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[MOTIVATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program with a guest who's joined us in the past and she had important things to say, she will again.

State Assemblywoman, Ellen Park, is a Democrat representing the 37th legislative district up in Bergen County, New Jersey, the parliamentarian in the New Jersey State Assembly.

Assemblywoman, thank you so much for joining us.

- Hi.

Thank you for having me.

- You got it.

Can I start on the federal level first?

Do you mind?

- Sure.

- Just the big beautiful bill.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

Just had an interesting conversation with a conservative commentator who is very supportive of the legislation.

I asked this commentator about SNAP, it's the Supplemental Nutrition Program.

- Yes.

- And otherwise known as food stamps.

And we went back and forth on it.

And the question I've been asking, and the issue that many of us are concerned about is, there are thousands of Americans, there are a significant number of New Jerseyans, 800,000 New Jerseyans who rely on SNAP.

- Yeah.

- Is it a fact that SNAP benefits were cut in the federal bill and that impacts almost a million New Jerseyans?

- Absolutely.

I mean, you know, I think because of the new big beautiful bill or the federal budget right now, people will really realize how much funding as a state we get from the federal.

So it's definitely going to impact.

We are trying to brace ourselves to really help the lower income families here in New Jersey.

We are bracing ourselves.

We're gonna, I'm sure, pivot along the way.

But yes, it is definitely going to have a huge impact.

I believe 20% of New Jerseyans are on Medicaid of some form or another.

- Yeah.

And the Medicaid cuts as well.

The estimates are that 360,000 New Jerseyans on Medicaid, they may be removed from Medicaid because the dollars will not be there to support it.

- Yeah.

- Does the state pick up that burden, Assembleywoman?

- I don't think we're required to pick up the burden per se, but we are here to help our residents.

And, you know, we've always been very in the forefront of helping those in need so we will definitely try to help those in need.

I can't say right now what that's going to be or how much that's going to be, but we definitely will not let anyone go hungry or, you know, not get certain health assistance if they need medical assistance, yeah.

- Lemme bring it.

It's interesting when I say lemme bring it back to closer to New Jersey, because that is close to New Jersey, even though the decisions are being made in the nation's capital, it has an impact in New Jersey as well.

Can you tell us what this is, the New Jersey Children's Data Protection Commission?

What is it and why do you care deeply about it?

- You know, more and more social media has been a part of our children's lives, and, you know, the big companies are using this data to not only solicit and try to sell and, you know, maybe even influence our children to their benefit.

And so I think we need eyes on this to say, you know what, this is very harmful to children.

They're being targeted for whether it's to purchase certain goods or to think a certain way.

And so I think we definitely need this Commission.

You know, I have personal experience from my own kids, and you know, there were all these trends when kids were eating like the Tide pods thinking that that was okay, and kids have died, or, you know, certain challenges that they do on these platforms.

Like, someone needs to be, you know, monitoring this and being held responsible and accountable for our children's health and wellness.

- Let's talk about the state budget.

You are the Vice Chair of the Budget Committee.

Correct?

- Yeah.

Yes.

- What's your response to Republicans who say that the budget, the state budget under Governor Murphy has increased?

That's not even them saying, it's a fact.

It has increased exponentially and to a degree that's unprecedented in state history.

That the state simply spends too much money, which in turn impacts tax policies to support that budget.

How do you respond to the fact that many argue the budget's just grown too quickly, we spend too much?

- You know, one hand goes with the other, right?

If there's more revenue and there's more money being raised in New Jersey, we are now taking that money to invest in our state.

So, you know, I think on that sense, you know, even when you're on the home budget, if there's more money there's certain things that we haven't looked at, such as, you know, the pension being fully funded for the first time.

This is the first time we have $6.7 billion in surplus that we're gonna hold off on, right?

And so years before, when, you know, school funding wasn't met, pensions weren't met, yeah, we didn't spend any money, but now we have the ability to do so and so that's what we're doing.

