect clean water, preserve open space, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions with an emphasis on equity.

Alex holds a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers University where she also received her Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources with a minor in Environmental Geomatics.