(upbeat music) - From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brianna Vannozzi.

- Good evening and thanks for joining us on this Tuesday.

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

Tonight, a few stories we'll get into later in the broadcast.

First, as key ACA health care subsidies near expiration, nearly half a million New Jerseyans face sticker shock on their premiums.

What action could Congress take?

Plus, FIFA World Cup fever is rising, but so are ticket prices.

What fans need to know before trying to score a seat.

And later, a deeply personal moment on the Senate floor.

U.S.

Senator Andy Kim on caregiving, Alzheimer's, and the tough choices facing families.

But first, a few of today's top headlines, starting with a crackdown on political violence.

A Senate committee this week unanimously approved a package of bipartisan bills aimed at stemming political violence and harassment of public officials in New Jersey, clearing the Senate Judiciary Committee amid growing concerns that elected officials, judges, jurors, and their families are increasingly being targeted with threats, intimidation, and online abuse.

One bill would upgrade penalties for cyber harassment targeting public servants, raising potential prison time from a maximum of 18 months to as much as five years.

Sponsors say it wouldn't limit legitimate criticism or other First Amendment rights, but would focus on conduct that meets the legal definition of harassment, things like threats or violent posts that are meant to cause fear.

Another measure in the package creates a new criminal charge for political violence, allowing prosecutors to add more penalties when serious crimes like assault, kidnapping or murder are motivated by a victim's political beliefs.

Also tonight, fresh off a film studio groundbreaking in Newark, Governor Murphy today announced the start of construction for yet another major production studio.

This one is in Bayonne.

It's called 1888 Studios.

Once complete, it'll be a 58 acre film and TV production campus, solidifying the Garden State as a hub in the industry, with Paramount, a Skydance corporation, signing a 10-year lease as the anchor of the property.

State officials say it's set to become the largest facility of its kind in the Northeast and one of the largest in the nation.

Today's groundbreaking comes less than two weeks after Netflix officially closed the deal to buy the former Fort Monmouth property where it plans to build a sprawling new mega studio.

That move, of course, has been years in the making.

And just days after the Lionsgate Newark groundbreaking, which was the state's first studio partner, signing on back in 2022.

Now, the partnerships come thanks to an expanded tax credit program under the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, which allows the three studio partners to take advantage of an up to 40 percent tax break on qualified production expenses for future projects made in the state.

And an update on that bill to expand paid family leave protections in New Jersey.

The Senate Budget Committee on Monday advanced a measure that would require more small businesses to reinstate workers after they take paid or unpaid family leave, protecting them from retaliation.

The legislation would gradually lower the threshold, eventually covering businesses with as few as five employees.

Supporters say the change closes a major gap in the state's current family leave law, arguing that millions of workers pay into the system but don't have job protection when they use it, pointing to similar models being used in neighboring states like New York and Connecticut.

But business groups are sounding the alarm, warning the bill could hurt small employers, adding legal risk and discouraging hiring.

They argue losing even one worker can strain already thin operations.

The bill passed out of committee in an 8-5 vote, with one Democrat joining Republicans in opposition.

It now heads to the full Senate.

Coming up, Congress is racing against the clock to avert skyrocketing health care costs under the Affordable Care Act.

Will they reach a deal and what will it mean for you?

That's next.

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.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association and by the PSCG Foundation.

Well, nearly half a million residents who buy their health insurance through New Jersey's Affordable Care Act marketplace are bracing for major sticker shock as Congress continues last minute talks over whether to extend federal subsidies that were beefed up under President Biden and are set to expire at the end of this month.

State officials warn that without action, premiums could jump more than 170 percent, adding thousands of dollars a year for some families.

The debate is happening, of course, right in the middle of open enrollment.

Meanwhile, Republican leadership in the House is advancing a health care package this week that notably does not include the enhanced tax credits, but faces a difficult path to passage in both the House and Senate.

Joining us now for all the latest is New Jersey Congressman Herb Conaway, a physician and former state lawmaker, to explain what it means for families and what, if anything, Congress can still do.

Congressman, good to see you.

What can you tell us about the latest on this potential vote in the House on the GOP-led bill?

Well, what I can say at the outset is that our Republican colleagues are not serious about protecting the health care of Americans.

The failure to extend these tax credits for working families that desperately need access to health insurance to preserve their health and the health of their loved ones is not being addressed by this Congress.