We're investing in our own future and it takes money to do that.

- And along those lines, you're up in Bergen County, it's one of the wealthier counties in the state.

Doesn't mean that every community of the 70, I believe - - Yeah.

- in Bergen County, 70 local governments, in and of itself, which is a fascinating issue, how small towns can be.

Affordability, huge issue.

What do you believe the most significant actions a new governor would have to take, along with the legislature in January, 2026 when a new governor takes over, to make the state even remotely more affordable?

- I mean, that's, you know, it's gonna be across the board.

Obviously, housing needs to be more affordable.

Food in the supermarkets need to be more affordable.

Healthcare, you know, I think we really need to put pen to paper and figure out, you know, how we can cut costs.

And I know like, ever since COVID, the cost of food, you know, in certain areas of food, I guess, like, just the cost of beef has doubled I notice when I go to the supermarket, right?

Meat, cost of meat has doubled.

And, you know, it's really hard to get simple things that used to cost nothing, you know, like carrots for instance, right?

You can't get a bag of carrots for less than $3 now.

You know, all the things that you used to cook with, like, it is very difficult.

And you're gonna, even as a mom, you know, as a wife, like, I go through the shopping list to figure out where I can cut costs.

I do that every time I go shopping.

So I think we need to kind of think about that in a broader aspect and also put pen to paper here in the state.

- But along those lines, Assemblywoman, people will often say, when prices are, well, things are unaffordable or difficult to afford, "Who do I blame?"

And I noticed when President Trump was running, he made it clear that he would, (clicking fingers) day one, a lot of things were supposed to happen.

And I imagine he finds out as President, it's a lot harder to do those things.

Or that the Governor doesn't do this alone.

Where, in your mind, I know this is a somewhat philosophical question, but where does the issue of someone's accountable for contributing to the unaffordability of New Jersey or any other state in the nation, of goods and services, but you're not totally responsible for it?

It's my way of asking how much can government really do, a legislator, a governor, a president and Congress, to actually impact the price of things?

- Yes.

I mean, I think there's definitely, we can work on legislation and I know we have in the past, about those who price gouge, right?

We did it during COVID when... - Explain to folks what that means?

- Oh, so like, during COVID, all of a sudden, you know, the price of masks, things that we couldn't get our hands on, hand sanitizer, you know, certain food items, they doubled, tripled the price.

And when I say they, it's the retailers, it's the, I guess the vendors even, right?

Where they could take, you know, say you wanna buy this, we're gonna now charge you 100%, double what it costs, because we can, right?

- Because we can and you need it.

- Yeah.

- You have to get it.

- Yes, and I think we really need to be harsher on that.

I mean, the price of eggs, you know, have gone down, but they haven't really gone down significantly, right?

And I feel like, well, why is that?

Why, you know?

And I think we need to look at why that is from the beginning to the end, why certain items, certain goods, you know, that the vendors and the retailers can now price gouge?

- You know, I'm gonna ask a question that someone might say, "Well, that's not a New Jersey-centric question, Steve," but it's relevant because you're a Democrat.

You're a moderate Democrat who works across the aisle and tries to get things done.

But the Democratic Party, there's a question here, trust me.

The Democratic Party is pretty split among those who are mainstream Democrats and those who are much further to the left, including, as we speak in the middle of July, the candidate running who won the Democratic Party nomination, Mr.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist who's argued there should not be billionaires, that a whole range of services should be free, you don't have to pay for it.

Is that the kind of Democrat that you relate to or is there another Democratic Party?

- You know, maybe, I think he's about 20 years younger than me, - He's the nominee.

He's the nominee.

- Yeah.

- He's a State Assemblyman.

- Yes.

- In New York state.

Now he's potentially gonna become the mayor of the largest, most significant city in the country.

- Sure.

- His policies are what they are.

- Yep.

- And that's not what the Speaker of the House in New Jersey, Craig Coughlin, is about.

