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[Music] From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Brianna Vannozzi.

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

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

A historic moment in New Jersey today as Mikey Sherrill took the oath of office becoming the 57th Governor of the state, making her just the second female ever to hold the office of Chief Executive and the first female military veteran governor in the U.S.

The inaugural ceremony taking place at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark in front of a crowd of roughly 2,000 people, bucking the long tradition of inaugurations being held at Trenton's War Memorial.

Cheryl was sworn in with her four kids and husband, First Gentleman Jason Hedberg, at her side just moments after her Lieutenant Governor, Dale Caldwell, the first male LG, took his oath of office, where they both pledged to operate an administration that puts transparency and accountability first.

Cheryl vowed to protect the middle class by signing two executive orders addressing rising utility rates in the middle of her speech before shifting her tone to take direct jabs at President Trump, promising to be a firewall to his administration, drawing parallels to New Jersey's role in the revolution and the Declaration of Independence.

Let's take a listen.

The earth has rarely seen an idea put to paper that has ignited such a fire in her people.

A fire that has burned for 250 years.

As enslaved people, women, oppressed people from around the world and from every walk of life read our founding documents and demanded their own path to those same universal rights.

Our Declaration denounces tyranny and listed those attacks on our rights committed by England's king.

The list of grievances in our Declaration of Independence included these charges against the king.

He has refused his assent to laws.

He has obstructed the administration of justice.

He has made judges dependent on his will alone.

And yes, he has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislatures.

[Applause] And this election proved that the people of New Jersey recognize the parallels.

That we see a president illegally usurping power, unconstitutionally enacting a tariff regime to make billions for himself and his family while everyone else sees their costs go higher.

Here, we demand people in public service actually serve the public instead of buying themselves planes and cars and extorting money.

[Applause] And on November 4th, the people of New Jersey once again gave the nation a glimmer of something it hadn't felt in months.

Hope.

Yes.

250 years after the Declaration, 250 years after General George Washington crossed the Delaware into the Promised Land, I am proud to say that once again, New Jersey is leading the way.

We value our freedoms, and we believe in the promise of opportunity.

And I want you to know that I will be fighting for you.

And I hope, New Jersey, you'll remember me when you open up your electric bill and it hasn't gone up by 20%.

I can promise you it won't be because I waste your money on a ballroom at Drum Thwacketh.

I'm going to spend every minute trying to make New Jersey more affordable and open doors to opportunity across our state.

I've heard you New Jersey.

We're facing an affordability crisis and you want costs to come down.

And you want that to begin today.

You don't want a strongly worded letter.

You don't want a 10 year study.

And you don't want empty words.

In short, you are sick of the status quo.

Well guess what guys, so am I. So right now, yes, before I even begin this speech, finish this speech, sorry.

Just making sure you were paying attention.

I'm going to sign my first in a series of executive orders to declare a state of emergency on utility costs.

First, I am issuing an executive order giving the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities the authority to pause new utility requests for additional rate increases and I will freeze rate hikes to finally provide families with real relief on their energy bills.

(Applause.)

Second, I am issuing an executive order directing the Board of Public Utilities to open solicitations for new solar and storage power generation to modernize gas and nuclear generation so we can lower utility costs over the long term.

[Applause] This is just the beginning, not of my speech, of my work.

[Laughter] We're going to take on the affordability crisis and we're going to shake up the status quo.

It won't be easy, and hard choices have to be made to drive down costs as the federal government slashes funding and slams doors to opportunity.

But as I learned in the Navy, the only easy day was yesterday.

But luckily, we don't need easy here in New Jersey.

We have grit.

We're tough.

And when you hurt our families, we're going to fight.

We're going to fight for jobs.

We're going to fight for housing families can afford, for good schools, safe streets, and ending skyrocketing utility costs.

And look, I know that there are people here, some of them behind me probably, who didn't And I know some of you are going to be in my office yelling at me one day about some disagreements, and yet, as we sit here today, I'm ready to fight to ensure that you can do just that, without fear of reprisal or worry that you'll be investigated or unfairly prosecuted.

[Applause] I took an oath over 25 years ago to do just that and you saw me taking it again today and I am NOT a leader who will shirk in the course of my duties.

