- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

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[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi, everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kick off the program once again with our long-time friend Kim Gaddy, who's the founder and director of the South Ward of Newark, South Ward Environmental Alliance.

Kim, good to see you.

- Good to see you too, Steve.

- Now, Kim, from one former Newarker to one who's a Newarker now, I wanna make it clear, you are not in Newark.

You are in London, England, right now.

- Yes, I am.

I'm attending a international maritime conference.

- Excellent.

Well, we thank you so much for joining us.

Let me ask you this, Kim.

There is a power plant in the city of Newark.

What is this power plant?

Because we're gonna be talking about environmental justice.

It's a big part of our initiative Urban Matters.

The lower 1/3 will go up.

One of the urban matters and urban issues that matters greatly is environmental justice and the concern many folks have about what's going on environmentally in urban communities.

The Newark power plant, what is it and what's the problem?

- Well, the problem is that this will be the fourth power plant in the Ironbound community, Steve.

So that's an environmental injustice.

They already have three power plants.

The Ironbound would be the only community in the United States to have four power plants in one community.

And the impacts from the power plant impacts the health of residents.

You know one out of four children have asthma in the city of Newark.

And so when you have all these pollutants that come out of these power plants, it impacts the health of our young and our elderly.

And we know, because of Superstorm Sandy years ago, that we needed to make sure we are better prepared for the changing times and floods in our community.

But we already have three.

We don't need this power plant.

And so they're trying to say because we don't want to experience another flooding situation that we did with Superstorm Sandy, we now need another, fourth power plant.

And we're saying, "No, you don't."

- Now, Kim, you may be the founder and director of the South Ward Environmental Alliance, but, also, you're a mom.

And this is, on some level, personal for you.

Talk about that.

- Yeah, it's very personal.

You know, unfortunately, having three children with asthma, and I lost my 32-year-old son two years ago with a heart attack, and so I know too well that the environmental issues, the cumulative impacts of pollution from the many sources, can impact our children lives.

And so this is very personal to me and all of the children in Newark because I don't want to see another parent experience an asthma attack with their children or have one of their children die prematurely from a heart attack.

- Kim, who's proposing this fourth power plant?

And Kim talks about the Ironbound.

The Ironbound is the section of Newark.

There are five wards in the city of Newark.

This is the East Ward.

Why is it relevant?

It is the section of the city of Newark below Penn Station.

It is a very congested area.

People live very close together.

This is the fourth power plant.

Who is proposing this?

- PVSC is proposing this plant.

And, you know, Steve- - You're talking about the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission?

- Yes.

- Okay.

- And the problem is that our state Senator Teresa Ruiz, our Assembly member Pintor Marin, (indistinct) the mayor, the council, they're all against this power plant.

And, matter of fact, First Lady Tammy Murphy came out to support us.

And the only two that is still supporting it is our governor and the PVSC commissions.

- So let me be clear on this, Senate candidate, as we speak toward the end of March 2024, and this may be seen after the June 4th Democratic primary for the United States Senate in New Jersey, Tammy Murphy is against this power plant.

Governor Murphy is for it?

- Yes.

Yes.

And because of all of her work with maternal childcare, and she has been a fighter for environmental justice and climate change since Al Gore, so she understands that the environmental impacts from this power plant will potentially harm not only pregnant women, unborn children, but residents.

And so she even came out and supported us, to say, "No, we don't need this power plant in the city of Newark."

- We will have the governor back on and we'll have Tammy Murphy on.

They can explain their positions on this.

Interesting.

I also wanna, I was remiss in not making it clear that Kim Gaddy is a 2021 Russ Berrie Foundation Making a Difference Awardee.

And we've been honored to be collaborators with the Russ Berrie Foundation.

I've been honored to host that Making a Difference luncheon every year for the past 25-plus years.

And, yeah, it just makes me old.

Kim, stop smiling like that.

(Kim laughs) Make me feel, but, and I remember when you got that award.

It was and is a big deal.

Let me ask you this, water equity, in the city of Newark, what is the issue and why is it a concern?

