Michael F. Adubato (September 15, 1934 – February 27, 1993) was an American
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
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Newark
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* Newark, New Jersey, city in the United States
* Newark Liberty International Airport, New Jersey; a major air hub in the New York metropolitan area
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New Jersey Legislature
The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and the ...
was created in 1973, the 30th District was based in Essex and
Hudson
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counties, and consisted of the Ironbound neighborhood and a portion of the North Ward of
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 ...
East Newark
East Newark is a borough in the western part of Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. It is a suburb of Newark. The borough is the second-smallest municipality by total area in the state.
The Borough of East Newark was established on July ...
Secaucus
Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,John F. Cali in 1973, and was re-elected together with him in 1975 and 1977. In 1979, Adubato was elected together with RepublicanAnthony Imperiale, who had represented the district in the
New Jersey Senate
The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232, ...
from 1974 to 1978 as an Independent, while Cali came in third. In the 1981 redistricting following the
1980 United States census
The United States census of 1980, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States to be 226,545,805, an increase of 11.4 percent over the 203,184,772 persons enumerated during the 1970 census. It was th ...
, Adubato was shifted to the 28th Legislative District which consisted entirely of Irvington and portions of Newark's North and West wards. Adubato was elected in the 28th District together with Democratic running mate
James Zangari
James Zangari (March 30, 1929 – February 15, 2011) was an American politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from the 28th Legislative District from 1980 to 1996.
Boran and raised in Newark, Zangari served in Japan with the Un ...
in 1981, 1983, 1985, 1987 and 1989. Adubato did not run for a tenth term in 1991.
Assembly legislation
After Newark Mayor
Kenneth A. Gibson
Kenneth Allen Gibson (May 15, 1932 – March 29, 2019) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as the 36th mayor of Newark, New Jersey, from 1970 to 1986. He was the first African American elected mayor of any major city in the ...
and his city council approved a series of salary increases of up to 50% for the city's elected officials in July 1974 and after the Mayor and council refused to rescind the increases, Adubato led a group of fellow Assemblymembers to block a series of measures that had been under consideration for adoption by the Assembly that would have allowed the city of Newark to increase taxes and fees on income and other charges that would have brought the city $18 million in revenue. Adubato said that "the recent irresponsibility exhibited by the Newark City Council in raising their salaries substantially" had justified the move, while a city spokesperson argued that "the legislators are threatening to withhold $18‐million in special tax revenue from city residents" over raises that totaled $150,000 for elected officials and department heads. The bill was released after several city councilmembers met with the Taxation Committee and argued that the fiscal impact of the loss of revenue would be damaging to the city; several Assemblymembers opposed holding the bill "hostage" to Adubato's efforts to get the raises rescinded.
With a state income tax being implemented in 1976, Adubato argued that it was unfair for
Bergen County
Bergen County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Essex County as part of the bills revenue sharing provisions, insisting that a greater share of the revenue should go to New Jersey's cities, which suffer most from the impacts of unemployment.
In April 1977, Adubato introduced a bill, co-sponsored by 45 of the 80 Assembly members, that would put a referendum on the ballot asking voters to approve a school voucher plan under which parents would receive a voucher that could be used at any school of their choice, public or private, in an amount equal to the amount the state spends per pupil on education. Federal District Court judgeHenry Curtis Meanor issued a February 1978 ruling that struck down the law, which permitted parents to deduct from their gross income up to $1,000 of tuition paid for each child attending a non-public school, the only such program in any U.S. state where income tax was assessed. Meanor ruled that the deduction was inconsistent with the protections in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Adubato, sponsor of the section of the state tax code authorizing the deduction that was ruled unconstitutional and parent of three children who were attending Catholic schools, argued that "the public school systems in our country are a failure" with "a much better education in the private and parochial schools" and said that he would work to find some other way to pass legislation to reinstate the deduction.
In July 1981, Adubato objected on the floor of the Assembly to the newly opened 20,000-seat Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands Sports Complex being named after the sitting governor by what Adubato described as "a group of people appointed by Governor Byrne deciding to name the facility the Brendan T. Byrne Arena". Adubato registered his objections to the name saying that the name "idolizes, sainthoods and anoints a human being".
An insurance agent by profession, Adubato was the sponsor of the Automobile Insurance Reform Act, a bill that eliminated the
assigned risk
Assigned risk is a government-required method of providing insurance coverage to an individual by compelling insurance companies to service them when such companies would ordinarily not do so due to perceive risk of insuring the individual as a cus ...
pool of 1.4 million drivers, more than 40% of the state's 3.3 million drivers, who had been rejected by their insurance companies and had been assigned to carriers. Under the terms of the bill signed by Governor of New JerseyThomas Kean after being vetoed twice by his predecessor Brendan Byrne, these motorists would be covered by the Joint Underwriting Association starting in January 1984. A series of amendments impacting drivers and sponsored by Adubato passed both houses in January 1984, providing funding for the joint pool through a $1,000 surcharge per year for three years on drunk drivers, a $100 surcharge on those with DWI convictions to pay for added policing and a rejection of an across-the-board $90 surcharge assessed on all auto insurance coverage. Upon leaving the Assembly, he continued his involvement on insurance issues as an advisor to legislators on related matters.
Death
He died of a heart attack on February 27, 1993, at the age of 58 at
Clara Maass Medical Center
Clara Maass Medical Center is a 342- bed hospital in Belleville, Essex County, New Jersey, United States, that is part of the RWJBarnabas Health. It was founded in 1868 as the Newark German Hospital, and was renamed in 1952 in honor of Clara ...
in Belleville, New Jersey.
Adubato's daughter Lisa was nominated by Governor of New JerseyChris Christie to serve as a judge in New Jersey Superior Court.The Auditor "Christie nominates an Adubato to the bench , The Auditor" NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, June 28, 2015. Accessed January 25, 2018."Buried half way down the list was Cranford Deputy Mayor Lisa Adubato, who was one of eight people Christie nominated for the bench in Essex County, which has a severe judge shortage. Lisa Adubato is the daughter of the late Michael Adubato, a nine-term Democratic assemblyman and brother of Newark powerbroker Steve Adubato." His nephew,
Steve
''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen
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, served the 20th District in the Assembly from 1984 to 1986; Michael and Steve Adubato became the only uncle and nephew to serve simultaneously in the legislature.