Announcer: Major funding for "NJ Spotlight News" is provided in part by, NJM Insurance Group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

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♪ Briana: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," after a brutal summer of transit delays and cancellations, Representative Josh Gottheimer and state leaders spearhead new efforts to solve ongoing transit troubles.

This is time for Amtrak to start using the dollars we have allocated to start fixing these problems right now.

Briana: Plus, the U.S. Department of Education delays financial aid package rollout, leading to frustration for millions of college student.

>> I have a couple of students that they committed to the school and just two weeks ago so consumed their package and realized, there is no I can afford this.

It really throws a wrench into their plans.

Briana: Also, managing pain.

The CDC releases new guidelines urging doctors to better address the pain caused by contraceptive procedures.

>> I am so glad they have finally brought this to the forefront, so the providers now are above the post to have this conversation more regularly with patients.

Briana: And, the 2024 Paris Olympics wrap up with New Jersey natives stealing the show and bringing home gold.

"NJSpotlightNews" begins right now.

♪ Announcer: From NJBS studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining this Monday night I'm Briana Vanozzi.

,With any luck, New Jersey transit riders could get a little cash to ease their troubles.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer is pushing a new public transit ridership plan calling on Amtrak to reimburse passengers if they experience long delays caused by lines that real agency controls.

The action comes after customers were left stranded on trains and platforms hours this summer in stifling heat and with few alternatives, all due to farm tracks infrastructure.

Now Gottheimer and local leaders , want a passenger Bill of rights, one that mirrors those of airlines, and for the agency to speed up its work fixing problems.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis has the details.

Reporter: it's time for Amtrak to start using the dollars we have allocated to them to start fixing these problems right now.

Standing in front of an NJ Transit train station in Glen Rock, Congressman Josh Gottheimer alongside state and local leaders, and on Sonoma just to get NJ transit back on track.

>> We will implement a new rail passenger Bill of Rights>> Modeled after the airline passenger Bill of Rights that the DOT introduced earlier this year.

There is no reason we should just address passenger rights for the air, we should also do it for the rail.

The legislation will guarantee that passengers receive automatic, prompts, and full refunds when their trains are canceled or significantly changed by more than three hours, just like the airlines.

Reporter: The passenger Bill of Rights would be included in new legislation called the all aboard act" that the Congressman is still working on, that he says will get all hands on deck effort to finally fix the train delays that have made this summer miserable for commuters.

Some calling it "the summer of hell."

>> I represent 16 towns.

All those residents are commuters from Fairlawn from from Glen Rock that all of our, and they need ways to get into the city without trouble.

Reporter: almost two weeks ago, passengers will stop eventually leaving New York with no AC and sweltering heat for three hours, some suffering minor health issues.

This weekend, an electrical fire broke out on a transit train leaving Point Pleasant, although no one was injured.

Delays and cancellations have become the new norm for far too many fasteners.

>> Especially this summer, they have been lots of the days of New Jersey transit, lots of issues, so we are very grateful for our elected officials who are here and trying to solve these problems.

Reporter: but many of the problems are caused by Amtrak's old infrastructure.

Amtrak owns the rails that NJ Transit operates on, and NJ Transit pays them $100 million a year to use those rails.

So the second part of Gottheimer's bill would require Amtrak to begin spending the $66 billion allocated to them through the bipartisan Infrastructure bill, and put an end to their run to feel strategy.

>> Those who don't know what run tests fail is, I will explain it.

Amtrak doesn't replace its infrastructure until it's well beyond its lifespan.

If a piece of infrastructure is meant to last stay until 2025, they might plan to keep it until 2025 or 2026, until it fails.

In other words failure is part , of their strategy.

Reporter: His bill would put the burden back on Amtrak when refunds have to be issued.

>> Rep. Gottheimer: the rail passenger Bill of Rights will apply to Amtrak and ensure that when Amtrak is to blame for New jersey transit delay, Amtrak will foot the bill for refunds.

Reporter: we reached out to NJ Transit and Amtrak to get reaction.

NJ Transit offered no comment , and Amtrak didn't respond in time for the story.

But NJ Transit is facing a massive budget deficit in the next fiscal year, and having to issue refunds to the as Goodheart the bottom line.

Gottheimer is also calling for a meeting with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in the coming weeks.

>> The question I want to know is, how do we get these dollars moving faster to fix the problem?

Are there human resources and can put on the problem to move faster?

Reporter: the bill is expected to be released this week.