And therefore, in New Jersey, people will be facing very significant increases in their monthly and yearly outlay for health insurance.

And many of them will simply not be able to afford those increases, which could for some amount to around $2,000 of extra health insurance costs over the year.

And our estimates are that more than 40 percent of them will simply forego being insured.

As I understand it, House Republicans say that the package they're considering now would address what they say are the real drivers of health care costs.

Are they right to be looking at this in the big picture or how does that square with folks who are as you mentioned going to be facing those costs come January.

Well there should be focused on continuing what works.

We know that when the premium tax credits and were put in place under Obamacare the ACA whatever you want to call it what it would it resulted in were over 20 million people being able to become insured.

That means they could get their preventative care for and they could get treatment for the chronic conditions.

And if they had to go to the hospital for emergency or other treatment that treatment would be covered and paid for through the insurance plans that they purchased on the marketplace, a bill that I sponsored in New Jersey some years ago.

That has been threatened by the fear of the Republicans to address this issue.

There's been plenty of time over the course of the year to come up with a plan, but essentially in that bottom, the Republicans are just not interested in taking steps to ensure that as many Americans as can possibly be insured are in fact insured.

They're opposed to any plan.

They haven't put forward a comprehensive health care plan in decades, and they've not put forward any kind of a serious plan here even now as these tax credits go away and will leave many people, certainly over 10 million people, perhaps 20 million people at risk of losing their insurance.

Well, one of the main arguments, Congressman, that Republicans have made against the expanded subsidies is that it allows higher income earners to qualify folks, they say, who could otherwise pay.

Is that a fair criticism based on the picture that you're painting about the system as a whole?

Well, they are wrong on that issue.

You know, families of four and more, people of even middle-class income, who I guess they're characterizing as high-income owners, struggle to pay health insurance costs.

And particularly when you look at small businesspersons.

I had someone in my office just a couple of weeks ago.

I meet with them regularly.

And I have heard over and over again how important these premium tax credits are.

And these are middle-class people.

I heard last night, over this weekend, from a small business owner who's going to pay an extra $25,000 a year.

We're seeing the same story over and over again.

A small business person who has cancer, who has to remain insured in order to get her cancer treatment done.

She can't forego it.

And so here's the problem.

When people who are healthy enough but can't afford, they dramatically increase costs of insurance now because of Republican inaction.

Remember, every Republican in that House voted to cut healthcare in the United States at levels that are unprecedented.

Nearly a trillion dollars out of Medicaid.

Five hundred and thirty six billion dollars out of Medicare.

Nearly two hundred million dollars out of the ACA.

All of these costs, all of these steps rather, have been taken in order to give an enormous tax break to the wealthiest people in the world.

They had a choice.

They sided with the wealthy, who can pay for insurance, platinum, gold-plated plans, or they could have sided with the middle class and people who are more economically hard-pressed than that and took, take, and take steps to make sure that they were able to remain in the insurance pool, remain insured, so they can deal with a critical issue.

Now, next to the economy, the top issues, both of them together now for the first time in my memory, the economy and health care are neck and neck as the most important issues facing Americans today, and the Republicans have decided to do nothing, I would say, on either one of those things.

But we're talking about health care today.

They're doing nothing on health care, and it's going to hurt a lot of people.

Is there any talk about approving an extension of open enrollment to give folks some time, maybe, so that they don't have to choose a plan, just in case there is a breakthrough here, even if it's late?

And second part to that question, how likely is a breakthrough?

I'm thinking about folks looking ahead to the political fallout as they face midterms in 2026.

Well, apparently it was reported that the president floated the idea of an extension of the premium tax credits and that was roundly rejected.

In the Republican caucus in the House, you have a perhaps 50 members who simply do not support the program at all and they certainly are not going to support an extension or even the premium tax credits that were put on in the wake of COVID.

They don't want, they don't believe that the government should be involved in any significant way in helping people to be insured.

There are many Republicans in close districts who understand that this issue is going to be very closely tied to their political future and want to take some action.

But when you have, you know, large numbers of the Republican caucus in the House who think that the ACA should never have been passed in the first place and who think we're spending too much on Medicaid for the poor.

And by the way, I think it's very important for people to understand they might be going after the poor and the middle class, but everyone, regardless of your economic status, are facing, are going to be on the pointy end of these cuts to healthcare.