- Well, you know in the city of Newark, we had an issue with the lead service line replacement.

- That's right.

- So that's the issue because no level of lead is acceptable.

Any level of lead in our drinking water is harmful to our community.

And so when we talk about water justice, we wanna make sure that everyone has a right to safe, affordable, quality drinking water that doesn't harm them, and especially those who are from environmental justice communities.

And so we have been working also to address the flooding in our community.

You know, the Dayton Street neighborhood used to be the East Ward, right?

And the major floods that happened is in the Ironbound section and in the Dayton Street neighborhood of our South Ward.

The maps for the state of New Jersey say that in the next 50 years, that whole community will be underwater.

And so we're also working to make sure green infrastructure is used as a first line of defense against flooding.

- Kim, let me ask you something real quick.

Go back to the lead issue.

We'll have Mayor Baraka back on as part of our series "New Jersey's Next Governor 2025," because he's running for governor.

But as the mayor of the city of Newark, where is the mayor on this issue of lead and the pipes?

Is he saying it's a serious problem or is he saying something different?

- Yes, well, he finally began to speak up and talk about how serious this issue is.

And now there's a issue with the replacement pipes.

They're saying- - That's right.

- That one of the contractors was negligent.

And so now we, matter of fact, we have a call tomorrow with Shawn LaTourette, the commissioner from DEP- - Commissioner, Department of Environmental Protection.

- To discuss, so they could kinda give us some updates.

So, finally, the mayor and everybody is now being at least more transparent and letting us know what is happening.

Because at the beginning, we was not feeling that the information was very transparent, Steve.

- We will have the mayor on, the candidate for governor, Ras Baraka, and he can talk about this, but Kim Gaddy is the founder and director of the South Ward of Newark Environmental Alliance, a 2021 Russ Berrie Making a Difference winner.

Kim, thanks.

Good to see you, my friend.

- Thank you.

- You got it.

Stay with us.

We'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To watch more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

- Welcome back folks.

We're now joined by E. Denise Peoples, who is a double lung recipient, been with us many times in the past.

Community Services Manager for the New Jersey Sharing Network.

You'll see their website up in just a moment.

And C. Lawrence Crump, Esquire and Councilman at Large, Brick City, Newark, New Jersey.

Denise, Lawrence, great to have you with us.

- Thank you for having us.

- Great being here.

Thank you, Steve.

- You got it.

Denise, as we put up the website for the New Jersey Sharing Network, our longtime partners in this public awareness effort around organ and tissue donation, describe what the serious problem is.

Of the 4,000 people waiting for a transplant in New Jersey, how could it be that 68% of those 4,000 people waiting for a transplant are people of color when the population of people of color in this state is much, much, much lower?

Please, Denise.

- First of all, Steve, thank you again for having us.

- As always.

- And for always being such a great advocate for the New Jersey Sharing Network.

We can really always count on you to bring informative information to your wide and broad viewing audience.

So thank you.

- Are you done?

I thought you were gonna keep on saying nice things.

- Oh, I'm sorry.

- I'm joking, I'm joking.

- You only sent a little bit of money, so it was over.

- It's okay.

Go ahead.

- So a lot of people feel that once they register to be an organ donor, that they're automatically gonna be an organ donor.

It is such a rare, rare gift, and that is one of the things that our, one of our initiatives is, is to get the word out there about that information.

Less than 1/10 of 1% of all deaths actually go on to be an organ donor.

And less than 10% actually go on to be a tissue donor.

So although we have this large number of people of color and everybody registers and they think that for some reason a myth is, or if you're African American, then you're gonna be matched with somebody African American or vice versa, or Hispanic or whatever the case is.

That is not it.

We don't have enough people registered.

I don't know if we'll ever have enough people registered, because as many people that are transplanted, in the same day, we lose more people and then more people are added.

- And Denise will come back and tell us a little bit more about her situation, her story, the Gift of Life, if you will.

But Councilman, you've known Denise for how long?

- Over 10 years.