Congressman Gottheimer believes that due to the pervasiveness of the NJ Transit issues this summer, it will have bipartisan support.

Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: A new report finds kids in the state's largest city are making some major headway in some areas of child well-being, while progress continues to stall in others.

The latest Newark countdown report reveals fewer families are living below the poverty line, and median household income is increasing.

But learning loss continues to be a significant issue, highlighting just how long lasting effects of the pandemic have been.

My guess is the president and CEO of advocates for children of New Jersey, which puts out the annual report, and teaches me to help make sense of the data.

Mary, so good to see you.

GUEST: So good to be here.

Briana: This data is compiled, about finding trends, not so much what we saw specifically this year, but this trend as far as learning loss was pretty significant.

What is happening with Newark students in particular?

GUEST: We have seen a slight increase seen the recruitment of learning.

In terms of the English tests, English language, and also in math with older children.

But it is not significant and more needs to be done.

What it really shows is there was a problem before the pandemic, and the sun just as that submitted the problem and made us more aware of it.

We know the mayor had issued a 10-point plan last summer.

It has either stayed the same or going up incrementally.

But more needs to be done.

We need more tutoring programs.

We need to have teacher aides, whatever they need to commit more resources in the classroom.

Briana: Right, because the longer it takes to get the students back up to speed, the more potentially are falling behind.

GUEST: Correct.

So in the report, which is, now we are putting it into Spanish, I would say 42% of the residents in Newark identified as Hispanic.

22% of the students multilingual learners, which means they are not proficient in listening tour in writing or in speaking in English, so they can't learning English.

So we need to make those adjustments to make sure they can learn in their own language while learning English.

Briana: This was the first of all for this report out in Spanish, yes?

GUEST: Yes.

Briana: Why was that so critical of course, you are talking about the sheer number of folks in the city who are Spanish first language speakers.

Are you hoping this will gain some ground in terms of helping these families to know what the resources are, and also what hurdles they may potentially be up against.

GUEST: So the purpose of the project is to compile data in one place in a variety of indicators -- we have 100 indicators, to show a snapshot of how children are doing.

And we decided to translate it into Spanish, because the next step is to make sure the community understand the data, and that residents see the trends and they can advocate for changes they think I needed to make sure their children will be as successful as can be.

That information it needs to be shared with community providers, people who provide direct services, but also public , officials as they try to Marshall limited resources.

Briana: Very quickly before I let you go, what should parents take from this as they look to make sure that they are helping their kids in the best way possible?

GUEST: Well, we have seen an improvement in attendance in school, which I think is the first step.

Chronic absenteeism those missing school or a significant amount of school, those numbers were down this year compared to last year.

I do feel that families need to understand that their children are not at the level of reading and math that they need to be to be successful in the future, so if they really want them to have some type of a career, but just know basic information in order to be successful, they need to access whatever programs, whether it be tutoring -- we want kids reading by third grade it is critical information.

We will have the report on our website.

Mary, thank you so much.

At a time when incoming college freshmen should feel excited about their next step, many say they are frustrated and stressed out about the financial aid process.

The U.S. Department of Education announced that next year's FAFSA form will launch two months late, following delays and problems linked to the year's application.

That means some students heading to college for the first time may not have the money to pay for it.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan spoke with experts about the botched rollout and what students can do to make sure their financial aid is secure.

>> We are going to have by mid-September, students will start to get bills from the institutions without any possibility to pay the bills.

Reporter: Financial aid experts like AUDREY:, fear some jersey college freshmen this fall could find out they are enrolled, but with no money for tuition.

The redesigned forms delivered late and plagued with problems, have confused many applicants.

>> So you bang your head against the wall, you give up when you say it well, I hope it's going to work out, then those students are going to be in for a rude awakening.

And what are our institutions going to be able to do to support the students?

Reporter: she runs the nonprofit "more than bootstraps," which is proactively reaching out to local communities and has so far, steered 1200 New Jersey students through this year's vaccine FAFSA process -- vexing fafsa process.

They offer help to many non-English-speaking families, especially those with undocumented relatives, for whom it is intimidating.

So they at least in some bilingual college students who had already benefited from their program, and could reassure applicants that it is confidential.

>> For undocumented students, it is very hard for them because they wonder, what happens to our parents if they get this information, it's something bad going to have to them because you're putting information that is federal?

>> That is when we are here, give them information and explain to them so they are not worried, and help them through all the loopholes going on to fill out the FAFSA form.

