Laurence S. Weiss (May 6, 1919 – December 27, 2003) was a Hungarian-born American politician who served in the New Jersey Senate from 1978 to 1992, where he represented the 19th Legislative District, which covers portions of Middlesex County.

Life

Weiss settled in Jersey City, New Jersey and then Carteret after his family emigrated from Hungary to the United States when he was three years old, joining grandparents who had moved there earlier. He attended the Carteret public schools, graduating from

Carteret High School Carteret High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school that serves students in ninth through twelfth grades from Carteret in Middlesex County, New Jersey, United States, as the lone secondary school of the Carteret School D ...

, and spent a year at

Middlesex County College Middlesex College, formerly known as Middlesex County College, is a public community college with its main campus in Edison, New Jersey. Founded by the Middlesex County Board of Elected Freeholders in 1964, the two-year college serves the needs ...

. He briefly operated a gas station in

Newark Newark most commonly refers to: * Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States * Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area Newark may also refer to: Places Canada * Niagara-on-the ...

, before enlisting in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, attending

Officer Candidate School An officer candidate school (OCS) is a military school which trains civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. How OCS is run differs between countries and services. Ty ...

Fort Benning, Georgia Fort Benning is a United States Army post near Columbus, Georgia, adjacent to the Alabama–Georgia border. Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve component soldiers, retirees and civilian employees ...

where he earned a commission as a second lieutenant. In 1943, Weiss was part of the 94th Infantry Division and was assigned to the Pacific Theater of Operations, serving in New Caledonia and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

. There he was named as a platoon leader for the 24th Infantry Division, and was ultimately promoted to captain and

company commander A company commander is the commanding officer of a company, a military unit which typically consists of 100 to 250 soldiers, often organized into three or four smaller units called platoons. The exact organization of a company varies by countr ...

. He saw action in the New Guinea campaign, in the Philippine Islands and in the earliest landings in Japan following

V-J Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on ...

. He was recalled to active duty during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, serving until 1952 as a major with the Army's Inspector General. During his service he was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star Medal and the

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, ...

, in addition to other citations. After completing his military service he returned to the American Petroleum Corporation of

Perth Amboy Perth Amboy is a city in Middlesex County, New Jersey. Perth Amboy is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 55,436. Perth Amboy has a Hispanic majority population. In the 2010 census, th ...

, becoming the company's president in 1960. Weiss served on the Middlesex County Planning Board and was active with the Woodbridge Township Public Library and was involved there in major construction projects. In the 1977 Democratic primaries, Weiss defeated incumbent Democrat John J. Fay Jr., and went on to win election. During his 14 years in office Weiss served on the Agriculture Committee, State Government Committee, Education Committee, Oversight Committee and the Joint Legislative Commission, as well as 11 years as chair of the State Finance, Revenue and Appropriation Committee and six years leading the Joint Appropriations Committee. Weiss was one of the initial authors and key supporters of

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official r ...

Jim Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. Representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional district from ...

's $2.8 billion tax increase package in 1991, and then pushed on behalf of its repeal after he was defeated in his re-election bid. Republicans statewide and

Randy Corman J. Randall "Randy" Corman (born September 25, 1960) is an American Republican Party politician who served a single term in the New Jersey Senate, from 1992 to 1994, where he represented the 19th Legislative District, which covers portions of M ...

in the 19th District used the tax increase as a major campaign issue, with Weiss noting his role as chairman of the committee that drafted and approved the budget and saying "I'm not the target, I'm the bull's eye".Gray, Jerry
"Tax Increase Turns a Once-Confident New Jersey Senator Nervous"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', November 1, 1991. Accessed July 7, 2010. Weiss died at age 84 on December 27, 2003, at Hollywood Medical Center in Hollywood, Florida. He was survived by his wife, the former Edith Gelber, whom he married in 1941, as well as by a daughter, a son and four grandchildren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Laurence S. 1919 births 2003 deaths United States Army personnel of World War II Businesspeople from New Jersey Carteret High School alumni American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian Jews Democratic Party New Jersey state senators People from Carteret, New Jersey Politicians from Jersey City, New Jersey Politicians from Middlesex County, New Jersey Recipients of the Silver Star United States Army officers 20th-century American legislators Middlesex County College alumni 20th-century American businesspeople Military personnel from New Jersey