- And why is this such a personal and policy issue for you?

- I thought it's personal because if you know Denise, you understand that how this affected her life and how this made her a stronger person.

The world is filled with a lot of people who we need to hear from, and fortunately Denise is one of those people that I've heard from and inspired me to become an organ donor, to be quite frank.

It's just critical.

As growing up, you hear the myths, particularly in the African American community, that if you donate, if you're an organ donor, you may not be able to have an open casket.

Just wild myths like that.

If you are injured or in an accident, they'll do less to save your life if you're an organ donor.

- Not true.

- And that's absolutely false.

And I think it's important that me just knowing Denise as a person and then just being involved and knowing what's going on with organ donations that I can, from my office, shout as far as I can to make sure people are aware of what's going on and then become organ donors.

- Absolutely.

Let's just, Denise, help us on this.

There are two initiatives.

One is Say Yes, Save Lives.

And the other one is Live Healthy and Move.

How are they connected to?

Which is it?

Help us understand that.

- So Yes, Save Lives is our global New Jersey Sharing Network cry and just everything about us for this year.

We have a brand new CEO.

- Carolyn Welsh.

- And we just have so many great things going on.

Carolyn Welsh, yes.

- Right.

- And she is getting ready to celebrate her anniversary with the Sharing Network.

And we are very excited to have her and the energy that she brings.

And with Live Healthy and Move, that is not so much an initiative as it is an event.

So this event happened because we were sitting down talking, and unfortunately when a lot of people see the Sharing Network for the very first time, it's at the worst times of their life.

They're in an ICU, a PICU, a CCU, their loved one, if it's an adult, they just left home this morning.

This afternoon, they're getting a call to rush to the hospital.

Something's happened, and they see their loved one in this condition and just their minds are blown.

And then when they meet certain clinical triggers, the Sharing Network will come to the hospital and speak to that family.

We don't want that to be the first time.

We go there to ask for a gift.

We decided at the network to give back something to the community.

Things like healthy living, blood pressure screenings, all these type of things to hopefully keep people well enough so they'll never need a transplant.

Or if they wanna be a living donor, they can, if they're healthy enough to do that.

So we really give back with our hospital partners, our community partners.

So many people come.

Our funeral home directors will come and talk about pre-planning because it's just so many things that people don't know.

And that's what Live Healthy and Move is.

It's just to give people information.

- And Councilman, I said this before we got on the air.

I don't take this off, my Sharing Network Donate the Gift of Life.

And you have two.

Why do you have two, Denise, real quick?

Why do you have two?

Show folks.

- So that if I see someone, I can start a conversation and give them one.

- Along those lines, Councilman, let me ask you, how much of this?

And P.S.

let me disclose, the Sharing Network is an underwriter of our programming to create greater public awareness around organ tissue donation.

Councilman, what do you see the role of government officials like yourself in helping to create, quote, greater public awareness around what's real and what's factual about organ and tissue donation, especially in Black and Brown communities?

Please.

- So I can say as a councilman what my goal is, is to promote it as much as possible about organ donations, about dispelling the myths and misconceptions first and foremost, but also being an actual promoter of it and an advocate for it.

For instance, legislation on my end is not going to make a change around the state, but what I do is promote national minority organ donation month or other months where organ donation is an important issue or listed.

And we continue to do that.

When I go to meetings, discuss it.

I did an article in the New Jersey Sharing Network magazine.

- I saw it.

- Just being an organ donor myself, my hope is to make sure that people understand if I'm able to do it and I'm willing to do it, there really isn't an issue and that everybody could do it.

- And go on the website of the Sharing Network if you wanna find out more about how you can sign up to be an organ or tissue donor, do that.

Denise, I have about a minute left.

The Gift of Life.

How and when did it come to you?

- Came to me October 2nd, 2006.

I was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2000 and dealt with that disease, which is just amazing.

And it is the journey I don't wanna forget and I'll never forget.

And it brought me to this place, it brought me to doing what I'm doing now.

Just being able to share that story 'cause people wanna see, they wanna touch.

