WASHINGTON — On a November evening after Election Day but before Congress left town for Thanksgiving, Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th) lingered outside the Senate chamber.

He wanted to figure out what happened with an autism bill of his.

“We thought it was going to get voted on tonight,” Smith said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News. “Trying to get to the bottom of…how do we get it so it’s sprung free,” he said before heading to the Senate floor to investigate. “Let me just take a quick look.”

Two ultraconservative senators, Mike Lee of Utah and Rand Paul of Kentucky, had placed holds on his bill, Smith said in a separate interview Thursday. After Smith buttonholed them and talked about autism research history, they relented, he said. The bill ultimately passed by voice vote when no member objected.

Passing bills, even small items without vocal opposition, takes persistence, organization and often in-person pressure — the type Smith provided on a cold night last year.

Smith maneuvers

Smith’s was one of a fraction of bills the New Jersey congressional delegation shepherded through the House and Senate and into law during the last Congress, a politically-fraught two years that saw little substantive legislative action and a House speaker removed from his post, a first in U.S. history.

The last Congress — the 118th — saw 3% of all its legislation enacted, down from 7% in the 117th and 116th congresses and 8% in the 115th Congress, according to figures from the nonpartisan vote-tracking organization GovTrack.

When one Congress ends, legislation filed during that Congress expires and must be reintroduced in order to pass and ultimately become federal law.

The new Congress, also likely to be a fraught and bumpy one, started Jan. 3.

Pallone’s legislation

Along with Smith’s bill (H.R. 7213), which President Joe Biden signed into law Dec. 23 and reauthorizes federal programs for autism research, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-6th) was the lead sponsor of a law to create federal programs about cardiomyopathy, a group of medical conditions that can affect the heart’s capacity to pump blood.

It requires the Department of Health and Human Services to publish information on cardiomyopathy and the use of automated external defibrillators, or AEDS, compact boxy devices often found in public settings like schools.

The Pallone bill, now law, also created a federal grant program for CPR and AED training in public schools.

A separate Pallone bill to thwart data brokers from selling or disclosing personal information of people who live in the U.S. to China, Iran, North Korea or Russia, was also folded into a broad spending bill in the spring of 2024.

Data brokers are companies that gather detailed personal information on private citizens and then sell that information to separate clients, who could be people, companies, external groups or foreign governments.

As the highest-ranking Democrat on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over digital technology, Pallone was part of a bipartisan push for passage of legislation to force the sale of the social media platform TikTok by Chinese owners. That measure was folded into broader legislation that became law.

Payne, Pascrell

Two New Jersey members of Congress who died last year have new laws that bear their names.

The late Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-10th) had introduced legislation Biden later signed to create a standardized process for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to review grant requests for cities, states, local and tribal governments that apply for anti-terrorism grants.

And on Dec. 12, legislation sponsored by the late Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9th) to approve a voluntary federal database about cancer among firefighters became law.

The law updated the current national cancer registry, “which is a voluntary online enrollment system to help support and understand the link between cancer and the fire service,” a congressional report on the law said.

Another bill from Pallone to rename parts of the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park after Pascrell fizzled before it got any votes.

In Congress, Pascrell had pushed for the creation of that national park in Paterson, breaking through in 2011 when it became part of the National Park Service constellation of sites.

Van Drew, Sherrill

Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd) got two bills signed to rename post offices in his congressional district — one in Rio Grande, another in Middle Township.

The majority of New Jersey members did not get bills of which they were the primary sponsor signed into law — a rare task since politicians jockey to get their name on legislation and take credit if it becomes law.

But a slew of smaller bills and legislative tweaks became law through broader legislation.

Congress passed a widely popular water-focused legislation with ease. Biden signed it into law this month.

That law requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete a study on “hot spot” erosion, specifically in New Jersey. It also requires federal recommendations about protecting Shore communities.

Six New Jersey members — Reps. Smith, Donald Norcross (D-1st), Josh Gottheimer (D-5th), Tom Kean (R-7th),  Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-11th) and Sen. Andy Kim (D-NJ) — were co-sponsors of legislation Biden signed into law that requires colleges and universities with federal student aid programs to report hazing events.

Sherrill was also an original co-sponsor of bipartisan legislation that directs the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to create a public website showing services that could be covered under Medicaid for people with disabilities as well as their families and caregivers.

“I was proud to help get this bill across the finish line, and look forward to partnering with advocates to ensure that the database created by this bill is responsive to the needs of New Jersey families,” Sherrill said in a statement Thursday.

Gottheimer proud of bipartisan efforts

In an emailed statement to NJ Spotlight News, Gottheimer touted his work as part of a group of House members.

“As co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, I’m very proud to have helped write, negotiate, and get legislation signed into law that helps protect Jersey families from domestic and international terror threats,” Gottheimer said.

In particular, he cited his work for a suite of bills that became law in April to send military support to Ukraine, Israel, U.S. allies in Asia and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Sherril and Gottheimer are both candidates in the crowded Democratic primary race for governor.