- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by Bergen New Bridge Medical Center.

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[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi, everyone, Steve Adubato, we are honored to be joined by the Lieutenant Governor of the great state of New Jersey, Dr.

Dale Caldwell, who's also, in addition to being the Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State heading up the Department of State.

Lieutenant Governor Caldwell, great to have you with us.

- Steve, it's always great to have our conversations, we've talked in my many different iterations as college president, and so, I enjoy our talks.

- Always.

Describe for folks, Dr.

Caldwell, exactly what the role of Lieutenant Governor is, and then, we'll also switch over to the Secretary of State.

- Well, first, constitutionally, the Lieutenant Governor's main priority is to really... When the governor's out of town, to fill in as acting governor, if the governor leaves, to become the governor, but really to work closely with Governor Sherrill, you know, be really hand-in-glove to really work towards, at least in this administration, make sure New Jersey is as affordable as possible.

- And as Secretary of State.

- So as Secretary of State, I am the Chief Election Officer for the state of New Jersey, also oversee tourism, the Business Action Center, our faith-based institute, the archives, we're dealing with commissions, we have commissions from India, and Ireland, and some others and... And Israel, and so, it's really... It's a department, but one of the things we're trying to do is to make sure it's a department that really helps groups implement their programs, so really, rather than being regulatory exclusively, we're really trying to empower groups around the state.

- Dr.

Caldwell, one of the things that I know you're keenly aware of as the person responsible for our elections, there's an election coming up, a midterm election for the United States House of Representatives, some United States Senate seats will be up as well, other seats.

Last time I checked the United States Constitution, I may have read it wrong, I don't think I did, it is the states who are responsible for regulating and managing the election process.

- Yes, yes.

- Recently, there have been many statements coming from the federal government, more specifically from members of the... President Trump's administration and the president himself, who has said, who have implied as well, that the Fed should come in.

The Fed should play a more active role because there's so much fraud and abuse and "the 2020 election was stolen," according to the President.

Tell folks how you see it and why the states must be, not only constitutionally, but practically responsible for elections.

- You're absolutely right, constitutionally, operationally, the states are firmly in control of elections, New Jersey has taken that very seriously, Steve, since I've started, I've had a chance to interact with a lot of the other Secretaries of State around the country, and they have said that New Jersey, if not the best, is one of the top as far as protecting elections, making sure that we have cybersecurity protection, making sure that voters have access, that our machines are working, and so, we're really making that a main focus to make sure that the midterm elections... We have the LD-11 on April 16th and the June 2nd primary, one of the things that I'm telling folks is go to vote.nj.com... .gov, excuse me, and that really will give a lot of information.

- I'm sorry, Lieutenant Governor, go back again, we're gonna put up that website, what is it again?

- It's vote.nj.gov, G-O-V.

- And what do people find there?

- Well, information about voting, everything, where you vote, we're also... We also have something called pollworkernj.gov, we're trying to get more people to be poll workers, so any questions, and one of the things that you're gonna hear more from me out there talking about how safe elections are and really encouraging people to vote, we don't care who you vote for, but as you know, my dad marched with Dr.

King, my dad was in Selma, and the right to vote is a fundamental right of being an American, and so, we wanna make sure that voters feel comfortable, feel encouraged and are protected in New Jersey.

- You and I have had so many conversations around leadership over the years in your different roles, and one of the things that I'm not sure a lot of people know about, but it's important we talk about it, is your role as a spiritual leader.

You're a pastor.

Explain to folks what you're... Not only that, but you headed up boards of education, you've also been a leader in state government in previous administrations, et cetera, et cetera, and the president at Centenary College.