Reporter: New Jersey received $100,000 federal grant, part of a nationwide fund to help boost FAFSA applications, which fell by almost 10% statewide during the last school year, many in underserved school districts.

The no FAFSA form is not really helping, says this student.

>> I have a couple of students but committed to school and just two weeks ago received your package and realized, oh, there is no way I can afford this.

And it really throws a wrench into their plans and it is really impacting families.

Reporter: She found that notes of FAFSA delays have already hit their families hard.

>> There will be students who say what am I gonna do?

But organizations like what bootstraps and others stepped in, we can fill that void for students.

Reporter: She runs an organization at Passaic community college and she says at two-year schools offer students a more affordable option.

They are also counseling anxious freshmen through this process.

>> We could see upwards of 150 students seeking some type of assistance and they might not be looking to fill out their application, but they might be looking for a status update, or they need to ask questions to tie up some loose ends.

Reporter: like that nj.gov link, it is fast that will.

You can sign up here for free one-on-one counseling too.

Jerseys FAFSA deadline for state tuition aid grants is September As for next year's FAFSA, that 15. is also been delayed.

I am Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: Women across the country has taken to social, recording and sharing what they described as extremely painful experiences when getting an IUD, that is intrauterine device, the third-most, form of birth control in the U.S.

It took a public outcry to get federal health officials last week, to issue new guidelines urging doctors to better manage their pain, following research that shows physicians and other providers frequently downplay or ignore the discomfort.

For more on this, I'm joined by an OB/GYN and family planning specialist in New Jersey.

Dr.

Brandy, good to have you on.

Let's talk about what the CDC is recommending.

How specific is it?

GUEST: Cell, for the first time, the CDC is recommending that pain medication should be considered on the insertion of IUD.

As it should.

It's not a hard must, but should be discussed with all patients that are undergoing the IUD insertion procedure.

Briana: Are the guidelines practical?

Are they saying to doctors, in X instance, use this type of painkiller, and in y instance, use this?

GUEST: It's not as granular, unfortunately.

There are different studies that have shown the different medications work for different types of patients.

But in the current recommendations, it is just a starter of the conversation, that we should be having a conversation with our patients when we insert IUD's, and then deciding which medication will work best for that.

Briana: What is your take on these recommendations?

Of course, pain is subjective and every person's experience is different when it comes to any procedure.

GUEST: I am so glad they have finally brought this to the forefront so providers now are a big push to have this conversation more regularly.

.

I know with my patients, it only took about pain management as an important component of this insertion process.

I think the problem is that patients are not being offered pain medicine, and that which is why they are speeding -- why they are speaking about this on social media and other platforms.

Their needs haven't been met.

Unfortunately, it is something that particularly in marginalized folks like women, like people of color, pain is often ignored or undervalued.

I am so glad we having this conversation now where each patient should be offered pain medicine and make sure they have the experience that they want and deserve.

Briana: Pain from having an IUD insertion has been well-documented for many years.

Why did it take something drastic like women recording their experiences on an exam table and posting it to TikTok in order for conversation to be had between doctor and patient?

GUEST: I think a lot of it stems from physician and provider bias.

That people of color, women Historically, have not been offered appropriate pain medicine, for a variety of different situations.

So now with this recommendation, we are actually looking not just at the patient's experiences from social media, but also analyzing the data.

More and more studies are coming up because we know this is important, and trying to find which pain regimen is the best thing for the majority of patients.

Briana: How effective are the pain management options that are available?

GUEST: It depends on which type.

And like you mentioned before, each patient is an individual that has different needs, different pain tolerances.

For some folks, taking medication like ibuprofen, Motrin or Advil ahead of time can be helpful.

But new recommendations are showing that more localized pain and aesthetics, being placed in the area, same way when you go to the dentist, a similar process should be done for insertion to help improve pain.

Honestly for some patients, I find the process is so uncomfortable for a variety of reasons, that I offer them general anesthesia.

But not having an uncomfortable or potentially traumatic experience with their insertion.

Briana: Yeah, which I suppose the CDC is going after here.

Dr. Brandi, thank you so much for your insight.

GUEST: Thank you for having me.

ANNOUNCER: Support for the medical report is provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

An independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

Briana: In our Spotlight on Business Report budget reform is , taking a front seat in the early stages of the 2025 governors race.

Democrats vying for the job are pledging to overhaul the budget process if they get elected, since the annual plan is often criticized for being rushed, leaving little time for input from the public.