Well certainly among the most powerful speeches we've seen from Mikey Sherrill now the governor.

Let's get thoughts and perspective from our panel here in studio.

Senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan Colleen O'Day and a spotlight news senior writer and Christopher Shields director of the Center on the American Governor at the Eagleton Institute of Politics.

Welcome and thanks to you all for sticking around all day.

It was quite an eventful morning.

Chris, I want to start with you.

What stood out to you from this speech?

Several poignant moments that I noted, but what did you take note of?

>> I think the thing that probably stood out to me the most was how directly she went after the Trump administration.

How strongly she sort of indicated that she intends to be, to use Brenda's word, a firewall for New Jersey against the Trump administration.

I think we sort of expected that, but we weren't sure how direct she would be about it.

She was very direct, saying every human being is endowed with their rights by a creator, not by a king.

That was a key line to me because it sort of started to make that comparison.

Yeah, I mean she really drew parallels between the tyranny of England that was being fought at the time of the revolution to what we are facing now.

We had joked prior to the speech we wondered if she would poke the bear.

Bren, I would say she did.

I would say she poked the bear, she threw down the gauntlet.

I mean, she came out and said, this is a president who illegally is usurping power, has unconstitutionally enacted a tariff regime to make billions for himself and his family, and she even zinged him on his building a ballroom, saying that, yeah, she's not going to waste your tax money on a ballroom at Drum Thwack It.

So I think that she made it very clear with this whole vision of herself as that firewall between New Jersey and any havoc that could potentially be wreaked by the Trump administration.

However, I have to say that I didn't see a whole lot of specifics.

Again, this is a vision speech, but all I could take away in terms of specifics was, I will be fighting for you.

So -- and I hope, New Jersey, you remember me.

This is going to be -- her tactic, I guess, for the future is to respond, but do more than maybe just respond to the Trump administration.

(CROSSTALK) LISA DESJARDINS: Yes, she did promise transparency and accountability, the integrity of office, things that we have all seen come into question, particularly as voters have really taken to task elected officials whom they say they have distrust in, in the institutions that she is now going to uphold, notably as a governor, but also as a military veteran, which there were several nods to that and how that's going to inform her posture as governor.

No, Colleen?

Yeah, I mean, one of the things that stood out for me is that she said that we have the responsibility to make people's lives better.

And so I think that's going to be at least one of the key points in her administration is making people's lives better.

I mean, I think it was noteworthy that she had classmates from the Naval Academy, other service members, you know, people who she served with.

She also had elementary, middle, and high school classmates, and a high school teacher and principal were there, which I thought was pretty amazing to keep in touch with folks like that.

Also ambassadors, she said.

There were a number of federal folks there who she gave nod to.

Really like one part personal biography and also part vision and national politics, as we said.

How does it stack up, Chris, in comparison to what we typically see for these inaugural speeches?

Yeah, I think in general it was a pretty typical inaugural speech.

It was looking forward, which is exactly what you want to do.

It was laying out a vision.

We've called it sort of a vision speech here, which is what an inaugural speech is.

I assume there'll be more specifics as we go forward, say in the budget address, as she starts to put that together.

But what this really is about is laying out her vision.

I think we got that.

I think she did a good job of that.

I think it was strong.

I think it was passionate.

The question now is what it means.

She didn't say, I think, anything about property taxes, what her plans are in terms of that.

She talked about affordability, but I think we still don't necessarily have a specific definition of what that means for the Sherrill administration.

So these are the questions that will get answered as we continue to move into the budget season.

But in terms of laying out the broader concepts I think this was pretty typical for what you see.

Did she differentiate herself from Governor Murphy in ways that you were anticipating or was there not much of a break there.

I thought she would a little bit more to be honest with you.

Now look, you know, Governor Murphy is popular with parts of New Jersey.

She's probably trying to sort of play on that.

She's probably trying to bring some of his supporters into her support system as well.

So but I did I think I think as we go forward you will see more places She did a little bit there are a few places in here where she may be not as Explicitly, but sort of made reference to I think she made reference to Reports not wanting reports not wanting to have committees She was gonna shake up the status quo shake up the status quo, right?