Oh my gosh, you don't look like you got a transplant.

Oh, you're joking.

- Double lung transplant.

- No, there's no way.

- Double lung transplant.

Double lung.

- Double lungs, yes.

Yep.

- And you look sound and are stronger than ever.

Hey, we're looking forward to seeing you for the walk, Jacqui Tricarico, my colleague and I are gonna be there for the 5K coming up in New Providence.

You're gonna be there?

- I will be there singing the national anthem.

Yes, I will.

(clapping) Are you running, Steve?

- No, I'm walking.

Will you stop?

I'm just walking at this point.

I'm lucky I'm walking.

Don't do that to me, Denise.

Councilman, thank you.

I thank you, I can't thank you enough, Councilman.

Denise, it's great seeing you as always.

I'll see you for the 5K.

Don't make me look bad.

- That's right.

- New Jersey Sharing Network organ and tissue donation.

See you after this.

Be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To watch more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're now joined by Michele Siekerka, Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.

The website will come up.

They're also one of our media partners.

Michele, good to have you with us.

- Oh, it's a pleasure, Steve.

- Hey, put in perspective for us the quote unquote "Corporate Transit Fee" that Governor Murphy has proposed to tax or get a fee, I'm not sure what it is, from corporations in the state that have a net annual profit of $10 million or more to fund New Jersey Transit, which is on the fiscal cliff about to fall over, please.

- Well, let's put it in perspective.

It's a tax.

Okay?

This is a tax, no matter what they call it, this is a tax.

In fact, it's a 20% tax increase on New Jersey's largest and most innovative job creators in the state of New Jersey.

And it is terrible policy, Steve.

- The response of some, particularly some Democrats who support it, said, "Hey, listen, you tax those who have the most," and they're arguing in fact...

They argue against the fair increase of New Jersey Transit for bus and trains and argue that corporations with big profits should carry that burden largely.

You say?

- Well, I say these job creators who employ tens if not hundreds of thousands of workforce across the state of New Jersey are already paying their fair share.

Let's put that in perspective.

We are the only state in the nation that we are in the top bracket for the foremost significant taxes.

Those taxes being corporate business tax, individual income tax, property tax, and sales tax.

That affects our competitiveness.

And Steve, the governor acknowledged that a high corporate business tax affects competitiveness in what is an expensive state in New Jersey, when just two weeks before he presented the budget, he stated, "When it comes to sunsetting, the corporate business tax, we must be cold-blooded about our economic development strategy."

So he acknowledged that it affects our competitiveness and then does a 360 and puts this tax back on these businesses retroactive to January 1, literally the exact day that the sunset went into effect.

- Let's put that in perspective.

So the so-called sunset of what has been known as the corporate business tax, it was supposed to end at the end of when?

- December 31st, 2023.

It's sunset.

Yes.

By statute.

- And to Michele's point, it's not an opinion, it's a fact.

The governor said, "It will end.

I'm not gonna renew it.

I'm not going to un-sunset it."

Not even a word.

But then the governor came up with this corporate transit fee.

He says it's not undoing what he said he would do regarding the corporate business tax.

This is a different fee for the wealthiest corporations.

Did he go back on his word?

- He absolutely did a reverse and an about face, no matter what you call it.

- Why do you think he did it, Michele?

If he was so clear, "I'm ending the corporate business tax," and then introduces this corporate transit fee regardless of what one calls it or doesn't call it, I'm not gonna engage in semantics.

Why the heck do you think he did it if he was so clear that he wasn't going to tax businesses anymore at the end of 2023?

- Yeah, it's called political pressure, Steve.

- By whom?

- Well, let's see.

There are folks out there... First of all, let's unravel what allegedly this is going toward.

Okay?

We suggest this is going toward New Jersey Transit.

Suddenly in the last two weeks, we're throwing tons of money at New Jersey Transit without even understanding what New Jersey Transit needs for its future.

Okay?

We got the transportation trust fund money that's moving very rapidly.

In fact, I think it's on the governor's desk today as we are speaking.