But why are the proposals, from the Democrats now, when the party has been in power for years?

Budget and finance writer John Reitmeyer joins me on set to explain.

Good to see you.

Let's start with the last question, Democrats have held power in both houses for quite some time suck but there is not necessarily political incentive to change this process, is there?

GUEST: probably not from the state house, but probably from the voices we hear that are not the main planners in the budget process, they want to see change.

Republicans have been talking about this also, let's give them their due, but it is interesting we are seeing members of the Democratic Party jockeying to get the party nomination to run for governor, starting to come out with one of the early missions which would be to reform this budget process.

Maybe that's because they are hearing complaints from the grassroots groups that have been raising concerns for the last several years, or maybe they genuinely don't like the process, seeing it from the outside, and they think it can be improved upon.

The big list will be getting that through legislative leaders who have to be from their party.

Briana: Grassroots who typically would back or are backers of the Democratic proposals.

So what are the reforms being put forward?

Are these ideas we have heard before?

GUEST: Yeah.

There would be two buckets here.

Some of them are just the process itself.

When the budget comes out.

When it is approved.

The timeline.

Is there a public hearing in between when the budget comes out and when it's approved?

Right now, there's not.

And then some of them are more mechanical to budgeting itself.

So ideas like consensus revenue forecasting, where we don't just let the executive branch do the revenue forecasting, we bring in maybe legislative voices or maybe an outside voice.

And multi-year budgeting.

The tradition is to do a year to a year to a year.

Instead of looking at the big picture and a lot of the best practices that other states followed which involve multi-year.

Something like stress testing the budget to say if the economy were to tumble by a certain degree or percentage, how would our budget fare?

What kind of cuts would we have to make?

Those are think that other states to do and have success.

I actually reported earlier this year is something called "The Change Project," where we look at some of the big issues New Jersey is confronting.

One of the issues I delved into was the budget process itself.

So some of these ideas I explored earlier in the year in that reporting project and now we see them talk about by these Democratic candidate for governor.

Briana: Yeah, they can thank you for the research.

But when we are talking about a $57 billion spending plan, the implications are real here.

What is the likelihood that even if they get into office, that they will get the Democrats to back this, because as you reported stock there's hundreds of millions of dollars of last-minute add-ons.

Sometimes pet projects that lawmakers can squeak through that finish line by doing it in this process.

GUEST: That is the big question.

We have candidates on record right now say they want to do these things, which is an important first step.

Another big step for V, can you get legislative leaders will like to hold a tight group on that process to loosen that grip a bit for the greater good?

I think that will come forward probably more next year as we get closer to the governors race and we will hear from Republican candidates, as well on this topic.

Briana: John Reitmeyer, thank you as always.

GUEST: You are welcome.

Briana: Turning to Wall Street, stocks wavered today.

Here's how the markets closed for the day.

♪ Before we leave you tonight little something to brag about.

, a Athletes with ties to New Jersey at the Paris Olympics didn't just bring home the gold this summer, they racked up more medals than big countries like Spain, Canada, and Brazil, and a number of personal and world records.

Union counseling alum Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone that some of the world yet again this weekend winning her fourth Olympic gold medal as part of the four by 400-meter relay team.

Now that puts her on a list with a handful of other track and greets to achieve such greatness.

And she was in the only one.

Toms River native Sebastian Rivera scored a Braum's on Sunday in a dramatic win, the celebrity with a jaw-dropping backflip.

Overall, more than a dozen athletes ties to the Garden State helped Tina a safe lead in the overall medal count with an impressive 126 models.

That will do it for us tonight.

But before you go, a remember to download NJ Spotlight News podcast, so you can listen to us anytime.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire team here at "NJSpotlightNews," thanks for being with us.

Have a great night.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

>> Announcer: New Jersey Education Association.

Making public schools great for every child.

And, RWJ Barnabas health.

Let's be healthy together.

♪ >> NJM Insurance Group has been part of New Jersey for over a century.

We report our communities through NJM's corporate giving program, supporting arts and culture-related and nonprofit organizations that serve to improve the lives of children, rebuild communities, and help to create a new generation of safe drivers.

We are proud to be part of New Jersey.

NJM, we've got New Jersey covered.

♪ >> I am very grateful that I'm still here.

That is me and my daughter will we celebrated our first anniversary.

>> with the new kid me, I have strength.

>> they give me a new lease on 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.

>> They give me my normal life back.

It's a blessing.

>> RWJ Barnabas health.

Let's be healthy together.

♪