I think that's where she's sort of trying to portray herself as a different type of leader perhaps but she may not have felt the necessity to go much further than that at this point.

But certainly we also saw a defiant tone from her, I would say more so than we've seen from her time on the campaign trail and since being elected and also a sturdy leadership that she wants folks to know she will take.

She said she won't shirk in her responsibilities despite all of the tasks at hand, Colleen.

And she took action.

She got to work as she said she would do, no?

Yes, and we have already seen the email from the governor's office, now Governor Mikey Sherrill's office, promise kept.

She promised that she would freeze electricity rates on day one.

She would declare a state of emergency.

She did that.

She did not only did that she also signed a second executive order that is going to direct the Board of Public Utilities to kind of go go deeper on solar and battery storage also to modernize gas and nuclear generation.

The latter two are not things that were on Murphy's list.

He was really more of a wind and solar guy.

But she definitely took that action.

She did it right away.

She held up those two bills.

Yeah that photo up there.

That's going to be definitely the photo we remember.

Yeah absolutely.

What's been the reaction brand so far since her speech and since declaring that state of emergency.

Well in terms of this issue with modernizing gas and nuclear generation, New Jersey's Business and Industry Association was very welcoming in terms of their reaction to that.

They say that they want to see her reduce the burden on business and red tape.

And I think she says the status quo is not the way to go and that she wants to make permitting easier in some regards.

So they might be able to find some common ground on that.

BIA says that they stand ready to work with her.

Not so great a reception.

The ACLU is saying obviously they're disappointed that the immigrant trust directive was not codified by Governor Murphy.

So they're urging her now to enforce that existing immigrant trust directive coming from the Attorney General's office.

So they're looking for her to oppose more detention centers in New Jersey.

And they want more money for attorneys for immigrants who have to fight ICE in court.

So this is all stuff that could take money, which she's going to have to be very careful about as she sits down to prepare her new budget.

I wrote down, I thought it was notable that she didn't pay more homage to the fiscal pressures that lie ahead of her.

There's a lot of expectations on her, we have to say, being what, in 50 years, I think, Colleen, since a Democrat has carried on three terms, consecutive terms, in office here.

And so the expectations there, the pressures are there, and yet I thought there might be more of a nod to the budget constraints because aside from utility costs, that's got to be number one.

No, Chris?

As far as what she's got to tackle.

Yeah, I mean, the very first job, I think, you could say aside from utility, even with the utility rates in mind, right, they've been working on a budget.

They've been talking to the Murphy administration.

They've been thinking about the budget.

It's the number one thing that they have to figure out.

Because if she's going to keep these promises that she's made, as we're referencing, right, it requires money.

In the meantime, you've got structural deficits in the budget.

You've got money disappearing from the budget.

So how do you bridge those gaps?

She doesn't want to raise taxes, certainly.

It was a campaign promise not to raise the sales tax.

We don't know necessarily yet what she's thinking about some of the property tax initiatives.

So they are things that have to be on her mind.

I think for today though today is the happy day.

Today's the day where we talk about the things that we want to do, how wonderful it's going to be.

We have this sort of honeymoon period and you leave maybe some of that harder stuff for the days to come.

The budget's a downer at this point.

I don't think she wants to go.

I don't remember a time when it's ever not been.

I think for an inaugural speech to take the stage and say, yes, I'm going to cut this because we can't afford it, that would have been a tough sell.

But it's going to-- I think that budget is going to really tell you a lot about who Mikey Sherrill is and what she really envisions for New Jersey.

And how she's going to get it done.

We know she's tapped a number of deputies, folks who are entrenched in Trenton and state house politics.

But really, that's the blueprint.

It lays out what the priorities of the state are because you can't call something a priority if you don't fund it.

So it really comes down to sort of that question of what gets funded, what doesn't.

>> I think that's the way to go.

>> I think that's the way to go.

>> I think that's the way to go.

>> It is also our Brenda Flanagan's last day here at NJ Spotlight News as she heads off into retirement.

She's had a storied career that's spanned decades and she's had many accolades.

So if you will indulge me for just a moment while we take a little look back at your work.