Along those lines... - Well, Steve, I'm pastor of Covenant United Methodist Church in Plainfield, and I've been there for going on five years, and my dad was a pastor, my grandfather, so I come from a long line of pastors, and Steve, being a college president was very intense and so on, but being a pastor, and being a lieutenant governor, and Secretary of State has given me kind of a fundamental foundation to really serve, and to really serve with compassion and serve with empathy, and so, it really has been... Just been a blessing, it really has been a blessing, and one of the things we're doing as Secretary of State is we have something called the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives that we're transforming into the Faith Action Center, and within it a Faith Action Network, what we're trying to do is connect individuals of faith, and the faith, you don't have to believe in a religion, but you have to have faith in humanity to provide a support network, a supplemental support network for the most vulnerable people throughout the state of New Jersey, and I know that's near and dear to your heart with your leadership and other programs.

- Along those lines, Lieutenant Governor, faith, and I know this is gonna sound like a somewhat esoteric question, I should've asked the governor who we just interviewed about faith in this sense, so many people have, quote, "lost faith" in government, in our government officials, including many who have lost faith in the election process, which we just talked about, what do you say to those, Dr.

Caldwell, who are losing, if not have lost faith that government will work, does work for them?

- Well, it's... That's why it's so important to connect with the trusted advisors, you know, many people, you know, rely on their imams, or rabbis, or pastors for information, and I'm the first statewide elected clergyperson, and so, that has... I've been amazed even through the campaign and others how important that is to so many people, and that I'm somebody that really is not prone to lying or exaggerating, just kind of the truth, and so, I think it's helped people feel more comfortable with the Sherrill administration, and our focus, you know, Proverbs 31:89, is to be the voice for the voiceless and speaker for the destitute, and the governor really encouraged me to use that throughout the campaign, and that's who we are, that's... Our budget reflects the middle class and the most vulnerable, and so, this administration... And again, we often talk about past administrations, it's a different time, a different place, a different environment, we're here right now today and one of the things we're doing is trying to make sure that everybody, no matter what ZIP code you're in, no matter what schooling you're in, that you get the quality education and the life in New Jersey that you deserve, so I think we are going to bring back... And we're governing for everybody, we don't care if you voted for us or not, and I think the way Governor Sherrill is and I am, people are starting to feel that, "Hey, these folks really care."

- Talk about caring, and compassion, and empathy, you know because we've talked about this before, the website will come up for Start Strong NJ, Start Strong NJ is a childcare initiative, and our role is to create greater public awareness around childcare, and I've interviewed you not only at the launch of Start Strong NJ, I believe that was... I'm not sure where it was, down in Jersey Shore somewhere, and then, also, I interviewed you at the War Memorial, okay?

On the subject of Start Strong NJ's priorities, their blueprint if you will, your agenda/the governor's agenda, which is the same agenda, just asked the governor about this, your childcare agenda in this Sherrill-Caldwell administration looks like...?

Please.

- Well, there are two aspects to it, one is the actual childcare, the other is enabling people to work to pay for their bills, and so, one of the things in this budget, and I'm sure the governor mentioned that there's an additional $18 million into childcare assistance, you know, out of, you know, a large total of half a, you know... Half a, you know... $580 million total for this, this is a priority because if kids don't get the support, one of the things you and I, we've talked a lot about, you learn to read by third grade, you read to learn after third grade, and if you're behind in reading, you often fall into the prey of dropping out of school and going to prison, so focusing on not only childcare, but early childhood education, you know, this budget has put a record $1.4 billion into universal pre-K, so that is critical and it aligns with the childcare assistance, we've got to give everyone an opportunity to work and not have childcare be a hindrance to them going to a job, earning a wage that'll help them pay their bills.

- By the way, it was not down on Jersey Shore, I think it was in the Princeton area and I wanna make sure people know where that took place, the initial kickoff of Start Strong NJ, and again, Start Strong NJ, put up our website one more time, people need to find out more about the need for affordable, accessible quality childcare and its impact, please, Lieutenant Governor, talk about this because I wanna talk about the business community and the business agenda for your administration with the governor, the connection between the lack of quality, accessible, affordable childcare and its impact on the economy.

Please, Dr.

Caldwell.

- It's... You know, people don't understand that the government and I are really expanding opportunities for people, for small businesses, for individuals to get a job, and one of the critical things is... In this administration is to focus on how do we expand the number of jobs and how do we make it easy for people to find jobs?

