NEWARK - Mother of five, wife of a Newark firefighter, on the frontline of New Jersey's fight against a lawless president and his attempts to subvert elections and constitutional protections, State Senator Britnee Timberlake (D-34) of East Orange cast a meaningful vote last month for the John R. Lewis Empowerment Act.

From the bill:

"A1715 will strengthen voting rights... in New Jersey by expanding access to the ballot, increasing protections against voter suppression and discrimination, improving language accessibility, and creating stronger oversight of election practices."

In an interview this morning with InsiderNJ, Senator Timberlake spoke about the critical features of the act, designed to fortify voters of New Jersey as a counter measure to the Supreme Court rolling back the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Trump administration's ongoing efforts to impair voting rights.

"After I say John R. Lewis, the name I also have to say is Verlina Reynolds Jackson," said Timberlake. "This is something she has championed from the beginning. She is the chair of the black caucus, and I am proud to be her vice chair. This legislation is a victory for her and for the entire State of New Jersey. If there is a voting location in a community of color and it is going to be moved to another community for whatever reason, the municipality has to think twice about moving that location. ...If you want to take a polling location out of a black or Latino community, for example, and move it toward a higher end community... they are no longer able to do that without receiving a  fine and lawsuits."

The Senator also discussed with InsiderNJ her work on the FY2027 Budget, the expansion of child tax care credits and her ongoing work in the areas of maternal health, firefighter and first responder protections, and critical civil liberty protections.

Earlier this year, the Senator appeared at a bill-signing by Governor Mikie Sherrill in support of a package of Constitutional protection bills.

"What we're witnessing is an attack on our democracy and an attack on our Constitution," Timberlake said in March. "Worse, it's an attack on all human beings, documented and undocumented.

"These bills are not anti-police," added the East Orange-based senator at the time. "My bill in particular that codifies the Attorney General's directive, in fact, protects local police, because it's embedded in our Constitutional right as the state of New Jersey leveraging the anti-commandeering doctrine that says the fed government can come in here to administer their programs but we do not have to administer their programs for them. That is so incredibly pro local law enforcement. We do not want our men and women in blue being caught up in part in any human rights violation."

For (today's FULL!) Interview with Senator Timberlake, please see below:

In addition, Senator Timberlake shared a post she wrote on Temporary Protected Status.

A Nation That Turns Its Back on Refugees Turns Its Back on Itself (Topic is TPS)

By Senator Timberlake

A country reveals its character not in moments of comfort but in moments of choice. And now, as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) is being reversed for families who fled danger, disaster, and political collapse, we are forced to confront a painful truth. A nation that once prided itself on offering refuge is becoming a nation that closes its doors.

Some insist we are a Christian nation, and some have used that insistence to divide and to support the banning of immigrants.

To those, as a imperfect Christian myself, I ask: Would this country welcome Christ if He arrived today seeking safety?

Would we recognize Him as the child born into displacement, carried across borders for survival, living His earliest days as a refugee?

Would we separate Jesus from Mary, and Joseph from all?

Would we imprison a pregnant Mary, holding her in jail for crossing into Egypt to flee the violence of Herod? Would we call her criminal for her crossing? See Matthew 2

Scripture is clear about who God is and how God lived.

1. The Holy Family fled violence.
2. They crossed into foreign lands.
3. They survived because someone allowed them in.

Sure, while acknowledging the separation of church and state, indulge me for a moment more.

If we claim faith, then we must confront the contradiction between our professed values and our policies. The question is no longer abstract. It is immediate, human, and urgent.

TPS holders are neighbors, workers, caregivers, taxpayers, and parents raising American children. They are woven into the fabric of our communities. Reversing TPS does not simply change a policy. It uproots lives, destabilizes families, and sends people back into danger.

Now, moving beyond faith, there exists the history of the United States.

On stolen land, we are a nation of many religions, many cultures, and many ethnicities.

We were shaped by immigrants who founded the USA, who crossed oceans seeking opportunity. We were also shaped by millions of Africans who were stolen, enslaved, and forced to build an economy that never paid them for their labor.

These stories are part of our foundation. Every generation since has tried to expand the promise of America, rectify the past, sometimes imperfectly, and sometimes painfully.

This week, while TPS is revoked for yet another group of people, that promise is being called into question.

What kind of country do we want to be?

One that remembers its origins, honors its faith traditions, moves away from its dark history, and protects the vulnerable.

Or one that forgets its own story the moment it becomes inconvenient.

If we are serious about being a nation of refuge, and a nation of opportunity, then our laws must reflect equity, humanity, and the belief that dignity is not conditional. It is inherent.

Reversing TPS means sending people back into the exact conditions the United States already acknowledged as too dangerous for return.

From Haiti to Afghanistan.

From Ukraine to El Salvador.

From Ethiopia to Somalia.

From Cameroon to Yemen.

And more.

Reversing TPS is not just a policy shift. It is a moral test. And history will remember how we answered.

This is bigger than one nation of people. It is as big as humanity.