Thomas P. Foy (March 13, 1951 – September 1, 2004) was an American Democratic Party politician who served in both houses of the

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

representing the 7th Legislative District, which covers portions of Burlington County and Camden County. He served in the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

from 1984 to 1990, and was appointed to fill a vacancy in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

, serving there from 1990 to 1992. Born in Burlington, NJ, Foy was an honors graduate of

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

(1973). Later, Foy attended

Rutgers School of Law–Camden Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public university, public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the ...

, graduating in 1977. Foy worked as an attorney specializing in

labor relations Labour relations in practice is a subarea within human resource management, and the main components of it include collective bargaining, application and oversight of collective agreement obligations, and dispute resolution. Academically, employe ...

. He had been general counsel to the New Jersey

AFL-CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a national trade union center that is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 61 national and international unions, together r ...

in the 1980s, and was later employed as senior vice president of business development for

Hill International Hill International, Inc., a member of the Global Infrastructure Solutions, Inc., family of companies, is a global construction consulting firm. Founded in 1976, the company's corporate headquarters is in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, U.S. Hill pro ...

, where he worked on issues relating to the firm's construction projects on the Tappan Zee Bridge and

Interstate 287 Interstate 287 (I-287) is an auxiliary Interstate Highway in the US states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. It is a partial beltway around New York City, serving northern New Jersey and the counties of Rockland County, New York ...

Westchester County, New York Westchester County is a County (United States), county located in the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, bordering the Long Island Sound and the Byram River to its east and the Hudson River on its west. The c ...

.via ''

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''
"Thomas P. Foy, 53; served as assemblyman and senator"
''

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'', September 3, 2004. Accessed June 23, 2010. His first elected office was to the Burlington Township Council, where his brother would later serve as mayor. He was elected to the General Assembly and served there until 1990. He was named in November 1990 to fill a vacancy in the Senate left by Catherine A. Costa to become Director of the

New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (Division of ABC or, simply, ABC) is an agency of the government of the state of New Jersey that regulates commerce in alcoholic beverages in that state. The 21st Amendment to the United Stat ...

, and served there from 1990 to 1992. In a party convention in January 1991, Jack Casey was chosen to fill the remaining portion of the term remaining in the General Assembly seat that had been vacated by Foy the previous month. In the wake of voter frustration with tax increases enacted by

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

James Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional dist ...

in 1990, Foy supported legislation that would allow voters to vote their state legislators out of office by

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

.King, Wayne
"Florio Faces Growing Anti-Tax Storm in New Jersey"
''

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'', July 23, 1990. Accessed June 23, 2010. Florio later recalled Foy's contributions in getting the minimum wage increased in the state, saying that "New Jersey was ahead of the nation in getting a minimum wage of $5.15 an hour, and Tom was vital in its effort". Foy was deputy political director for Florio's successful 1989 run for governor. Foy died at age 53 of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

he suffered at a

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

train station on September 1, 2004, while returning to New Jersey from a meeting with diplomats from the Middle East. He was survived by his wife and two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foy, Thomas P. 1951 births 2004 deaths Democratic Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly New Jersey city council members Democratic Party New Jersey state senators People from Burlington Township, New Jersey Politicians from Burlington County, New Jersey Rutgers School of Law–Camden alumni 20th-century members of the New Jersey Legislature