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Briana: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," it is a solar eclipse many across the U.S. and in New Jersey as hundreds gathered to see this really seen phenomenon at the Liberty science center.

>> That specialness and awareness is a big factor for folks joining us by the thousands today.

Briana: Public education advocates are pushing back against a proposal to provide tax credits to anyone donating to private schools.

>> There are given versions, different names for vouchers, but they are different names for the same thing, diverting public funds to pay for private education spencers.

Briana: Also, a state takeover.

The Attorney General taking control of the Warren County prosecutor's office amid a misconduct probe.

And the cost of giving back.

The mayor of Patterson is looking to regulate cavity groups after a rise in unwanted trash and overcrowding spills into the streets.

>> There is space to address both quality-of-life issues and concerns in our city while also supporting nonprofits in their efforts to continue to do the good work.

Briana: "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

>> From NJPBS's studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Thanks for joining us this Monday night.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

The clouds cooperated and millions of New Jerseyans were able to get through long-awaited partial solar eclipse view today.

It moved from Mexico to the U.S. and Canada, an epic phenomenon even for those of us in the Garden State who were not in the path of totality, where the moon completely blocks the sun.

But we did get to experience a stellar partial eclipse just a few minutes in time where roughly 90% of the sun was covered, replaced with darkness and an awe-inspiring vision.

In New Jersey the event started a little after 2:00 p.m. and wrapped by 4:30.

A number of schools cancel class or let students out early to view the skies.

As Ted Goldberg tells us, some places were better than others to get the best glimpse.

Ted: We don't see solar eclipses very often in New Jersey, but thousands of people enjoyed in the rearview at Liberty science center.

>> we won't see it again in our lifetime, so it is pretty neat.

>> It's phenomenal, and it's a beautiful day.

>> It's pretty go because this is my first time looking at an eclipse.

My dad was telling me stories about other people freaking out and it was really funny.

>> The ancient Mexicans, the Aztecs, especially the Mayans.

Big events, these events give a lot of signs for people about things that may happen.

>> very awesome.

Ted: Have you ever seen anything like this before?

>> no.

Ted: Where does this rank on the coolest things were ever seen?

>> Um, top.

>> It's really cool, it is hard to get through the crowds, and having to break through my brothers because they are really annoying.

Ted: People safely saw the moon block out 91% of the sun through special glasses, telescopes, and this sunspot are.

>> It is like a telescope that has been taken apart and rearranged, so sunlight comes in through a lens here and is bounced around through some mirrors inside and it project a real image of the sun down here.

Ted: Liberty science Center is a hotspot for solar eclipses in New Jersey.

People piled in seven years ago for the last visible eclipse in the garden state.

>> We won't see anything like this until April 2024.

Ted: That seemed a long way off in 2017.

People had time to make preparations and get a good look this time around.

>> We wanted to see the eclipse because I don't think I've ever seen it before, but it looks really cool, like half a moon, and it is very amazing.

100 out of 100,000 >> I was the whole night thinking about it and I couldn't sleep because it was the whole my thinking I would miss it and I didn't want to wait until I was 27 for the next eclipse.

>> Is very cool.

>> I wanted to see the solar eclipse.

Ted: Have you ever seen a solar equipped before?

>> no.

Ted: How excited are you to see it?

>> 10 out of 10.

>> We wanted to see the show that explained the solar clips, too, and we have the three-year-old and the one-year-old -- he is not going to watch it, obviously.

He is interested in space and science so you wanted to check it out.

Ted: Are you excited to see the sun?

>> Me, my wife, and three boys, 10 years old, 8 years old, and 6 years old.

We are very much into science and astronomy.

>> That specialness unawareness is a big factor for folks joining us by the thousands today.

Ted: Mike Shanahan is the planetarium director at the Liberty science Center.

>> We have so many things we can do without screen.

A real experience like this, seeing a real astronomy event inmates.

, nothing turns ou -- in my experience nothing turns out people like a real astronomy event.

>> I said, you know what, this would be a great experience because it is once and done.

Ted: The next total solar eclipse in New Jersey is in 55 years.

If you have the solar eclipse glasses, you can put them somewhere safe and kill time before that.