We're working with employers, we're working with higher ed, we're trying to create this seamless connection between K-12, vocational programs, higher ed, childcare so that people can work and really make New Jersey more affordable, making sure that they have the jobs, the households have the jobs and income that they need to have housing, to be able to pay for all of the necessary things in life, and so, this... Strong NJ is so important, this childcare assistance is so critical to the workforce, and that generates revenue for the state of New Jersey.

- And if people, moms and dads, disproportionately moms are not able to work, and I'm not advocating, it's a fact, if they are not able to get the affordable, accessible quality childcare they need, they can't work, therefore the obvious negative impact on the economy, all right, let's move on, tourism.

We're involved in an initiative around FIFA, the World Cup coming this summer, so is your office as it relates to tourism, connect tourism in the Department of State, you are the Secretary of State, and FIFA, the World Cup initiative, which is a big deal for the state and the region.

- Well, and we'll expand it even to the economy, you know, I don't know if you remember that I was on the board of the United States Tennis Association, and in New York, there's this two-week tournament called the US Open, which has 879,000 people, Steve, it generates $1.2 billion of economic impact on New York City, more revenue than the Yankees, Mets, Rangers, Knicks games combined, the World Cup is going to swallow that, you know, here in New Jersey, having the World Cup, the estimates are 700,000, I think it's more like a million, the estimates are $220 million, I think it's gonna have a much bigger impact on New Jersey, so as the Secretary of State and tourism, one of the things we're trying to do is to make sure that every county, every locality in New Jersey, that the small businesses can have fan parties, that the small businesses can really get people... But also tying... There's so many wonderful things in the state, I've learned since being Secretary of State how... How extraordinary... How many... So many things that people don't even know about in this state, so part of our job, and this is where the Faith Action Network and others, to get information out to people so that they know that every weekend, they can go to some incredible free things as well as some incredible things no matter what you're looking for.

- One more area in the Department of State for you as Secretary of State, as we were looking at all the departments and all the divisions you're responsible for, is the arts, we're doing a series on our "One-on-One" program called "The Arts Connection," all about the arts in the state, the New Jersey... The Arts Council falls under your universe, correct?

- Yes.

- What do you see, Lieutenant Governor, in these tight fiscal times, the role of the state being in funding arts organizations that have a very tough time just being a "profitable business?"

Because sometimes, the arts aren't simply business, it's the arts.

- The... - Well, Steve, you may know, I was actually the president and CEO of Crossroads Theater Company when they won the Tony Award.

I can't act my way out of a paper bag, but I was on stage to accept a Tony Award, which is funny... - The Crossroads in New Brunswick?

- Crossroads in New Brunswick, yep, in 1999 when they... When we won the Tony Award.

- Was that Ric Khan...?

Was Ric Khan there?

- Yeah, Ric Khan, the founder, the co-founder, Ric is a good friend and what a great guy, and so, I understand the value of the arts, and in fact, New Brunswick's turnaround was really because of the State Theater, George Street and Crossroads because people would come in and leave, and they'd come in and go to restaurants, they'd come in and stay, and so, New Brunswick is vibrant because of the arts, and so, the arts are critical, and so, the Council on the Arts really helps to fund a lot of different arts organizations around the state.

You know, this is a tough time and a tight budget, so one of the things we want to do is really work with them to see if there are other funding sources besides the state to really help them carry on their good work because they're valuable to business as well as the state because of the economics and even some of the training that they have, so we're really going to do a lot with the arts organizations to really help them become a bigger force in New Jersey.

- The lieutenant governor of the great state of New Jersey, are you...?

You're the fourth?

- I'm the fourth, yes, I'm the fourth.

- Fourth, and the first leader in the faith community to serve as lieutenant governor.

- And happen to be the first male, too.

- First... Thank you for clarifying that, Dr.

Dale Caldwell, Lieutenant Governor of the great state of New Jersey, and his other job is head of the Department of State as the Secretary of State, Dr.

Caldwell, thank you so much, Dale, for joining us.

- Steve, thank you so much, I always enjoy our conversations.