A New Jersey transplant from New Orleans by way of Maine.

Brenda Flanagan started her career in TV journalism at New Jersey Network.

Better notice and J.N.

back in 1981.

They warned the Reagan administration may soon seek to eliminate some student loan programs.

On Saturday to respond.

South Jersey Congressman Jim Florio, who toured the site Monday, explained why.

But all the casinos do agree on one point.

They won't oppose the experiment.

She then moved to WWOR, where she started the station's Trenton Bureau and anchored public affairs programs, covering consumer stories like this one on long lines at the DMV.

Besides paying income taxes, this is probably the only place where most residents have direct contact with the state.

Currently, it's about as pleasant as paying income taxes, and savvy politicians realize that.

So, expect some changes to be made.

Soon.

Again.

And uncovering the tactics of fraudulent debt collectors.

You'll get to hear that and these other recordings where debt collectors threaten, terrify and possibly push a victim to suicide.

Brenda won multiple Emmys, including for her work on an undercover investigative series on racial profiling, Driving While Black.

Channel 9 News has investigated racial profiling for the past 20 years.

When our award winning stories uncovered profiling on the New Jersey Turnpike and in Nassau and Suffolk counties, we used hidden cameras to gather evidence.

Brenda joined our team, then NJ Today, in 2013.

From transportation to health care to politics, she's covered it all.

81-year-old Phil McDonald got in the long line at Zen Leaf, a cannabis dispensary in Elizabeth, and shared stoner stories while waiting to shop for legal weed.

Reporting for weeks on Senator Menendez's corruption trial.

At one point I saw a juror hold up a plastic bag with a one kilo gold bar and go, wow.

So obviously this did make an impression.

And becoming a trusted voice on the COVID-19 pandemic from the devastation at hospitals.

Dr.

Nizar Kafaya wants the public to see, so he gave us protective gear to walk through the ICU and another patient floor at Hudson Regional Hospital.

The hope brought by vaccines.

The relentless demand for vaccines about to grow.

Hundreds of thousands more New Jerseyans are about to become eligible April 5th.

That's when folks age 55 plus are going to be on boarded.

She reported on the concerns of transgender residents in the state and brought our viewers personal stories of refugees settling here and making new lives for their families.

Luda Holovko fled Ukraine and has settled for now in Jersey City where she's studying English at Hudson Community College.

With the remarkable resilience you often see in kids, Holovko's 4-year-old daughter, Nicola, is thriving, making friends at a Montessori school.

We asked, "You having fun?"

"Uh-huh.

I see my friend over there."

Brenda never turned down a chance to hear from frustrated commuters.

NJ Transit blames an engineer shortage, mechanical breakdowns, and trains taken out of service to be outfitted with federally mandated positive train control safety gear.

Rail riders blame And even got an opportunity to do some lighter fare from time to time.

A lifelong animal lover, she always looked for an opportunity to include them, especially cats, in her stories.

Brenda won her most recent Emmy this past year for a story about Messi the Miracle Cat, separated from her family in the war in Ukraine and incredibly, somehow, reunited.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

She is irreplaceable and we will miss her immeasurably as she moves on to spend more time in her favorite role, Mimi, to her two grandchildren.

This is probably the hardest goodbye for me, Bren.

And I'm just so thankful.

Ah, Brianna, I can't even put into words how hard it is to leave.

Oh, sweetie, don't.

Thank you so much.

That was lovely.

And you guys are family.

I know that sounds trite.

And I wish I could come up with something more creative.

All I think about is what we are going to miss and what this state is going to miss.

You, a shoe leather journalist, you just by your nature, Brenda, teach all of us every day in your style of reporting, in your way of going about stories, your tenacity and what we call your Brenda fairy dust where you sprinkle and you find the best voices and you weave the best stories.

So thank you for being a part of our family and we love you always.

I could not have done any of this without you.

Everyone here.

This is a total family, total team effort.

And I thank you for the opportunity.

I love you.

I will miss you dreadfully.

We will miss you, too.

That's going to do it for us.

For the entire NJ Spotlight News team, for Brenda Flanagan, thank you for watching.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

♪♪♪ NJN Insurance Group.

Serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

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