Again, the most massive cuts to healthcare in our nation's history will impact everybody, rural states, urban areas, the rich and the poor, because when you lose Medicaid dollars, when you lose Medicare dollars, when you lose ACA dollars, hospitals close, clinics close, nursing homes close.

And as I don't need to tell anybody who's listening, it turns out that the rich and the poor alike need hospitals, need clinics, need nursing homes.

And so, and we're already seeing the impact of closures and a lot of red states, a lot of people who voted for the president and the Republican leadership across the Congress are I think regretting that vote because now these Republican roosters are coming home to roost if you will and their understanding that they are going to have to make a very difficult choice of whether or not to go into the future without insurance coverage and we know that there will be tens of thousands of unnecessary deaths that will occur because people are now going without insurance.

Alright, Congressman Herb Conaway, thank you so much for your time, for your insight.

We really appreciate it.

Appreciate your interest in this.

It's an important national issue.

I just wish our colleagues would work with us to find a solution that works for everyone.

Well, 2026 is shaping up to be a big year for soccer fans in New Jersey with the FIFA World Cup games and the final being held here.

But getting your hands on tickets to attend those matches, that's a game all in and of itself.

FIFA's latest sales phase is underway, though, giving fans their first chance to target specific matches.

But soaring prices, a lottery-style system, and new dynamic pricing are raising concerns about who will be able to afford and access those tickets.

Raven Santana takes a closer look at what fans are up against and what experts say you should know before trying to score a seat.

Pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass.

Go for it!

The countdown to the 2026 FIFA World Cup is on, but for fans hoping to see the world's biggest sporting event live, getting a ticket is turning into a high stakes game, expensive, confusing, and for some downright discouraging.

Listen, I think at the end of the day, like I would just like to go see a world cup event, right?

Like hasn't been here in a long time and won't be here for another long time.

So any chance I can go, I'd love to go to the game.

It's just the prices you look at it, even in the raffle to they want you to put in a credit card just to apply for the raffle.

Fans have until January 13th to enter FIFA's random selection draw the latest phase of ticket sales and the first since final matchups were announced.

That means fans can now apply for specific games including the July 19th World Cup final at MetLife Stadium here in New Jersey.

You want to have the real true fans there and it's just going to be a big corporate event.

Much of the frustration comes down to price and how fast those prices are changing.

FIFA initially said tickets would range from about $60 for group stage matches to a maximum of roughly $6,700 for the final.

But they noted prices could fluctuate as a tournament adopts variable or dynamic pricing for the first time.

It is a much I would say more sort of accessible sort of process that has come right at some uncertainty, some complexity, right?

But you know, at some level, you can't have your cake and heated to there's got to be some compromises here.

Tickets for the final now range from about $4,000 up to nearly $8,700 for the best seats.

That's almost $2,000 more than first advertised and on resale sites.

Some are already topping tens of thousands of dollars.

Pricing expert Christopher Anderson says while dynamic pricing maximizes revenue, FIFA has put limits in place to curb resale abuse.

They've added a commission on both sides.

So if you're a seller, you have to pay a 15% commission on the transaction.

And if you're a buyer, you have to pay another 15%.

So there's a 30% commission in the secondary market that goes to FIFA.

So at some level, you could say, yeah, that's FIFA gouging us.

what it's doing is reduci then just to turn around market.

Still, consumer a to slow down and be caref be prepared that buying a group stage games or the finals is going to take a lot of due diligence.

I think my advice is that in particular, watch out for ticket scams.

And know that these go up every time there's a big in demand event and people feel a sense of urgency.

And so I think even though the prices on the official marketplaces might seem astronomical, those are probably still going to be your best bet versus going to unregulated marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist or clicking on random ads that you see on social media because you don't know what you're getting in those places.

Even FIFA's official process takes patience.

Fans must create a FIFA ID, enter the draw between December 11th and January 13th, and apply for specific matches.

And even then, winners won't know their seats or final price until February.

How these tickets get sold have changed dramatically over the years.

The days when we could just all line up and spend the night in front of a box office and buy affordable tickets, those days are long gone.

We're now at a time where the price that you see displayed to you can be affected by so many different factors.

This is all part of a technology that's increasingly being deployed by ticketers called dynamic pricing.

While some fans I spoke with here say the high ticket prices are all part of a once in a lifetime experience, others I spoke with say they feel like they're being priced out of the world's biggest game.

