Last Monday, as most elected officials returned home, one state senator spent the night out… at a homeless shelter. Former New Jersey Governor Richard Codey is now a state senator from Essex and Morris Counties. On Monday night, disguised with a pasted-on gray beard and some effective make-up, the man who once ran New Jersey slept at the Goodwill Mission in Newark. His night out marked the end of a four-month investigation into the state’s services for the mentally ill. New Jersey, like a number of states across the country, has been hit with severe budget cuts in the wake of the financial crisis. Codey was determined to find out just how these service cuts have affected citizens in his district. Joining us for more on his experiment is State Senator Richard Codey.
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