It's not what the President of Senate, Nick Scutari, is about.

It's a different philosophy.

- Yes.

Yes.

- Are there two parties?

- Yes.

And I'm saying I'm probably, I don't agree with a lot of his politics, but you know, there's always room.

So, you know, I, based on certain moderate, I guess, upbringing myself, right?

I came here in the '80s.

It was very different in the '80s.

And you know, we were always taught, coming from a different country, that here in America you can make anything of yourself, you can be a billionaire as long as you worked hard.

And you know, and it's attainable, right?

So, you know, that whole thing with him, I know the free transportation, I don't think that's a great idea.

However, I think senior citizens in most countries have free access to public transportation.

So, you know, to me, well, why don't we offer it, you know, to the senior citizens.

Like that, to me... - As long as you can pay for it, Assemblywoman, as long as you can pay for it.

As opposed to just saying, we'll tax wealthier people more because that's so easy to say.

- Right, yeah.

Just be a blanket issue.

It has to be, you know, a little more thought out.

You have to look at the numbers.

But you know, of course we wanna help those in need.

- That's right.

- And you know, those people come first.

You know, I think that's what we really need to focus on.

And I think, you know, blue or red, I think in New Jersey we all have the same priorities here.

It's affordability, it's good education, it's safety.

Those are our top priorities.

And you know, from there we can agree to disagree on certain other items.

But you know, that's how I see things, is that we as a state must keep those three things viable.

- State Assemblywoman, Ellen Park, from Bergen County, I thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it.

- Thank you for having me.

- You gotta stay with us.

We'll be right back.

- To watch more Think Tank with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We wanna welcome back the Senator from Atlantic County, Senator Vince Polistina, the second leg... I was gonna say congressional district, but I'm not gonna promote you yet.

Guys, Vince, good to see you again.

- Great to be here, Steve.

Thanks for having me again.

- Always.

Listen, let's get right to this.

You are very concerned about, an advocate for Atlantic City.

In the most recent budget that was agreed to between the governor and the legislature, you did not vote for it.

There are increases in gaming taxes.

On whom specifically, and what does that have to do with Atlantic City?

- So it's increased taxes on internet and sports betting, so internet gaming and sports betting.

That's the one thing that has really been going well for Atlantic City since the pandemic.

Yeah, our internet and sports betting have really increased, and that's kind of the old Ronald Reagan thing.

You know, they saw something that was doing well and decided to increase taxes on it.

You know, of course, as we're trying to come outta the pandemic, trying to increase visitation and tourism to Atlantic City, we didn't wanna see any increased taxes.

So we're able to negotiate it down lower than what they had initially proposed.

But still, we don't think that this is a time to increase any taxes on our gaming in Atlantic City, recognizing that we had New York gaming on the horizon.

- You also are concerned about energy, affordability, and reliability.

Connect that, excuse me, those issues to the future of Atlantic City and surrounding communities.

- We're really struggling down here.

You know, we don't produce energy for the most part anymore.

We're buying it from Pennsylvania at higher rates.

As demand goes up in the summer and you see our casino industry doing well and tourism increasing down here, they're able to increase the rates on our energy because we don't produce it ourselves.

And so tremendous impact on our casino industry, on our businesses, on our residents.

We really need an all-encompassing energy policy focusing on how we're gonna produce energy in the state again.

- Another area where you've expressed concern, and you're not the only legislator who's talked about this, is the state funding formula or the state formula for funding public schools.

What's your greatest concern, Senator, about the state dollars that go to your part of the state and how that has to be made up for in local property taxes?

- Yeah, I think that we really need to revisit the overall school funding formula.

And I think we have to start from the baseline that we should treat every child equally and get them an equal amount of funding.

Then you have to have some add-ons for special education and some other things depending on the district.

But we have some of our suburban districts, we're getting, you know, for example, 10 or $12,000 while some of the other communities are getting, you know, $30,000.

It's just unfair, and we're not treating our children equally or we're not giving them an equal chance to succeed.

