Taliaferro Named Chair of Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee

(TRENTON) – Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin has tapped Assemblyman Adam Taliaferro (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) to chair the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.

“Assemblyman Taliaferro overcame great odds in his personal life and has been a committed public servant to his constituents and the people of New Jersey,” said Coughlin (D-Middlesex). “I am certain that he will approach this new leadership position with the same tenacity and dedication.”

Taliaferro suffered a spinal-cord injury in 2000 during his freshman year as a Penn State football player. Despite being told he only had a small chance of ever walking again, he overcame his paralysis and recovered in four months. He graduated from Penn State with a B.S. in Labor & Industrial Relations in 2005, and a J.D. from of Rutgers School of Law – Camden in 2008.

“I am grateful to Speaker Coughlin for the trust and confidence he has placed in me to lead this committee,” said Taliaferro, who joined the Assembly in 2015.  “Public safety is an enormous task, and I will work vigorously to ensure we are focusing on policies that will provide our law enforcement agencies with the resources needed to keep our neighborhoods and communities safe.”

Taliaferro is a policy analyst for Bristol Myers Squibb, and previously served on the Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Taliaferro, who lives in Woolwich Township with his family, is the founding board member of the Adam Taliaferro Foundation, which provides emotional, financial and educational support to student-athletes who suffer catastrophic head or spinal injuries.

Taliaferro has received many awards, including the 2009 Philadelphia Sports Writers Humanitarian Award and Bank of America’s Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Award. He was also the honorary chairman for the 2002 Special Olympics Summer Games.

Taliaferro will also serve on the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.