>> Major funding for NJ Spotlight News is brought to you in part by NJM insurance group.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.

And by the PSEG foundation.

Briana: Tonight, Medicaid cuts.

Democratic lawmakers call on the Trump Administration to save our hospitals.

>> As this bill gets signed into law by the president, a hospital near you will close.

Briana: Plus, and Jay decides 2025.

The first joint public appearance for both given to oriole candidates and the gloves are officially off.

>> What is interesting is Mikie Sherrill never criticizes Phil Murphy for his failed policies.

>> I have been clear on how I would be different from Murphy.

Briana: Also, rising sea levels.

State debates and overhaul for building communities along the coasts.

>> We are aware of coastal flooding.

We live with it every day.

Briana: And taxes, taxes, taxes.

As the deadline for the state budget looms, advocates push for changes to key property tax programs.

>> If lawmakers reject them, that puts pressure on the same surplus that might be the safety net of whatever happens at the federal level.

Briana: NJ Spotlight News begins right now.

♪ >> From NJPBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Good evening and thanks for joining us on this Wednesday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with a few of today's top headlines.

First, Democrats are exhausting every option to block steep Medicaid cuts being proposed by Republicans.

They are trying desperately to get more of the public on their side.

At an event today at Saint Peter's University Hospital, Congressman Frank Pallone warned it is not just patients that will take a hit, but hospitals will have to close their doors, particularly safety net hospitals like St. Peter's which serve a large number of uninsured residents and Medicaid recipients.

Paul own -- Pallone pointed to cuts in what is called the big beautiful bill that would cut billions from the states Medicaid program and reduce hundreds of millions of dollars in payments to hospitals.

According to advocates, children, the elderly -- the elderly, and people with disabilities would be the first to suffer from those cuts.

The Trump Administration is called for the cuts to rein in spending and extend the signature tax cut plan.

>> I hate to be alarmist, but I think people must understand that if this bill passes and gets signed into law by the president, a hospital near you will close.

Hopefully not Saint Peter's, but a hospital near you will close.

There is no way that the health care system at hospital system in this country can survive.

A significant number of hospitals will not be able to survive because of the level of cuts.

Briana: Also tonight, U.S. lawmakers say they do not feel safe.

Members of Congress are calling for more protection and money to fund law enforcement in the wake of the deadly attacks on Minnesota representatives over the weekend.

U.S.

Senators on Tuesday pleaded with top Capitol Police officials during a closed-door briefing, according to reports, asking them to beef up security for members and come up with more detailed plans to deal with security threats.

During a press conference, Senators signaled they will increase spending for those priorities in an upcoming government spending bill while calling for an end to political violence.

On Saturday, a gunman shot and killed a Minnesota State assemblywoman and her husband in their home after first shooting and severely wounding state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.

But the government had a list of other Democratic officials, including members of Congress and their home addresses.

Adding to long-standing concerns about rising threats against lawmakers.

The governor's office this week said it has stepped up security for state officials out of an abundance of caution, but there are no known or credible threats here.

And there is more evidence that congestion pricing is working.

New research from the regional plan Association finds traffic jams are down significantly, not just within Midtown Manhattan, but outside of it too.

Delays dropped roughly 25% south of 60th Street, where the cameras are set up to charge drivers who enter the city.

Some opponents of the plan worried it would diver traffic to surrounding suburbs and cities, but the report shows traffic decreased some 14 percent in nearby Bergen County.

In fact, about a dozen towns their solace congestion.

Instead, data shows more people are choosing -- get this -- mass transit, and average trip times through the Lincoln and Holland tunnels are also much faster.

Though it has not been smooth sailing for everyone.

Traffic in Staten Island has not changed much, and reports there are largely the same as they were before congestion pricing went into effect.

The nominees for governor made their first big appearance since winning last week's primary election.

Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill spoke to the state's business community at a forum Tuesday night about their priorities and how an administration under their leadership would help the economy if elected in November.

But as David Cruise reports, the business community has a large and diverse bloc of voters each candidate will have to win over.

David: First joint appearance as their parties' nominees.

A decades-old tradition where business leaders get a chance to meet, greet, and ask questions of the candidates.

For Republican Jack Ciattarelli, but you could call a home game.

>> Has an MBA, CPA, and two time business owner, if we can't hit it out of the park with this crowd, we are in trouble.

In the old days, businesses will look primarily at two things, taxes and regulations.

