- We're joined once again by Brandon McKoy, who's president of The Fund for New Jersey.

Brandon, good to see you again.

- Thanks for having me, Steve, good to be with you.

- You got it.

The website for The Fund is up right now.

Tell folks exactly what The Fund is and what you're dedicated to supporting in the state.

- Thank you, yeah, The Fund for New Jersey is a philanthropic foundation that's really focused on improving the quality of policy decision making that happens, both in the state and in the region.

And really, trying to do our best to support organizations and individuals that are trying to accomplish that goal and bring people together to have conversations about what exactly are the challenges in their lives and what's gonna ensure that the state is a better place for the people who live here and the people who wanna live here.

- Along those lines, we've had offline conversations, and I've shared with you that we are doing in-depth, producing in-depth interviews with both candidates for governor, Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, former state legislator, Jack Ciattarelli.

The top two or three policy issues that you believe the new governor, whomever that is, Brandon, will face in January of 2026 as it relates to The Fund for New Jersey's priorities.

What are those two or three top issues and why?

- Well, I think, you know, housing affordability is always gonna be one, no matter what, because, you know, we're a state that, you know, relative to the rest of the country, is, you know, modestly wealthy.

But the cost of a house is very expensive, the cost of renting is very expensive.

And we have a lot of people, we're a small state, but we got over 9 million, almost 10 million people.

So building more affordable housing is crucial.

Obviously, the cost of education.

And when I say education, I actually include, you know, childcare in that, 'cause you know, we're starting, you know, the first days of a new life.

And so, all the way through college and making sure that, you know, Rutgers remains an affordable option and a high-quality option, that's vital.

And then, transportation, you know?

I mean, for a state, that is where we are, our location.

Making it easier for folks to get around, get to work, get to New York, get to Philly, and do so in an affordable fashion is crucial.

And that is just vital for our economy.

And so, these are our sort of challenges that have been around for a while.

They change, you know, as we advance, you know, through the years.

And depending on what's happening at the federal level and as we see cuts in federal funding, that's gonna create more challenges here at home.

- Yeah, let's talk about federal policies, because it's interesting.

While The Fund for New Jersey is based in New Jersey, we are a New Jersey-based independent media organization affiliated with public broadcasting.

What happens in Washington impacts our lives.

And so, let me be more specific.

The issue of immigration, quote, mass deportation policies coming out of Washington, the Trump administration, and the people in New Jersey, particularly, those who are most vulnerable in the immigrant community.

- I mean, New Jersey's a state where one out of four residents is foreign born, right?

And I mean, that's super high.

Only New York and California, I believe, would be higher.

So this is vital, not just for our communities, but our economy, who's able to be here, who's able to, you know, work here, who's able to, you know, create a family and grow here.

And I think when you have a scenario where it's not clear exactly on who is, quote unquote, allowed to be here now, that creates chaos and instability.

And that's gonna be very, very bad for communities, all the way from High Point down to Cape May, right?

And so, for a state that has as much immigration and that has benefited as much from immigration as we have, and for a state that I like to remind New York, you know, the Statue of Liberty is actually in New Jersey waters, thank you very much, right?

- It is.

- Immigration is a vital topic and a vital issue for us all, and we need to make sure that we're doing our best to ensure that, you know, our immigrants who are neighbors and our community members and our family members are able to be here and thrive.

- You know, Brandon, along those lines, you talk about the population and one out of four New Jerseyans have an immigrant background, if you will, including my family a couple of generations back from Italy.

But along those lines, the population of New Jersey in and of itself, counting the population in the state of New Jersey is important.

More specifically, the state census, the census counting people in the state.

Explain to folks why that's not simply a question of math.

- Even if it was math, I might still enjoy it.

- Exactly.

- You know, the census is vital, because it actually tells us who is where, from the standpoint of, "Hey, what communities have what challenges?

What is the poverty rate in this community?

What is the employment rate of this community?"

And that is vital for deciding where resources go, right?

And it's not just about state resources, it's about federal resources.

In New Jersey, we rank last, consistently, on how much money we send to the federal government and how much we get back.

