Background
DiGaetano, Paul was born on October 28, 1953 in Passaic, New Jersey, United States.
DiGaetano, Paul was born on October 28, 1953 in Passaic, New Jersey, United States.
Bachelor of Science, University Notre Dame.
DiGaetano originally represented Passaic, New Jersey, but moved to Nutley, New Jersey following his 1999 re-election (DiGaetano believed that, when the new legislative districts would be redrawn following the 2000 United States Census, Passaic would be split from and he wanted to ensure that he would keep his seat if it came to that). He served with John Kelly of Nutley for many years in the Assembly, but for his last two terms in office he served as part of a split ticket. Wood-Ridge, New Jersey mayor Paul Sarlo was elected to Kelly"s seat in 2001 and after Sarlo moved to the State Senate Frederick Scalera of Nutley was elected in 2003 to replace him.
In 2005, DiGaetano did not run for re-election in the split 36th District, choosing instead to run for the Republican nomination for governor.
On Election Day, November 8, 2005, Democrat Frederick Scalera, who joined the Assembly in 2003, retained his seat and running mate Gary Schaer was victorious, picking up DiGaetano"s open seat for the Democrats. He was the Assembly"s Republican Leader from 2002 – 2003 and the Majority Leader from 1996 – 2001.
During his legislative career, DiGaetano pushed many measures that served the public’s interest, such as the health maintenance organization right-to-sue legislation, mandatory health insurance coverage for women's cervical cancer tests, lightening the tax burden on New Jersey’s working poor and cutting taxes more than fifty times. DiGaetano worked on legislation to create Urban Enterprise Zones, protect children from sexual predators, toughen rape penalties, reform binding arbitration, create New Jersey’s first ever cord blood resource center, secure funding to purchase enhanced testing equipment for newborn infants.
As Assemblyman, he sponsored the Senior Gold Prescription Discount Program, authored the Anti-Terrorism Acting of 2001, sponsored the creation of a conservation trust fund to protect the New Jersey Meadowlands and Watershed, and authored the Brownfields Redevelopment Acting.
DiGaetano received a Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Notre Dame in Aerospace Engineering. 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 36th Legislative District for the 2004–2006 legislative session were:
Assemblyman Frederick Scalera, and
Senator Paul Sarlo.
DiGaetano also served as a member of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Commission, the Legislative Service Commission and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology. Paul DiGaetano was a member of the Passaic City Council from 1981 – 1996, serving as its President from 1991 – 1993.