Today they look at taxes, regulation, and energy, and to be frank, we are sucking wind in all four.

David: For Democrat Mikie Sherrill, it was not exactly a tough crowd, but it was clear she was not 100% comfortable speak in front of a business community that has frequently felt ignored except for tax time by Democrats.

>> Many of you have talked to me about your problems and issues trying to navigate our state.

It is unacceptable.

I will change it as governor.

I will consent -- I'm committed -- I have not gotten a lot of sleep lately, guys -- I am committed to streamlining and simplifying the processes through which new businesses can receive their licenses, and I will overhaul the state permitting process.

David: Ciattarelli promised to cut taxes on income, sales, and investments.

Sherrill was not as specific, but she did highlight a difference between the candidates on energy production and costs.

>> The state that solves the energy needs of the future is the state that is going to own the innovation future, and it is going to be New Jersey.

We do that by pushing a lot of solar.

New Jersey has only gone up by about 20% in solar in recent years.

The average across the country is 150%.

Long-term, if we are going to meet energy needs, we need to move into nuclear.

>> We are going to re-create a department of energy.

I have never been an advocate for wind.

I believe it is bad energy and environmental policy.

Natural gas is a very rational bridge to the future for whenever it is the future shows up.

David: The candidates were just about cordial, posing for a photo, barely.

This was not a debate him not really a forum.

The candidates made no reference to each other, though Ciattarelli referenced the Murphy administration and not in a good way.

Later, both candidates foreshadowed what might be a recurring theme this fall.

He and his defense of President Trump and she and her defense of Governor Murphy.

>> What is interesting is Mikie Sherrill never criticizes Phil Murphy for any of his failed policies, whether it is public education, public safety, overdevelopment, energy, law enforcement.

>> I have been clear on how I would differ from Phil Murphy.

I am upset about PJM.

I am upset that we don't have enough housing.

I am concerned about the state health benefits plan that has real problems.

I have always been a very independent voice.

I think that is pretty well-known.

I stood up to the president of the United States and call for him to step aside.

That is kind of ridiculous.

David: We can now consider the race for governor to be officially on.

This was the first inning of a long contest, and while mikie sherrill may be a bit out of her element, Ciattarelli might not always have home-field advantage for the entire game.

Briana: With all but one assembly race decided, the primary election is now almost fully in the rearview, and there are a few big threats to follow and key takeaways.

Most notably, the power of the party machine and whether the hold they have on New Jersey politics may be loosening.

I spoke with senior writer Colleen O'Dea about just that earlier for her take.

Colleen, thanks for coming in.

Good to talk to you always.

Depending on who you ask, the party machine either held up or weakened.

What was it?

Colleen: It kind of did both.

It did hold up but definitely weakened because we had five candidates that were endorsed by the county party who lost.

That is highly unusual.

Since 2011, only one candidate who had the party line had lost.

We had five losses this year.

It's really huge.

There were 29 races that were contested, but given our party controlled system, any loss is a big deal.

Briana: But I wonder, does this mark a real turning point?

Does this indicate that there is a shift in weakening the party machine, or is this a one-off where folks looking for alternative candidates to begin with?

>> I think this could be a shift.

We are going to have to see what happens in two years.

This year, we had the governor at the top of the ballot.

We have a different electorate then we will have two years and now when the assembly and Senate will be on the top of the ballot.

Fewer people come out for a governor's race.

You did have a whole slate of people running with Steve Fulop, the Jersey City mayor who did not win.

A couple of his folks did wind up winning, mostly in red districts where they are not expected to win in November.

We will have to see what happens in two more years.

On the other hand, you could make the argument that this is the start of the snowball rolling and it could get even bigger.

Briana: You can't argue that there was a really robust field of candidates.

And a lot of challengers that we just quite frankly do not see.

A lot of incumbents do not get primary.

That is considered a big deal.

I wonder how that will translate now moving forward.

I know Julius S Rubin, who has done a lot of research on the ballot system and the county line, has said it is going to take a few cycles before receive that.

Is that what you are anticipating?

Colleen: Yes, it is mostly progressive's, I think, that are pushing this change, and they are optimistic about even races where they did not win.

In Middlesex County, Loretto Rivers came quite close, within a couple hundred votes, of unseating Joe Danielson, who is the assembly incumbent.

Middlesex County has a big Democratic Party control, so that would have been huge.

Down in South Jersey, Lou Greenwald, the number two in the assembly, won by about 3000.