I'm Ted Goldberg, "NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: An old battle is rearing its head at the Statehouse over whether the state should use taxpayer funds to pay for students to attend private schools.

If approved, the new legislation would payout up to $37 million in a tax credits a year to residents who donate to supporting those private schools.

Critics call it a school voucher for the rich, while proponents tell Senior political correspondent David Cruz they are looking for new ways to support the state's school-aged kids.

David: when is a school voucher bill not a school voucher bill?

According to the sponsor of the New Jersey student support act -- >> It's not anything that is just out there, and I reject anyone who says it is a voucher bill, because it is not.

David: Critics are saying a school voucher bill by any other name would still be school voucher bill.

>> There are different versions, different names for vouchers, but they are all different names for the same thing, diverting public funds to pay for private education expenses.

David: Let's call it a tax credit funding mechanism for our purposes today, a bill that would give families a tax credit of up to 75% of their contributions to organizations that fund scholarships for private and religious schools, gives parents more say in where their child goes to school, meeting the needs of families who choose them for special needs or cultural or religious preferences, like the schools represented by a PAC which poured money and endorsements into backers of the bill.

The director of government affairs for the Teach Coalition, of which teach NJ is a member.

It creates a grant program for public schools and a tax credit program so people can get scholarships through donations, and it does not actually pull any funds away from public schools at all.

David: You say the money goes to the public schools, but A, that just got written into the bill, number one, and B, I know you guys didn't go out there and say, "Hey, let's find a way to fund public schools."

You are kind of spinning me right now, no?

>> I'm not spinning you.

The bottom line is we have had numerous conversations with all sorts of people from across the spectrum of the political spectrum and we are trying to find a program that impacts students most at need.

David: The bill isn't in front of any committees yet.

The Senate sponsored notes it has already undergone changes.

It has shrunk from a $250 million program to $37 million.

It calls for 50% of the funds generated to go to existing public schools.

>> By the way, you need to take a tax credit from somewhere to create funds.

We will take 50% of the tax credit and are creating a program in DOE for our poorest school districts, for tutoring programs, for free and reduced lunch, for teacher retention programs, for mental health, for a lot of different things.

Could we do that offer tax credit of other corporations and other areas if they want to choose to give the public schools?

Sure.

Those are all good conversations we should have.

>> These are essential educational resources that the state is required to make sure public schools have.

It is unconscionable to attach them to the passage of a private-school voucher bill.

David: The bill would be a boon to New Jersey's growing Orthodox Jewish community, which is lobbied strongly for it.

They will have to battle the state teachers union and almost two dozen other groups aligned against it for the hearts and minds and eventually the votes of state lawmakers.

I'm David Cruz, "NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: Meanwhile, President Biden has a new student loan forgiveness program, and it could erase thousands of dollars in interest for tens of millions of borrowers.

The White House revealed with the latest effort to cancel student debt just a year after the Supreme Court blocked the president's initial attempt.

This proposal will largely affect people with what the president calls runaway interest, eliminating up to $20,000 for individuals who owes significantly more than they borrowed because of accrued interest.

Borrowers could have all of their interest wiped away if they are enrolled in an income-driven repayment plan and meet other income requirements.

The White House estimates 25 million people could benefit from that part of the plan, and once finalized, the president says another 2 million debtholders could have their loans canceled through existing programs they haven't yet applied.

There are features for borrowers facing hardships and those paying down loans for at least 20 years.

The Biden administration anchor to this new plan to a 1965 law which it says will help it stand up to any legal challenges.

The president today vowing to make good on his campaign promise.

Pres.

Biden: Tens of millions of people's debt is literally about to get canceled.

But then some of my Republican friends and elected officials and special interest sued us, and the Supreme Court blocked us.

But that didn't stop us.

I mean it sincerely, we continue to find alternatives to reduce debt payments.

That are not challenge of all.

Altogether my administration is taking significant action to provide student debt relief ever in the history of this country.

Briana: Congress is back in session this week, but it is unclear whether the dysfunction that is so far a defining feature of this house will allow for any work to get done it and there is plenty of it, including passing aid for Ukraine.