- Same here, stay with us, we'll be right back.

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

- We are honored to be joined by the Honorable Assembly Speaker, Craig Coughlin.

Good to see you, Mr.

Speaker.

- Steve, nice to be with you again.

- Let's be honest with people, we were just talking, we're taping this on the 17th of March.

It is St.

Patrick's Day.

- That's right.

- But also, the Big East Tournament was over.

You're a big basketball fan.

Will you admit to being a St.

John's fan?

- I'm proud to be a St.

John's.

Undergrad in law.

You gotta dance with a girl in pocket.

- And the speaker said that we should respect politicians who stick with loyalty to their team and don't change and I absolutely agree.

But let's talk about public policy.

Your initiative, the Stay NJ program.

- Right.

- You drove it, got it passed by the legislature, signed into law right now, as it is.

- Yeah.

- If you earn up to 500 grand, you're eligible.

It's for a property tax rebate up to 6,500.

The governor has proposed, Governor Sherrill has proposed you reduce that level from 500 grand to 250 grand and cap it at $4,000 rebate, not 6,500.

Your initial reaction?

And you weren't hearing that for the first time when she delivered a budget address, right?

You knew that was coming.

- Well look, I've had gotten to work with the governor over the time, between the time she was elected and the time she took office and before the budget address.

So, no, I wasn't surprised when she, when she said it.

But I am, you know, committed to making sure that we have the strongest state program that we can have.

The numbers were picked because we wanted to include as many seniors as we possibly can.

The number at 500,000 and 6,500 represents a real attempt to make sure that seniors stay in New Jersey, stay by the people that they love, their grandkids, in the communities that they built.

And so I think that's an important and I think it's been a very, very popular program, right?

First time checks have gone out for the first quarter of this year.

And well, the response to my ledge office, and I've said it before, I actually got a written letter from a senior thanking me, which is rare.

I can't remember last time I got a real, a handwritten letter.

And I think that's probably true to most of us, but, you know, in talking to my colleagues, they're getting the same kind of response.

It's really important.

It also offers the opportunity to be transformative for people who are not 65.

So that when you're 58 years old and you're deciding where you're gonna retire, the Stay NJ Plan offers you the opportunity for real meaningful property tax relief and that may have a deciding factor.

That said, I understand the governor's working hard to chat with, to meet the challenge of, you know, a structural deficit.

And so we're gonna do our job as, you know, as you know, Steve.

I mean, you served the legislature.

The constitutional job of the legislature now is to review the budget.

They don't send it to us to check the math, they send it to us because constitutionally, the legislature has an important role in the budget process.

And so we're gonna get to work on it, we'll look at the governor's proposal, fully understand it, and then make sure we have the strongest state program going forward.

- And by June 30th, the end of... I'm sorry Mr.

Speaker, by the end of the fiscal year, we will know what that program looks like, correct?

By June 30th.

- Yeah, when we get to the budget, we'll have it.

We're gonna have a state program.

The governor is committed to that, I'm committed to that.

My colleagues have all voted for it already.

Remember, it is the law.

The state is the law, it's not program, so.

- That's right.

Mr.

Speaker, let me try this.

We have an initiative and we've talked to you about this before, but the website for stay, excuse me, for Start Strong NJ, which is our childcare initiative, public awareness around childcare, here's the question, with money being so tight, the governor puts certain items in her budget proposal that the legislature has to respond, react, and enact in one form or another.

There'll be negotiations.

Tight money, money's tight.

What do you believe the responsibility is of the state government to fund and support childcare programming that in many ways allows families to work, for parents to work and know that their children are in a safe, affordable childcare situation?

What do you say, Mr.

Speaker?

- I say that that's one of the really important things that we can do for young families in the state of New Jersey.

Childcare is very expensive.

I know it now because I have three adorable grandchildren.

If you want, we can talk for them, about them for a couple of hours too.

So I see first, secondhand, I guess, how important it is to have childcare that's affordable by both my sons and their wives who have the children or have their careers and they're working hard at that.

