- 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.

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