The chaos has largely been blamed on a small coalition of hard-right members within the Republican caucus, which holds a razor thin majority.

As Washington correspondent Ben Hulac reports, that has made it increasingly difficult and unpredictable to govern.

Ben joins me with the latest.

Good to see you.

Good to see you there in the Congress.

Here is what I'm wondering -- folks are finally back, but we have seen no difficult it has been for them to get any work done -- how difficult it has been for them to get any work done especially in a bipartisan manner.

They were able to cobble through messy votes on a budget earlier last month.

What is on tap now, and are they going to be able to get things done?

Ben: Right, so Congress is coming back.

They were away for a two-week recess over the Easter period.

What is next is really anyone's guess, to an extent.

Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, has threatened to file a procedural motion that would essentially overturn the house, its current leadership structure right now.

She had threatened that if one more dollar goes to Ukraine aid spending, she is going to file a motion to remove Mike Johnson from the speakership.

If we think back to the fall, this is exactly the sort of procedure that got Kevin McCarthy, the former Republican speaker, booted out of office.

That is really what is on everyone's mind in the Capitol .

I spoke to a House Democrats staffer who was saying -- and I've heard this from lawmakers and staffers on the Democratic side of the aisle -- they would potentially be able and willing to protect Mike Johnson from losing his job as a speaker in exchange for some sort of deal on Ukraine foreign aid spending.

Other than that, there is other options, that is front and center.

Briana: How did we get here?

Because we have been seeing what seems like the same repeated events month after month, and we landed the same place.

Ben: Right, that is something that will be better told by historians and political scientists.

But in this Congress, in this moment, a small fraction of hard-right Republicans announce will the tremendous amount of power, and in a narrowly divided has timber, 218 Republicans in the house, 213 Democrats, a handful of members can be king for a day.

They can demand certain provisions in a spending bill, they can block things, they can use all sorts of leverage, all sorts of tools at their disposal to grind it down government to a halt.

This is the outgrowth of years and years of a Republican Party that has splintered.

You could trace it back to the tea party era.

Remember back to when former President Obama was elected.

This is that outgrowth generations later coming but it has been simmering for years now, this inter-Republican Party conflict.

Briana: So, OK, you mentioned Ukraine aid.

I'm wondering where that stands, and if, as you reported, there were about 300 votes according to a congressman to get some sort of aid package together.

Why can't, although it is a thin majority, why can't this Republican majority in the house coalesce other members on what they want to see in the aid package?

Ben: Right, and again, it stretches back to this bloc of Republicans on the hard right who do not want to spend dollars on overseas projects and nations.

They don't want money going to Ukraine or Gaza or Israel or perhaps Taiwan.

The aid package now, and the congresswoman said this to me and other reporters, yes, about 300 votes in the house, a ballpark figure that Congress could probably get together to pass Ukraine aid package.

But it faces certain procedural hurdles, and I wrote about this in my piece today.

There is something called the rules committee, and I won't get into the nitty-gritty details, but the rules committee basically is this state between bills on the house floor, and on the rules committee -- I hate to be a broken record -- are these members who are very opposed to foreign aid.

Because they are opposed, the speaker has to go around them through a procedural maneuver, and that gets us to where we are now, where yes, you could have a majority, even a big majority, 300 would pass any bill.

But when you go around this rules committee,k for this -- and I'm sorry to the viewers for this wonky explanation, you have to meet a super majority threshold.

We are in this odd, funky space where you could have a majority for lots of issues.

Briana: And even a new speaker would have to deal with that in fighting.

Then thank-- Ben, thanks so much.

In an abrupt move Friday night, Attorney General Matt Plotkin has announced he has taken over the Warren County prosecutor's office and removed James Pfeiffer, who served as prosecutor there since 2019 an appointee of Governor Murphy.

Plotkin didn't offer details on the takeover, but NJ advanced media is reporting the office is being investigated for misconduct by members.

The Attorney General tapped an acting persecutor.

According to the statement he specializes in white-collar crime and misuse of public funds.

He recently served as deputy director for the office of public integrity and accountability.