He came in second.

His next challenger came at about third.

But still, that is considered a fairly close race when you are talking about the county Democrats.

David: -- Briana: Sherri Hill, for example.

We are not going to get into that, but check it out, but that is a great example.

Let me ask you quickly, other takeaways?

Turn out there has been a lot made about how many folks came out for the primary, which is still a very low number, certainly not a banner day for democracy, but a higher turnout than we have seen in years.

Colleen: Absolutely.

We are at 1.2 7 million at the moment.

That is far and above any other primary turnout that was a presidential year.

It was about 31% of Democrats and Republicans combined, a little bit higher on the Democratic side.

There were a lot of good candidates, really viable gubernatorial candidates who people add to choose from.

I think that is good for democracy, whether it is a banner day or not.

The idea that you have increased turnout, any increase is a good increase.

Briana: What are you looking to heading into November?

Colleen: There are really only theoretically a few districts that we would consider swing districts, the 11th in Monmouth County, the fourth down in South Jersey.

The second always in Atlantic County, it used to be a swing district.

I think the question is going to be what happens.

Four years ago when Phil Murphy was on the ballot was when Republicans flipped a whole bunch of districts.

What will happen this year?

Will the Democrats win and keep those districts solid and maybe flip a second district, or will be Republicans who are supporting Trump come out in droves and flip is to expect?

We really don't know.

Briana:.

Possible.

You can find Colleen's reporting on this at NJSpotlightnews.org.

Colleen, thanks for coming in.

Colleen: Thanks very much.

Briana: After years of debate, the Murphy administration is getting ready to finalize an overhaul of the coastal development rules that decide where and what can be built near the coastline.

They are meant to protect shore towns from future sea level rise and more intense storms.

But leaders are pushing back saying they will hurt economic growth.

Brenda Flanagan reports rather the rules are adopted or not, it will likely be up to New Jersey's next governor to enforce them.

>> We are all acutely aware of coastal flooding, sealevel rise.

We live with it every day.

Brenda: She knows a forecast threatens to surge storm water into towns down the Jersey shore, but turbulent political winds are now circling too, generated by mayors trying to pause the looming final adoption of proposed DEP rules designed to diminish those lysing front risks -- rising flood risks.

>> This is something we fields getting rushed through and rammed down our throats.

It does need to have a much closer look taken.

>> We hope we can get into a room with the commissioner and maybe even legislative leadership to discuss this.

Brenda: Mayor Jason Cilento last week fired off a letter to Governor Murphy and legislative leaders signed by more than 100 30 members of New Jersey's conference of mayors.

It expressed their alarm about the proposed plan called real rules, resilient environments and landscapes.

The real rules plan updates flood risk zones and requires more stringent building standards to protect homes in flood prone areas based on a core prediction that sea levels will rise up to five feet by the end of the century.

>> The facts should not be negotiable.

If you are going to take the steps to protect ourselves and protect our communities, this is the benchmark that science tells us we should go for.

Brenda: But many makers chafe at the constraints on development, dispute the data behind the rules, and forsee increase costs for building and private insurance.

Supporters argue that is the price of safety.

>> There was discussion of these rules create no build zones, which is not true.

What the rules do is explain, if you are going to be in a high hazard area, how you have to build to make sure you are going to be safe.

>> Backing up a little bit from where we know the water is going to be, that is critical to the long-term economic success of our communities and our economy read large -- writ large.

But change is hard.

Brenda: The DAP did hold -- the DEP did hold public hearings, so the letters are kind of a Hail Mary pass that also cc'd Republican Jack Ciattarelli and Democrat Mikie Sherrill.

>> The reason the other two candidates were copied is because ultimately one of them will be governor, but we are looking to work with the current administration because they are still here.

>> And beyond a primary, and now the candidates have been chosen, and this is a conversation that absolutely needs to be had with both sides.

I was working on some kind of a flyer that we could send out, at least to Ocean County residents.

Brenda: County Commissioner Frank said egging notes he would hold public hearings with Sherrill and Ciattarelli, who take different views on the issue.

Sherrill's campaign says she would strike a smart and responsible balance between instituting resiliency measures in coastal areas and ensuring we do not hamper economic development, especially the construction of new housing.

Ciattarelli calls Real big government overreach that unfairly targets Jersey shore home and business owners.

Most troubling of all, the proposal calls for a managed retreat from coastal communities.

It is D.O.A.

when I am governor.