And so I would like us to revisit it, try to make things more equitable for every child across the state.

- Along those lines, there's a gubernatorial campaign that you're very well aware of that happens in November of 2025.

New governor takes office 2026.

Excuse me, January, 2026.

Senator, the number one education issue that is facing the new governor is?

- Well, I think the school funding is certainly the biggest thing.

And then getting parents more involved in children's education, I think is the second biggest thing.

We have seen it in our lifetime, Steve.

You know, as parents have gotten busier and busier trying to put food on the table, working two jobs.

We just haven't seen them as involved in the educational system.

And we all know that the education for children has to be both in schools and at home.

And so I think we need to figure out ways to get parents more involved in their children's education.

- Move to healthcare.

What concerns do you have, Senator?

You're a state legislator, but federal policies clearly impact the state of New Jersey in this so-called big, beautiful depends upon your opinion, bill that has passed and now law in the United States.

A significant amount of funding to Medicaid, those are healthcare dollars for those who are financially struggling or disabled, they've been cut.

There are estimates that hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents are at risk of losing their health benefits through Medicaid.

What concerns do you have about that as, in fact, a Republican state legislator in New Jersey?

- So, I mean, we all have an obligation to give people a hand up when they need it.

And so anyone who needs support through Medicaid or other public assistance programs, I believe at the federal level, at the state level, we need to support them.

I understand, you know, some of these are gonna be tied to some volunteer or work requirements, and so if people are able to volunteer or to work, they need to do that.

But at the end of the day, both at the federal level and at the state level, we need to make sure we're providing necessary support to give people the hand up that is necessary to get them back on their feet and get them back as productive members of society.

- I understand that, Senator, but there are those who have argued, and I'd like your response to this, that those cuts are gonna have to be made up for with state dollars, which many argue don't exist, or that dollars are gonna be taken from hospitals because the reimbursement rate will not be what hospitals need, and hospitals are potentially closing.

And after the hospital closes, it's too late.

Translation, what concerns have you expressed?

Because all three, unless I'm wrong, all three Republican members of the congressional delegation New Jersey voted for that legislation knowing that those cuts were in there.

If you were in fact in Congress, would you have voted for that bill?

- I think I would've, Steve.

I might not have it analyzed the entire bill, but you know, all of these things as they move through the process, I mean, you have to make a decision based on the overall bill.

And there were some good things for New Jersey with this SALT deduction and some other measures to keep... - Go back to SALT.

The SALT deduction was $10,000 cap, and I believe, Senator, it's been moved to a $40,000 cap, which SALT is state and local tax deductions.

We can now write off up to 40 grand, is that right?

- That is correct.

I think for a period of time, I think it actually reverts back to 10 at some point in time, but right now, you can go up to $40,000.

So it's going to help people with their state and local tax deductions.

We also maintain the tax rates from the 2017 tax cuts.

And so, you know, on balance, although there are significant concerns, as you said, related to hospitals, related to some of the Medicaid funding, I think on balance I would've been in favor of the bill recognizing that, you know, it had to go through a process.

You had to get the votes from some of these areas throughout the country, and that more work needs to be done.

But I do think it is encouraging that they were able to get the bill to the finish line.

And I'm hopeful that they all realize that we need to do more work on the federal budget and more work to support our hospitals, support the Medicaid population.

And I look forward to, you know, having those conversations with all of our federal representatives.

- You know, it's interesting, you're a very well-respected member of the legislature, perceived by many to be someone who works both sides of the aisle.

And how dare you be engaged in bipartisanship.

So along those lines, Senator, let me ask you this.

For those who argue that the political parties, the Democrats and Republicans have fragmented, what I mean by that is, there's the MAGA wing of the party and then there are others who are more moderate.

Obviously the MAGA wing has more folks in it, which is part of the reason Donald Trump is president.