The Warren County's prosecutor's office faced scrutiny for its handling of cases related to two former Philipsburg counselmen, but there is no word of the takeover is connected.

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's office tells "NJ Spotlight News" a report on the investigation that prompted this move will be made public soon.

The families of two Newark firefighters who were killed in last summer's deadly Port Newark fire have filed a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit, claiming negligence and recklessness because their untimely deaths.

They became trapped while trying to put out a blaze on a massive cargo ship that was transporting 1200 junk cars bound for West Africa.

Their families are suing the city of Newburgh, Newark -- city of Newark, Newark's fire department, the shipping companies, claiming the debts could have been prevented.

The cause of the fire is being investigated, but at an initial investigation by the Coast Guard found Newark's firefighters had little to no maritime training.

A series of hearings held by the close cut and the National Transportation Safety Board looking into what went wrong revealed the fire started inside a jeep that was being used to push all vehicles on the ship, which ship workers testified was known to have overheating issues.

The lawsuit also names the operator of the porch and the ship's owners in seeking damages.

In our "spotlight on business" report, no good deed goes unpunished.

Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh says well-intentioned philanthropies who hand out food to the impoverished don't mean harm, but the efforts are causing quality-of-life issues like large amount of trash and debris on city streets.

In a move that is during controversy, the mayor wants to regulate charity groups providing essential items by requiring them to get a permit from the health department.

As Melissa Rose Cooper reports, community organizers and activists were taken by surprise and in some cases outraged.

>> The coffee.

These things save lives.

Fentanyl tests.

Care that prevents infection and amputations.

Melissa: Many of the items the manager of the Black Lives Matter Paterson harm reduction centers says the organization would no longer be able to give out to residents if a proposed ordinance regulating charity groups goes into effect.

>> There is so much trash throughout the city of Paterson, and it seems like the mayor's office, the city will look the other way when it is their friends or people who are, I guess, Latino.

My question is how can they identify our trash from trash of anyone else?

We have receptacles, trash bins.

We clean up after our events.

I think that is a bald-faced lie.

Melissa: It's an effort to clean trash on city streets and other quality-of-life issues.

There would be required to get a permit from the health department to distribute items to the community.

>> We are not prohibiting anything.

There would be a permit process, it is free, and it is in the best interest of individuals who are handling food to make sure that it is a safe process.

Melissa: Mayor Andre Sayegh says he wants local organizations to know that it is not meant to hurt their average programs, in response to complaints about group outside Paterson's tubing aid in the city.

Mayor Sayegh: we have had outside organizations which I'm sure are well-intentioned, and after they have distributed food, they leave a mess, and who is responsible for picking it up?

Us, and it should be those organizations.

This specific legislation will address any public health concerns we have had, any concerns we have had with individuals not properly disposing of whatever is left as far as food distribution is concerned.

Melissa: Paterson wouldn't be the first city in the state mandating permits to distribute aid.

Newark adopted a similar ordinance requiring agencies to have a permit to give out food and public laces.

>> I think there is space to address both quality-of-life issues and concerns inner-city while also supporting -- in our city while also supporting nonprofits in their efforts to do the good work they are doing.

Melissa: Richard Williams is the Executive Director of the St. Paul's community development Corporation, which provides various resources and services directly 3500 individuals and families in need each year.

>> I can certainly understand the city's desire to want to address quality-of-life issues, certainly clean streets has been a priority of their administration.

I understand that.

In the same vein, we can also recognize the concern that is being shared by community organizations that are just as desirous of doing good work in helping people in need.

My position on it is there has to be a happy medium or we can figure out how to be able to do both.

Melissa: Some local organizations are holding a rally tomorrow outside City Hall to voice concerns over the proposed ordinance.

If passed, anyone fails to get a permit could face fines of up to $2000 as well as time in jail.

For "NJ Spotlight News," I Melissa Rose Cooper.

Briana: On Wall Street, stocks got off to a bumpy start as investors prepare for a big week of fresh inflation data.

Here is how the markets closed for the day.

And that does it for us tonight, but don't forget to download the "NJ Spotlight News" podcast so you can listen anytime.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire "NJ Spotlight News" team, have a great evening.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

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