>> The best way to stop something out into Trenton is anyway you can.

Going to the candidates, making this political, making this an election-year issue show that we deal with it after the election is done, is viewed as the most expedient way to get this off the front burner, to prevent this from going into action.

Brenda: A DEP spokesman insured the rules will be adopted this year but could not give a specific date.

An interview with the commissioner was canceled in lieu of a statement from Governor Murphy's office, noting his administration is planning the adoption of supportive regulatory changes that will help protect New Jersey's properties, businesses, and residents from recent coastal hazards.

Again, no date mentioned.

I'm Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: Lawmakers are edging closer to the deadline to finalize New Jersey's annual budget.

At $58 billion, Governor Murphy 's pending proposal is the largest in state history, and it is likely to look quite a bit different once the Legislature is done making their changes to it.

A couple key programs could take a hit in order to pay for it.

For more on that, I spoke with our budget and finance writer as part of our "Under the Dome" series.

Here we are.

It is mid June, still no budget bill introduced.

What are you hearing?

When might we see this thing?

John: I am basically hearing hurry up and wait.

We are in the part of the budget approval process where we know things have to happen by a certain time or we have a state government shutdown.

We know what is going to happen, we just don't know when on the calendar.

And we do not know key things like, will there be tax hikes, how much are we going to spend, how much money is going to go to direct property tax relief?

We know what the governor has proposed because that has been out for quite a while now.

We just do not know where the lawmakers are going to land with the specifics when they come forward with an actual spending though, which has yet to be introduced.

Briana: The governor has called for about a billion dollars in new taxes, but there are some programs like stay in J which are new, and I'm wondering, is that what is holding things up?

Are you hearing that is where negotiations are maybe stalled?

Or still in the midst of it?

John: I am not hearing to that level of specificity, though it is not an area we should not be -- not an area we should be looking at, because the state is preparing to spend $600 million on a new program largely to benefit senior homeowners at the higher income level, and that is drawing a lot of attention from other groups in New Jersey who are raising concerns about how costly it is for people who have not yet gotten to the achievement of owning a home and maybe not at the income levels that some are at.

There is a bit of a tug-of-war publicly.

There is a report that came out suggesting the program the -- be scaled back, but I do not know that that is necessarily one of the sticking points.

A lot of times, lawmakers and the governor would like to take these negotiations down to the wire for reasons that seem after the fact pretty trivial, so we will just have to see how it plays out.

Briana: One item that will not be trivial is potential federal cuts, especially to safety net programs.

Does the state have a plan?

Are lawmakers talking about building that into this budget to help fun things like Medicaid?

John: It is a really good question.

Right now the plan is to have a robust budget surplus, which is sort of a savings account, when case cost shifts do occur, and we do not know what is going to happen yet in Washington, D.C., but from everything we are hearing, it looks like the state could have a really hard decision to make in a few weeks which could either tell a lot of people you will not get things like health care or food assistance, or if the state wants to continue to provide those things, those costs get put onto the state.

I think the idea is to keep a big surplus, but when we just talked about proposed tax hikes, lawmakers are not very happy to embrace some of these tax hikes.

So the state has been spending more than it takes in in taxes.

That is partly why Murphy wants to enact tax hikes.

If lawmakers reject them, that puts pressure on the same surplus that might be the safety net for whatever happens at the federal level.

Briana: Which, by the way, all of this could be blown up because of changes at the federal level.

>> It would be a big problem for the state to have to take on, even as they are trying to figure out their own problems.

Briana: Let me ask you quickly with the time we have left, this time of year we see last-minute add-ons -- we call it pork, Christmas tree items, all kinds of nicknames -- but these are things that lawmakers, they are a priority in their districts.

What are you hearing there?

John: Not much right now, and it will be interesting to see.

Sometimes the add-ons are for things like county colleges.

We have to keep that in mind as well.

Often for these pet projects, there just might not be enough money for them this year.

Briana: Thanks for coming in.

John: You're welcome.

Announcer: "Under the Dome" is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Briana: That is going to do it for us tonight, but make sure you tune into "Chat Box" tomorrow.

David Cruz talks with U.S.

Senator Andy Kim about the efforts by Democrats to push back against the Trump administration on federal budget cuts.

Plus, immigration enforcement, international conflicts, and more.

That is Thursday at 6:00 p.m. streaming on the NJ Spotlight News channel.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire team, thanks for being with us.

Have a great night.

We will see you back here tomorrow.

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