That can be improved if we have a complete and accurate census count that really helps us understand where everybody is and what their needs are.

And, you know, having a complete and accurate census count really requires a gargantuan effort, it requires the state getting involved, and, you know, funding a lot of that work.

And people sort of say, "Oh, 2030 census, that's five years away."

We have to start now, we have to start sort of getting ready for that, updating addresses, you know, helping people have the funding necessary to have the census workers go out and do what they do.

And I'll add on top of that, this is more vital than ever, because right now, as we've seen across lots of federal government, you know, the Census Bureau itself is also receiving cuts.

- That's right.

- And so, if the Census Bureau is not gonna be able to provide the support that they did in the 2020 census to states, then we have that much more to do.

But having a a full and accurate census count is really important, because last time we thought we were gonna lose a congressional seat in New Jersey, not only are we not losing the congressional seat, we actually added 500,000 in population going against, and everyone was saying, "Oh, everyone's leaving New Jersey."

No, we had a half a million people, and I bet we'll another half a million if we have a complete and accurate census count in 2030.

- Let me do this.

Again, we've also had offline conversations about media, the role of media, the role of local independent media.

And we have a series that we were doing for several years called "Democracy and Danger," graphic comes up.

But then, there's a sister mini series called "Media Leadership."

What does media leadership look like to you?

Meaning, what is our, if we're really to be leaders in the world of local independent media, what should we be doing, particularly, in dealing with so many complex public policy issues, Brandon?

- Yeah, I think it's really, you know, especially a state like New Jersey, you know, I don't have to tell you, you know, North Jersey.

So much of the media focuses around New York, South Jersey, so much of that focuses is on Philadelphia.

That can be frustrating to be a resident in the state and have most of the topics and the stories you hear not even be about your state, right?

And so, as much as possible, focusing on the communities of this state, providing a platform for community leaders and those who are really putting in the work to talk about what they see and what they know are the needs of their communities.

And I think being willing to highlight, not just what's going wrong, but what's going right.

And, you know, a lot of folks who are frustrated with things in New Jersey, there was a poll, I believe the Eagleton Poll showed that almost half of the residents think that we're, you know, on the wrong track.

But there's also a lot of things that are going right.

And if we only focus on the wrong, we're gonna lose what's going right.

And so, I think, you know, for media, especially in a state like this where there is such a difficult media market and media landscape, really doing as much as possible to focus on the communities that are here, on the leaders that are here, and figuring out, "Hey, what are the New Jersey issues?"

You know, we have this series this year called "Crossroads 2025," where we have events where people can come together.

- Hold on, Brandon, go back again.

"Crossroads 2025," let's put up the graphic again for The Fund, the website for people to find out more.

What is that?

I'm sorry for interrupting, Brandon.

What is that, please?

- Yeah, so every time that we have a gubernatorial election, The Fund for New Jersey sort of has this series of events to bring together community members and advocates and experts to talk about, "Hey, what are the issues that are really affecting you on a day-to-day basis?"

You know, we're at a crossroads, right?

The election is a big deal.

The governor of New Jersey is one of the most powerful governors in the country.

You know, they have all sorts of veto power, they actually name the attorney general, most other states, you know, vote - - Take out your red pen and take something out of the budget, right?

- Yep, you know, take things out of the budget.

In 43 states, voters directly pick the attorney general.

In New Jersey, the governor just picks the attorney general, right?

So the governor has a lot of power and a lot of influence, obviously.

And so, okay, if this person's gonna be coming in, what are the major issues that they need to be aware of?

Not just hearing from, you know, special interest and, you know, well-funded corporations, but from the people who live here.

so we would love for people to come out and be involved and engaged in this process, 'cause we're trying to make sure that we're capturing all the needs and the challenges that people are facing, so that this next governor really understands what's going on.

- This is Brandon McKoy, President of The Fund for New Jersey.

Brandon, thank you so much for joining us, we appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- I'm Steve Adubato, we thank you for joining us.

Stay engaged, democracy is not a spectator sport.

See you next time.

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

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