And then the Democrats have a democratic socialist running in New York City and a very left wing, AOC, Bernie Sanders, et cetera, wing of the party, and then other more mainstream Democrats.

Here's the question, where the heck do you fit in the Republican Party?

- I fit in the middle, Steve.

I mean, I have always a member of the Republican party, I have always tried to take a look at the issue or the policy and not voting with a party.

So, you know, you mentioned that I have been bipartisan, I have voted for the Democratic governor's budgets when I thought they were right for Atlantic County.

And I think that everybody needs to recognize that, you know, you don't have this immediate visceral reaction if a Democrat governor is proposing a budget to automatically oppose it, or, you know, similarly at the federal level, just because there was a Republicans proposing that federal budget don't have an immediate reaction to oppose it, which is what we see happening now in many of our governing bodies across this country.

- Could you go back to education?

'Cause I know, Senator, you have been engaged in an effort to pass legislation that strengthens teachers.

What the heck is it specifically and why does it relate to people who care about education?

- So we just did a bill to allow for teachers who get paid for extracurricular activities to have that money.

They're getting paid, counted towards their pension.

Again, you know, the educational system under some stress because parents are busier, teachers are, you know, trying to get through the school day and then volunteering in some cases after or getting paid for extracurricular.

We're trying to give them, you know, the ability to have that money count to their pension.

The teachers and parents are the two most important people in children's lives.

And so we're trying to do everything we can to support both of those groups.

- And just, I wanna be clear, extracurricular activities such as?

- Such as coaching, such as, you know, doing some tutoring after school.

If you're getting paid to do this service, that it should be including your pension.

And, you know, I think also we really need to look at cost of living adjustments.

The people who have had their cost of living adjustments taken from them, that is another area.

I think is just huge for all of our workers in the state.

- Last question on my end.

I'm up here in northern New Jersey, you're down in beautiful Atlantic County.

Are there times in the legislature, given the district you represent, 15 communities, if you will, in Atlanta County, that you feel as if we're really not we one state of New Jersey, but rather these sections of the state advocating for their section of the state and the issues they care about?

Long-winded way of asking, are we really one state?

- We're really one state.

Everybody has their parochial interests.

And of course, there are more people, more legislators up in North Jersey.

And so, you know, you do see a lot of money, you know, when they're going through the legislative process focused on North Jersey as opposed to South Jersey.

We are one state, we're parochial as well.

You know, when it comes to Atlantic City, we're very parochial trying to protect Atlantic City and do the things that are necessary for Atlantic City.

So we all have our, you know, interests based on geography, but we are one overall state.

- Before I let you go over your left shoulder, POW/MIA, prisoners of war, missing in action, tell folks why that's always there every time we interview.

- That's just one of the things we have in the office.

Of course, our military, our service people, you know, so important to this country to provide our freedom.

And so we're always going to support them.

And to the extent that we have people missing in action, we would love to see them located and returned to the United States.

- To the Senator's point, we're doing a whole range of programming, honoring our heroes, honoring our veterans.

Check out our website for that.

Senator Vince Polistina, second legislative district down in beautiful Atlantic County.

Senator, as always, thank you for joining us.

- Of course, Steve, great to be here, and look forward to doing it next time.

- You got it, I'm Steve Adubato, that's the senator.

We'll see you next time.

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

Funding has been provided by Holy Name.

New Jersey Children’s Foundation.

Operating Engineers, Local 825.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

New Brunswick Development Corporation.

Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

IBEW Local 102.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Congress Hall, a Cape Resorts property.

And by these public spirited organizations, individuals and associations committed to informing New Jersey citizens about the important issues facing the Garden State.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey Globe.

And by NJBIA.

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Since joining the NJEDA, I've been struck by the incredible assets and resources that New Jersey has to offer.

The NJEDA is working every day to grow New Jersey's economy in a way that maximizes the values of those assets to benefit every single New Jersey resident.

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Visit njeda.com to learn more about how NJEDA is building a stronger and fairer New Jersey economy.