- So there's a gas tax...

Sorry if I'm interrupting, Michele, A gas tax $0.02 for each year over the next five years, which is a $0.10 increase in the gas tax, correct?

- Correct, correct.

- And then with electric vehicles... - A large portion of that goes to New Jersey Transit.

Okay?

- Okay.

- We've heard that there's a rider increase, the riders, those who use the Transit, they're getting the fare increase.

- The fare increase.

- The fare increase... - Of 15%.

15%, go ahead.

- And now we're putting this $1 billion, which is exactly how it's scored in the budget from the business community.

All right?

Toward New Jersey Transit.

Now they say that they're gonna dedicate it, okay?

However, you can't dedicate those monies without a constitutional amendment.

Nobody's talking about a bill for a constitutional amendment to dedicate this 2.5% corporate business tax to Transit.

Where's this money going?

This $1 billion is being captured today and it's going into surplus for the next year because Transit doesn't even need this money until the next fiscal year.

- Why would the governor do that if he's making the case that he's trying to get New Jersey Transit off this so-called fiscal cliff because they're virtually bankrupt in the eyes of many?

Go ahead.

- Well, so let's be fair.

We'd like to be ahead in planning.

Last thing we ever wanna do is do last minute planning.

- Okay.

All right.

However, you are doing a money grab of $1 billion that will not be reinvested into company workforces, facilities or those communities to those exact companies who are planning already.

Because guess what?

A promise matters.

Businesses make investments and make plans based on predictability and certainty.

When you do a reverse and you have a rollercoaster tax policy, companies are not going to invest 'cause they cannot rely upon the word of our policy makers.

That is a horrible message to send to our current companies here in New Jersey today, and to anyone on the outside who's looking to come to New Jersey to make an investment, We don't make investments during uncertainty, Steve.

It doesn't happen.

- Are you convinced that some of these businesses that are making $10 million profits or more annually are going to quote, "Leave the state?"

- Well, Steve, I spoke with one and they said if it weren't for their long-term lease here in New Jersey, now's the time to consider.

And why?

Obviously continuing to take advantage of the business community, but guess what?

We are in a post-COVID remote hybrid work environment, corporate footprints...

Here we are, right?

Corporate footprints are shrinking.

Let's not invite a company who's going to be downsizing their corporate footprint and has a majority of their workforce remote already the invitation to take their corporate status out of the state of New Jersey and put it in a lower tax jurisdiction state, like right next door, Pennsylvania, where CBT is on a multi-year trajectory to go down to 4.99%.

- And what's ours?

- Well, right now it's nine, that was the sunset.

So guess what?

On December 31st it was nine.

Okay?

Now it will go up to 11.5 for those 600 plus companies, the largest and most innovative companies in the state of New Jersey, employing tens if not hundreds of thousands of jobs.

- Michele Siekerka as the CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.

I assure you'll have the governor or a representative from the governor's administration to make the case for this quote unquote "Corporate Transit Fee."

Michele, as always, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

Be well.

- You too.

I'm Steve Adubato, thanks for joining us.

We'll see you next time.

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

Celebrating 30 years in public broadcasting.

Funding has been provided by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

IBEW Local 102.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

PSEG Foundation.

RWJBarnabas Health.

Let’s be healthy together.

PNC Foundation.

New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Newark Board of Education.

And by The Fidelco Group.

Promotional support provided by New Jersey Monthly.

And by NJ.Com.

- I’m very grateful that I’m still here.

- That’s me and my daughter when we went to celebrate our first anniversary.

- With a new kidney I have strength.

- They gave me a new lease on life.

- I’m still going everywhere and exploring new places.

- Nobody thought I was going to be here, nobody.

- I look forward to getting older with my wife, that’s possible now.

- [Narrator] We’re transforming lives through innovative kidney treatments, living donor programs, and world renowned care at two of New Jersey’s premiere hospitals.

- They gave me my normal life back.

It’s a blessing.

- [Narrator] RWJBarnabas Health.

Let’s be healthy together.