And I think it's a way for us to help them, for people to start careers, build families, stay again in New Jersey, perhaps on the other end of the thing.

Grandparents play an important role in that.

You know, my wife watches the kids a couple days a week and takes some of the burden off them, off off the cost of our children.

But the state and the governor has been committed to this, has put money in the budget for childcare, support that wholeheartedly.

- Mr.

Speaker, let me try this.

Lots of talk about "Christmas tree" items, legislative initiatives, after the fact, late in the game, get attached to the budget.

And again, as a former legislator, you mentioned it, a very brief term, as you well know, one term and gone.

- But it was a great term.

- Yeah, it was, yeah, at least my mother thinks so.

So I remember being on the finance committee, the budget committee, the Democrats from the majority happened to be a Democratic legislator.

There were items that I was able to get put into the budget that helped my district.

- 100%.

- Explain to folks, A, what those items are, and sometimes they are not particularly impactful and valuable.

Sometimes they are wasteful, sometimes they have value.

I don't mean mine, but help people understand that because right now the argument is, it's all waste, it's pork, you gotta get rid of it.

You say what, Mr.

Speaker?

- I say that position is nonsense.

The money that the legislature puts in reflects the legislative priorities for their districts in ways of helping people.

The things we invest in through the budget process, and it's not always late in the game.

It just, what happens is the way the process works, we let the budget committee do their work, we then get the resolutions, which are suggestions proposed by legislators after, you know, they don't just make these things up.

As you know, you speak to the mayors, you speak to the elected officials, you speak to the town.

And then who knows the towns and the town's needs of the district that you represent better than the legislators who are there all the time, right?

I go to more events in the towns that I'm fortunate enough to represent than you can count.

And so what goes into the budget, I would take issue of the fact that there are wasteful things in there.

I can't.

Largely these are things that directly impact people.

Sometimes they help projects to get going.

But the narrative that these are pork, you know, that they're Christmas trees or that they're wasteful spending is nonsense, nonsense.

Look at what we... Also, some of these things are restorations.

Last year, for example, Steve, we included $120 million of restoration that the Governor Murphy had taken out for higher education for four years and for community college.

Ask the kids who could maybe afford to go to college because of that if it was wasteful.

Ask their parents, ask the people who had dreams about whether they... We invest in things like healthcare facilities 9/11 system for counties.

There's myriads of programs that we support for profoundly brain injured children, for developmentally disabled people to make sure they have good care.

All of those things are really good, and many of them are direct to communities to help reduce their property tax.

- Mr.

Speaker, only, we only have a few seconds left.

- Sorry.

- But for those who say, including the Governor, we can't afford it, you say?

- I say we can afford it.

And I say we should be including those things.

Now, the governor has challenged us to say, if you wanna add something, you gotta find the takeaway.

I'm not afraid of that challenge.

Last year, we took $400 million out of the budget, largely unnoticed.

The year before that, 500 million.

So we're not afraid to cut the budget where we can find places to cut that don't hurt people and in order to directly help communities and others.

- Craig Coughlin is the Speaker of the Assembly, that's the highest ranking member of the Lower House, and he is a St.

John's basketball fan.

- I am.

- And after that, he roots for Seton Hall after that.

- I had a son who graduated from Seton Hall and a son of a graduate of Seton Hall Law, so.

- And we're doing a whole nother program with the speaker on the Big East, the history of the Big East basketball conference and why the history and the legacy matters.

- Sign me up.

- Not policy, just basketball, okay, Mr.

Speaker.

- 100%, Steve.

You name the time and place.

- You got it, that's the speaker.

I'm Steve Adubato, thank you so much for watching.

We'll see you next time.

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

Funding has been provided by Bergen New Bridge Medical Center.

NJM Insurance Group.

United Airlines.

The Turrell Fund.

Kean University.

IBEW Local 102.

Operating Engineers, Local 825.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

PSE&G.

The Burke Foundation 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 ROI-NJ.

And by CIANJ, and Commerce Magazine.

Here at Kean University, everyone gets their chance to climb higher.

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