- We are pleased to be joined by State Assemblywoman Aura Dunn, who is a Republican, in fact, she's the Republican Assistant Minority Whip, translation, she's in a leadership position in the State house, in the state legislature and the Republican Party.

Good to see you, Assemblywoman.

- It's wonderful to see you, thank you for having me today.

- You got it, I believe this is the first time you've joined us, I usually don't get that wrong, is it the first time?

- It certainly is.

And my first television interview.

- No, it's not.

Is that true?

- It's totally true.

- I'm honored, I am honored to have you.

You've argued that the tax credit, the childcare tax credit, first of all, explain what that is.

Second of all, you've argued that it's not enough that the Governor Murphy signed a law in 2000, excuse me, in 2022, they made a refundable tax credit to families up to $500 a year, with each family with a child under six.

You say that's not enough, you are arguing for more childcare tax dollars, correct?

- I indeed am.

Yes, I am.

- Because?

- Because, you know, I know we hear it all the time, budgets reflect our priorities, and I think the family is really the central institution to our country, to our society, and families are struggling, and we need to help them, we need to provide relief, particularly here in New Jersey, which is one of the most expensive states to live in.

- And to be specific, your proposal, if I'm wrong you'll correct me, you're arguing that the size of the maximum benefit, the tax credit for a child is $1,000 for parents with kids under the age of, you say 12 instead of six?

- Yes, it was very important to me to increase the age.

You know, all of us who are parents, we know, as kids get bigger, so do your expenses, and it would obviously help more families, and really, with that additional funding, it would help stimulate the economy - You know, as a Republican who is arguing that state government should, quote, "spend more money in this area," I'm curious, given the fact that a fair number of your colleagues on the state and national level talk about, government spends too much, we need to cut back, reduce the budget, what kind of reaction have you gotten from your Republican colleagues in the state legislature?

- Well, I feel like I haven't gotten as much pushback as I thought I would.

You know, I pride myself on my independence, here in New Jersey, in the legislature, and within my party.

And look, the reality is, families are really struggling in New Jersey, you know, when you can make $80,000 a year and be considered low income, you know, that's something to take pause at.

So, so I agree with them, I agree with my members, but if we are gonna, where we're gonna spend, this is where we should be spending it.

- Could you describe the district you represent?

Where is it?

- Sure, I represent primarily Morris County, I think we've got pushed down from six to eighth most affluent county in the nation.

So some may even say, "How's that working?," right?

Or, "Oh, you're okay in Morris County," and I say, in many ways poverty is more hidden in a place like Morris County.

- How so?

- I grew up poor, (laughs) simple as that.

I remember watching my mom ripping apart a piece of wonder bread, adding it to some tuna fish salad, and I asked her, well, I thought maybe it was like a special recipe or something, and I said, "Why are you doing that?," and she said, "Because it makes two sandwiches into four."

And we lived in an un-winterized home, every fall she'd roll up the towels, and stuff every every door jam and window jam to keep us as warm as as possible, of course, that meant no air conditioning in the summer, right?

So poverty may look a little bit different today, but that carries with me, right?

That's my blueprint.

And if it were not for a lot of social services that helped me get to where I am today, For those who argue that government is the enemy, you don't see it that way.

IGovernment has a very necessary function, for the most part, it should get out of people's way, and our lives, (laughs) but help us.

Really, it's about, you know, I know we hear it all the time but it's about a hand up, not a handout.

- Hmm.

Lemme ask you this about childcare, people who watch us on a regular basis know that we have an initiative called Reimagine Childcare, the graphic will go up, it talks about, well, we're talking to legislators, policymakers, government officials, not-for-profit leaders, those who run childcare centers, all about the importance of accessible, affordable childcare, where does that fit into your legislative agenda?

- Oh, it's really central to my legislative agenda.

Last year I worked on legislation that would call for, the Childcare Subsidy Program, it would basically reformulate it to base it on enrollment as opposed to attendance.

We were successful in getting that accomplished, but only on a temporary basis in response to the public health emergency, and I am fighting for that to be permanent, because look, at the end of the day, we know who really owns and operates these childcare centers are women, this is a female-dominant field.

- That's right.

- And we saw workforce participation by women go down to levels of the 1980s during COVID, so, yeah.

I was asking for more.

and my Democratic colleagues kind of backed down a little bit, but still, you know, we came together, and so again, it was another, a little bit against the grain for a Republican.

- I've asked every Republican who's joined us, because it's so important, and Democrats have a whole range of issues they need to answer for, do you believe, because civil discourse is obviously what we're about, and you obviously believe in that as well, or you wouldn't be with us, to what degree do you believe that, moving forward, that politics has become very divisive and polarized, A, and B, that frankly some have argued the former president Donald Trump has contributed mightily to that, you say what?

- He's not the only one.

(laughs) - No, he is not.

- And what I would say is, you know, I've been at this a long time, from behind the scenes, as a Capitol Hill staffer in my twenties, and Steve, I don't know if you know, but I also represented "Sesame Street" and "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" on Capitol Hill.

It'’s just interesting how life works, that this is my very first television interview, as a legislator, on PBS, so if you are honored, I'm telling you, I beat you in that, I'm honored way more than you.

- We appreciate that, then.

But civil discourse is what public broadcasting is about, and we are not PBS, but we're on public broadcasting, we're partners with them, we're all about civil discourse, is that corny or what?

I mean, isn't that the way it's supposed to be at some moment?

- It is, and you know, it's funny that you say, "Is that corny?," because, believe me, when I first ran for office, that was one of my four bullet points on my, what do they call it, the palm card.

And you know how many folks at the door said, ah, come on, gimme a break, you know?

And I stand firm on it, and I think it's really a always about leading by example.

- As we wrap up I'’m going to say this to you, the idea that arguing for civil discourse and respecting other points of view without demonizing others, the fact that that's controversial is odd to me.

But Assemblywoman, I thank you so much for joining us, we look forward to having you on in the future, all the best.

- I look forward to it, thank you.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] Think Tank with Steve Adubato has been a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

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