Meet Senate Majority Leader M. Teresa Ruiz
As Senate Majority Leader, M. Teresa Ruiz has become one of the most influential voices shaping public policy in New Jersey and the highest-ranking Latina legislator in the state’s history. Representing one of New Jersey’s most diverse districts, she has built a reputation for turning bold ideas into lasting policy, particularly in education, public health, and economic opportunity.
Ruiz is widely recognized for transforming the state’s early childhood education system. She led the landmark "New Jersey Universal Preschool and Kindergarten Act," putting the state on a path toward guaranteeing full-day early learning for families.
Ruiz also spearheaded a sweeping literacy initiative establishing universal reading screenings and evidence-based interventions to help students recover from pandemic-era learning loss.
She has prioritized policies that support both students and educators. Ruiz led the effort to eliminate the “reduced-price” category in school meal programs, ensuring more children receive free meals without stigma.
She also authored the New Jersey Teacher Loan Redemption Program to attract and retain educators in high-need communities while diversifying the teaching workforce.
Her leadership extends far beyond education. In 2019, she sponsored a law allowing municipalities to replace lead service lines on private property—praised by the U.S. EPA as a national model.
Her period and diaper poverty legislation, providing additional support to Work First New Jersey recipients, has also gained national recognition. In 2021, she championed a maternal health initiative, creating one of the nation’s first universal newborn home visitation programs.
Ruiz played a key role in the state’s pandemic recovery as a prime sponsor of the Economic Recovery Act of 2020 and recently helped secure $500 million in housing tax incentives to expand opportunity for homeownership and strengthen communities statewide.
Ruiz is an Aspen Institute Rodel Fellow, alumna of Harvard Kennedy School’s Senior Executives in State and Local Government Program, and Chair of the National Hispanic Caucus of Legislators’ Education Task Force. Among all of her accomplishments, the title she holds most dear is that of a mother.