I have tickets to the quarterfinal in Boston.

So yeah, we're not sure which team's going to be yet, but yeah, got a couple of tickets for that game.

Relatively easy to get those tickets.

How much were they?

$8.90 a ticket.

The group stage matches, the minimum category three with all taxes and everything is about $300 plus.

Anything above that, so like a round of 16, round of 32, it's just $600, $700, $800.

Soccer is like a people's game and it's way too expensive for the common people to come and watch the games.

MetLife Stadium will host eight matches from group play through the final.

As the world's biggest sporting event draws closer, questions remain about who the World Cup is really for and whether rising ticket costs will price fans out.

Consumer advocates urge fans to stick to FIFA's official site and authorize resalers and be wary of resale deals that sound too good to be true.

For NDSpotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

In his first official Senate floor speech, New Jersey Senator Andy Kim opened up about the experience of becoming a caregiver for his dad, who was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

His father's own medical research in genetics focused on cancer and Alzheimer's, and Kim says that makes watching his father now suffer with the disease all the more difficult, and shared that his demanding schedule in the Senate makes it challenging to be able to care for his father, but that finding help his family can afford here in New Jersey is nearly impossible.

The emotional speech is resonating with people who are facing the painful and costly experience of caring for a loved one.

Here's some of what he had to say.

I remember dropping him off after the appointment and sitting in the car alone, left to grapple with our new future, realizing for the first time that to my list of core identities, as a son, as a brother, a husband, a father, an American, a public servant, I now add caregiver.

But with all of these other identities that I've assumed, I've embraced them.

They've brought me joy and opportunity.

They brought me my partner for life.

They brought me the most precious boys I could ever imagine.

But this new identity as a caregiver felt like it brought my family certain pain.

The doctor warned me that the next year or two of my life would be hell.

Senator Kim recently sat down with Hari Sreenivasan of Amanpour & Company to discuss his decision to make that personal and emotional speech on the Senate floor.

Here's some of their conversation.

Well, first of all, it's what I'm going through.

It's what my family's going through.

And I don't think people can really understand my state of mind and what I'm trying to get done in the U.S.

Senate without understanding the challenge that we're facing.

But also because it's a challenge that millions of Americans are facing.

You know, 7 million Americans have Alzheimer's right now.

That means tens of millions of family members are struggling the way that I am.

And many, many more with dementia and Parkinson's and other debilitating diseases and illnesses.

This is a crisis, but it's often a quiet crisis.

It's often one where we don't talk about it.

But I'll tell you, ever since I gave that speech, we've been inundated by thousands of messages from around this country of people sharing their own story.

Even members of Congress that I've talked to have told me that they are going through this, that they haven't talked publicly about it, but they are going through something quite similar.

And I think it's important that we lift these voices up in order to demand help and support for so many Americans that are desperately struggling right now.

But why do you think it is that we don't talk about it?

Why there's that stigma around it?

Why we're keeping it quiet?

All of those other identities about me being a son, a husband, a father, they all bring me joy.

You know, they all bring me opportunity.

They're things I love talking about.

But the caregiver is one that brings my family certain pain.

And as a result, I'll be honest with you, like when I'm around my friends, like, I don't want to talk about it because in part because I don't want to have to think about it.

Every moment I'm overwhelmed by like, even just talking to you, I feel like just, you know, I feel like if I were to like lean forward right now, the tears would just kind of come out like I am barely holding it together right now, because it's hard.

And it's not going to get easier.

And so I think that that's part of it.

But I also look, you know, in my job, and perhaps this is what others do, like in my job, like, we send out campaign mailers of the perfect family, we try to show that leadership means that we have to be strong and impervious to stress.

That emotions are a weakness.

And what I am trying to show is that it's okay to say that we need help.

It's okay to say that we are struggling.

And that's the only way that we're going to actually be able to create the kind of support needed for millions of families going through this.

And I'm part of the sandwich generation too.

I got an 8-year-old and a 10-year-old and a nearly 80-year-old dad.

And I can't tell you how many times when I've talked about the strains and stresses of being part of the sandwich generation, so many people say, "I went through that," or "I'm going through that now," or "I'm scared of going through that."

We should be able to have these kind of conversations as a country.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

For the entire team at NJ Spotlight News, thanks for being with us.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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