These are the lawmakers who sponsored the most bills signed into law during the 2014-15 session.
TRENTON -- What makes a state lawmaker effective or successful?
It's typically recognized by title and the power it conveys. Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson) and Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) hold the top leadership posts in the legislature and control the agendas of their respective houses. Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. and Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, (both R-Union), lead the Republican caucus.
But a lawmaker's success can also be measured by the nuts-and-bolts work of writing bills that become law.
GovNetNJ, an online legislative tracking service, ranked the 120 members of the legislature based on the number of laws that listed them as "prime sponsors" during the two year session that ended in January.
Six of the legislators in the top 10 preside over committees as the chair, giving their bills a distinct advantage. With direction from the assembly speaker or senate president, the committee chairs decide which bills will be discussed and voted on.
Most every bill has more than one prime sponsor, but the original sponsor must consent before a second prime sponsor is added, and so on.
A crazy day in the state Legislature
Of the 9,076 bills introduced in the 2014-15 session, just 583 of them passed both houses and ended up on Gov. Chris Christie's desk. The Republican governor signed 419 of them into law, according to GovNetNJ.
Most of the laws sponsored by the most "successful" lawmakers were not controversial.
There were an array of laws that conferred special benefits to veterans.
One cut taxes on boat sales; others targeted the growing problem of heroin and opioid addiction.
One law -- allowing adopted people to obtain copies of their original birth certificates bearing their parents' names -- took more than 30 years of debate before it was signed in 20104.
The Assembly's top five lawmakers with the most bills signed in the 2014-15 session:
1. Robert Andrzejczak (D-Cape May)
2. Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen)
3. (tied) Daniel Benson (D-Middlesex) and Benjie Wimberly (D-Passaic)
5. Tim Eustace (D-Bergen).
The Senate's top five lawmakers with the most bills signed in the 2014-15 session:
1. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May)
2. Steven Oroho (R-Sussex)
3. James Beach (D-Camden)
4. Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex)
5. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic).
Click through the gallery to learn more about the legislators and how many of their bills were signed into law.
Susan K. Livio may be reached at slivio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanKLivio. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.