James Florio speaks to students about political life

The discussion ranged from advocacy to energy conservation last week as the College students and faculty listened to former Governor of New Jersey and U.S. Representative James "Jim" Florio share his experiences as a politician. Listeners filled Moyer on Feb. 20, 3-4 p.m., as Florio led a discussion on "Government Leadership in the 21st Century." "Democracy is not a spectator sport," said Florio. The Democratic politician served as the 49th Governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. Florio, a Brooklyn native, turned to politics in the late 1950s after active duty in the Navy.

Florio graduated from Trenton State College in 1962 with a degree in social studies and continued to study public law and government at Columbia University. He received a law degree from Rutgers School of Law in 1967. Florio decided to run for Congress in 1972, and lost. But two years later, Florio ran again and was elected to the United States House of Representatives from New Jersey's 1st Congressional District.

He served from 1975 until 1990. During his speech, Florio emphasized the importance of holding knowledge in a variety of political areas, ranging from health care to energy conservation. "It's one whole paradigm to another. You pick the sector: public health, education, environment, and so on," said Florio.

While in Congress, Florio served as chair of Subcommittee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness of Energy. He was also the chair for the Subcommittee on Housing and Consumer Interests of the Select Committee on Aging. Florio told students that "knowledge is power," encouraging them to go out and "marshal the information, marshal the facts, then go out and advocate."

While most Jersey residents at the College are too young to remember Florio's time as governor, his administration was ushered in by a late 1980s recession. Faced with a major deficit, Florio proposed large increases in state taxes.

"What I remember of my parents speaking of him are tax hikes," said John Paone '09, a political science major and resident of N.J. While taxes were just briefly noted in Florio's speech, the politician discussed other keystone issues of his active political term.

"I thought his presentation was very effective. He spoke about balancing life and politics, and the enormous pressures that politicians deal with. He told us how he got where he is today, and what he's doing now," said Paone. Florio spoke of his challenges faced while running for Congress, as well as his extensive work since the 1970s with the New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve.

Florio still resides in New Jersey and teaches a class on public policy at Rutgers University.