Governor-elect Murphy today announced the nomination of Assemblywoman Marlene Caride, of Ridgefield, to serve as Commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance. If confirmed, Assemblywoman Caride would be the first Hispanic to hold the cabinet position.

This is Governor-elect Murphy’s fifth cabinet appointment.

“New Jerseyans need a watchdog at the Department of Banking and Insurance to look out for them,” Murphy said. “They need a Commissioner who will ensure their health insurance policy is worth the paper it’s printed on, to ensure the banks where they save for their futures or where our small businesses go to grow our economy are stable and viable, and to have their backs when they make the most important and largest purchase in their lives – a home. Assemblywoman Caride will be that watchdog.

“I will also ask Marlene to help me in the effort to establish a public bank for New Jersey – to bring home the billions of taxpayer dollars we currently invest in foreign banks and short-term corporate paper in companies that don’t reinvest in us – so that we can invest in our communities, our small businesses, and our college students,” Murphy added.

“I am humbled by the trust Governor-elect Murphy has put in me,” Caride said. “As a small business owner, I know how difficult it can be to grow without the necessary financial backing or expand in a weak economy.  We need to encourage small businesses to grow and we need to help provide them with the tools to grow. And I am pleased and honored to have the opportunity to work with our Governor-elect to establish a public bank for New Jersey that will help our economy grow and support our small businesses, help our college students with reasonable and low interest school loans, and support small-scale infrastructure projects. I know that our state is in good hands with Governor-elect Murphy, and I intend to work hard to ensure that the people of New Jersey have confidence in our banking and insurance institutions.”

Caride, 54, has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2012, where she represents the 36th Legislative District, which includes parts of Bergen and Passaic counties. Caride is chair of the Education Committee, a member of the Appropriations, Financial Institutions and Insurance committees, and sits on the Intergovernmental Relations Commission.

The Assemblywoman earned a bachelor’s degree in Education from Fairleigh Dickinson University and was awarded a J.D. degree from the California Western School of Law. She a partner in private practice with the firm of Gonzalez & Caride. In her hometown of Ridgefield, she currently serves as municipal prosecutor and was a library alternate trustee from 2005-2006 and was an alternate member of the board of health from 2005 to 2007. Caride was born in Weehawken to Cuban immigrant parents.