[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We continue our conversation on who will be New Jersey's next governor in 2025.

The election, 2025.

Take office in '26.

'Decision 2025' with the Mayor of Jersey City, Steve Fulop.

Candidate for governor.

Good to see you, Mayor.

- Good to see you, Steve.

- It is the 19th of March that we're taping.

This will be seen later, potentially after the June 4th primary for the United States Senate.

You originally endorsed the First Lady, Tammy Murphy.

And then said literally, within the last 24 hours as we're doing this, you know what?

I got that wrong.

I'm endorsing Andy Kim now, Congressman Kim.

Why the change and what does it have to do with policy?

- Well, look, I think that it's never easy to admit when you made a mistake, and it's embarrassing at times.

But I think I'm afforded the trust of our constituents here in Jersey City and hopefully beyond that one day.

And, you know, part of growth is admitting when you make a mistake.

I was early to support Tammy Murphy.

I knew her.

I should have been more patient to listen to the entire landscape of candidates.

But, you know, over the last six months, you've seen a steady deterioration of democracy at the conventions.

County after county has gotten progressively worse.

You've seen a lack of a message around why she's the better candidate.

And at the same time, you see the grassroots swelling by, you know, hundreds, if not thousands, towards Andy Kim.

And basically saying they want change in New Jersey.

And I think what this has brought to light is that change is necessary, and I agree.

So, you know, I'm listening.

And I think I'm advising our residents to do the right thing, which is support Andy Kim.

- Okay.

Move away from the politics.

And let's talk about democracy.

It's connected to what you just said, Mayor.

- Yeah.

- The question in New Jersey of the bracketing of candidates, I'll try to make this simple.

The line.

The Democratic party line.

The party chairs, the bosses of the party saying a certain candidate will be on that line.

You're not on that line, the bosses don't pick you, you're in a place that's otherwise known as 'ballot Siberia.'

Can't find you.

Translation, what does the line in New Jersey, New Jersey the only state in the nation that has this practice, not a law, it's a practice, What does it have to do with representative democracy, Mayor?

- Yeah, well, I mean, it's an indirect tax on residents.

And it impacts them every day of their life, even though they may not vote, or they may not know what the line is.

If you think about over the last year, you've seen a steady deterioration in democracy and representation in New Jersey, whether it's campaign finance rules that have been watered down last year, despite the outcry of hundreds, if not thousands of activists, to the open public records rules that are right now under attack in New Jersey.

If you had a process that legislators are only accountable to the voters, as it should be, they probably wouldn't be making those decisions.

But when you have a small group of people, four or five decision makers in New Jersey, that control these lines that have disproportionately votes and it's the only way, historically, that a legislator can get elected, you see them listening to those power brokers instead of listening to the voters.

And so what inevitably will happen if the lines are gone, is you will have better representation in Trenton, better representation in local government.

Listening more closely to what their constituents want, which I think is helpful for democracy.

- Thank you, Mayor.

Let's get into some public policy issues.

- Yeah, sure.

- If you were a governor, you might not say exactly what Governor Murphy said when he was elected that he will fix New Jersey Transit if it kills him.

And it just might, he said.

What do you believe either the solution or some remedies that would help New Jersey Transit move from the fiscal cliff that it is hanging over?

Remember, rail?

- Yep.

- Buses, fair hike, trying to find new sources of revenue.

The governor's proposed it.

I don't know what your view is on that so-called corporate taxes on companies that earn over $10 million a year, corporations.

What would you do if you're a governor as it relates to New Jersey Transit?

- So, I'm running for governor not only to be elected, but to be a transformational governor and move the state forward, much like we did in Jersey City.

And that means that being substantive on policy is important.

Every month we've put out a policy paper on a core issue facing New Jersey.

And it's more detailed and robust than probably any gubernatorial candidate does in the entire country.

We think voters deserve that.

So last summer, we put our transportation policy, and the CBT dedicating it to New Jersey Transit was something that we initially.

- Corporate business tax.

- The corporate tax being dedicated to New Jersey Transit was something we actually initiated as a core solution for New Jersey Transit's policy problems.

The governor pushed back when we released it at the time last summer.

The advocates supported me.

Slowly over the last year, you saw legislative leaders down in Trenton get on board, and now the governor's on board.

So, I could take some credit for being the first one to push for a real tangible solution for New Jersey Transit.

I also talk in that paper about how we would change the bus routes to make them more reliable.

How we would change the structure of New Jersey Transit overall with regards to how they function, how they flow, how transportation encompassed in New Jersey overall.

And, you know, I think we have some detailed solutions there.

And we actually, importantly, say how we're gonna pay for it.

So, StevenFulop.com.

Anybody could download the paper.

It's strong, but it's worth the read.

- So, let's deal with another issue.

You talk about how to pay for it, how to pay for our schools.

State funding of our public schools.

I believe there are over 600 school districts in the state of New Jersey.

The state school funding formula.

Our schools are paid for by property taxes and state funding to those local schools.

- Yeah.

- So many folks argue that the formula, Mr. Mayor, as it relates to how much the state will send to a school district, is all screwed up.

That it doesn't make sense.

That over 150 school districts are losing state revenue into their school districts, which causes them to either increase property taxes, lay off teachers, God knows what else they have to do to balance a budget.

What do you believe needs to be done to, if not fix, improve the state funding formula for our public schools if you were governor?

- Yeah, so let me start by saying that we're releasing our education paper next month.

So by the time this airs, probably people can download that as well.

I think education is actually one of the things that New Jersey does very, very well, traditional K through 12.

And Governor Murphy has made a commitment there and he's followed through on it and deserves credit on it.

There's no question that the school funding formula is dated.

It was implemented under Governor Corzine.

The landscape has certainly shifted.

How we deal with special education is a place that we could obviously reform.

And that was initially intended to be changed in 2006.

And neither Governor Murphy or Governor Christie leaned into that.

That could have a significant impact to local municipalities.

I also think there's a lot of money when you look about education around higher education.

It's more than half a billion dollars.

You look at how New Jersey uses tuition assistant grants, which is something that we use to supplement lower income families.

And actually becomes something to supplement the universities that aren't actually performing.

And there's a lot of reform around there as well.

So that's on the education side.

I do think New Jersey needs to take a wholesale look on our tax system.

What are the brackets that we tax needs to be revisited, how we're funding our schools from a property tax standpoint versus.

- Sorry for interrupting, Steve, Mayor, would you raise the income tax on the state?

- No, I don't think it's necessary to be raising the income tax.

I think we need to revisit the different tax structures and take a fresh look at how we are taxing our residents.

I mean, I do think that affordability is a big conversation here.

But it's not only taxes, it's also housing supply when people talk about affordability because there's a lack of housing, which leads to mortgages that you maybe can't afford, or rent that you maybe can't afford.

- Mayor, let's do this.

We've been involved in a public awareness initiative around childcare a few years called 'Reimagine Childcare.'

- Yep.

- It's expanding into this initiative called 'First 1000 Days NJ,' which looks at important issues impacting families and children.

You've talked about some of them already.

- Yep.

- But an area that you haven't touched on, impacting children and families, that you believe would be a key, would be a cornerstone of your governorship if elected, what is that?

- You're asking about early?

- What is the number one area for you as it relates to children and families?

- So, our health policy comes out coincidentally this week, actually on the 25th is the press rollout.

It speaks to a robust plan around the first year of childcare.

I have three kids under five years old, and I'm certainly familiar with the challenges around childcare.

And there's a robust plan on how we supplement daycare centers differently in New Jersey.

That's a problem and challenge number one that needs to be addressed.

And then secondly, how do you expedite the dollars that families are entitled to so that way they can get access to that at the birth of the child instead of going through the bureaucracy that actually takes time?

So I think those are two parts of early childhood.

If I was saying the three areas, if you ask me, I would say K through 12 is very good.

Let's not really focus on that as much as special needs, higher education, and the first year of after birth.

- And we're talking about first 1000 days, is pregnancy to age two.

Is that an issue?

You'll see more programming down the road on that.

Real quick before I let you go, we've got a minute left.

Immigration crisis in the state, in the nation.

You don't have a solution.

No one does.

What would you do to improve the situation in the state?

- In the state?

Look, I mean, Jersey City has been a welcoming place.

It's a diverse place.

I mean, clearly we have our responsibility that when, you know, we have a diverse city like Jersey City, it's something that's made us stronger and better.

We need to be thoughtful about how we approach it.

We are the first and only city in the country that has a federally accredited immigration office within city hall, helping people get citizenship and navigate the process.

I think you obviously need some border reform.

That's obvious.

And I think that, you know, President Biden and Congress is moving forward on some thoughtful plans that hopefully the Republicans support.

- We'll stay on top of that.

Mayor Steven Fulop is mayor of Jersey City and a candidate for governor of the great state of New Jersey.

Mayor, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- I'm Steve Adubato.

We'll see you next time.

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