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Briana: Tonight, gun control fight.

The Attorney General and 15 other states file a lawsuit against the Trump administration for allegedly legalizing civilian use of machine guns.

>> Every shooting that we prevent is a family celebrating a birthday party for a wedding or a holiday and not a funeral.

Briana: Plus, the NJ decides primary 2025 election is one day away and candidates are making their final push for your boat.

Also, strike averted in the 11th hour.

Nurses at Southern Ocean Medical Center received a tentative agreement.

>> We were able to bargain safe staffing into our contract.

We have made no bones about the fact that every contract, starting last year, we need to see staffing ratios for nurses if we were going to be able to settle.

Briana: And pharmacy deserts.

Pharmacists and lawmakers expressed concern over access to basic prescription drugs as more pharmacies across the state close their doors.

>> We are on the precipice of an impending public health emergency for New Jersey residents.

>> We don't want that to happen to pharmacies.

Briana: "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

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

Briana: Thanks for joining us on this Monday night.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

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

Attorney General Matt Platkin is suing the Trump administration over new firearm registrations -- regulations.

Leading 15 other Democratic led states filing the lawsuit to stop the Bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms, and explosives from returning thousands of previously seized devices that can be used to convert semi automatic rifles into weapons capable of shooting up to 1000 rounds a minute, similar to machine guns.

The suit filed in Baltimore federal court comes in the wake of the Trump administration May 16 settlement resolving a lawsuit banning FRT's, forced reset triggers, imposed during the Biden administration.

The ATF at the time said those devices turn firearms into a legal machine guns.

Gun rights groups challenged the ban, resulting in conflicting court rulings.

The news lost -- the new lawsuit is aimed to block the ATF from returning those devices to nearly 12,000 owners in the U.S. >> our argument is simple, federal law bans machine guns and FRT is half it within that prohibition, as ATF has always said.

Because federal law bans forced reset triggers, a federal agency can't simply distribute them across the country.

this should be obvious but in case it's, federal agencies have to follow federal law.

Briana: Flights in and out of Newark airport will stay restricted through the end of the year.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday confirmed it will continue to reduce levels of air traffic at the busy hub to help with problems that have plagued the airport.

Just 28 arriving and departing flights will be permitted every hour on weekends from September through December.

The rest of the time, only 34 flights will be allowed in and out through the end of October.

During peak times previously there could be as many as 77 arrivals and departures per hour.

The FAA says the reduction will maintain safety while also cutting down on flight delays, which it attributed to staffing shortage and equipment failures.

That caused a series of averages at the air traffic control center, leading to blackouts of radar and radio coverage.

There has also been a massive $120 million repair project at the airport, which reopened Monday ahead of schedule with only minor construction left to complete.

Tomorrow is primary election day in New Jersey.

The voters are being asked to choose their nominees for Governor and 80 assembly seats up for grabs, not to mention dozens of local and county races.

Early in person voting ended Sunday.

Between that and vote by mail ballots, the numbers show a higher level of interest in the governor's race than other recent state primaries, which could mean a larger turnout overall once every vote is counted.

According to state election figures, more than 318,000 mail-in ballots have been returned with another 149,000 people who took advantage of early in person voting.

In total more than 467,000 ballots have already been cast with turnout higher among registered Democrats and Republicans.

That can change within the next 24 hours.

Candidates, especially those in the competitive race for governor, no it.

They are using every last minute to hit the campaign trail in the hopes of gaining more votes.

Senior political correspondent David Cruz takes a look.

David: It was the final weekend of campaigning for the gubernatorial candidates, and they all had full schedules of get out the vote rallies.

>> The people that stayed home, that got disillusioned, that felt like there was no message for them, they got a chance to get excited, put their sneakers on, go to the polls and vote.

David: For some of us, this campaign has been going on for years.

For most of New Jersey, the fact that tomorrow is election day will come as breaking news.

But New Jersey could surprise you.

With over $120 million already spent by the candidates and other outside groups, the word seems to be getting out.

Early and in person voting actually set a record this cycle and vote by mail ballots are on pace to exceed last year's totals.

>> A lot of good choices for boaters, relatively strong turnout so far.

More than half of the total turnout we saw in 2017, the last time the governor's seat was opened.

Safe to say we will exceed what we saw in 2017.

David: The prevailing opinion is the Republican primary has been settled.

After getting the presidential endorsement, Jack Ciattarelli appears to have put more distance between himself and his main rivals Bill Stapead and John Brennan Berg.

The Democrats have a free-for-all, featuring a front runner with a fragile lead and a total of six candidates who have a conceivable path to victory.

Veteran columnist Charles style of the record says he can't be surprised if any one of the six is victorious.

>> I would be shocked if Steve Sweeney won, but there is a path for him.

I would be less shocked if Ras Baraka won, though I would be surprised.

He has made a name for himself.

And I would be shocked if Shawn Still are won, but again, he has on paper a path.

David: Josh is counting on a strong Bergen County turnout that has courted conservative Jewish voters aggressively.

That leaves the two candidates most people think have the likeliest chance, Mikey Cheryl and Steve Fulop.

For the past two weeks, the Democratic establishment has been asserting itself behind Cheryl.

>> I stand with Mikey Cheryl because we have an uphill battle in the years to come.

We have an uphill battle in November.

And no one can be much clearer or more direct than having someone who has already thought the good fight at the federal government and will take the reins of the Garden State to protect my daughter and my daughters daughter.

David: First Steve Fulop, the first one in this race long ago, the prospect of turning the state party establishment on its ear have always been the point.

>> I feel we have done something pretty unique.

I can't imagine any of the other five campaigns having all of you and the number of people sending me emails, for the first time I'm going to vote in the Democratic primary.

We see that all the time.

I can't imagine other candidates have that.

David: If it is Cheryl, the party can breathe a sigh of relief it still has the juice to get its candidate through even without a partyline system.

If it's fulop -- >> It means there is going to have to be a calibration, a shotgun marriage as of Wednesday morning.

David: That's what's going to be on steak tomorrow.

Polls will be open until 8:00 p.m. Briana: Keep it here for NJ decides 2025 primary election coverage tomorrow night.

We are live starting at 8:00 p.m. with the results.

We will have reporters throughout the state at different campaign headquarters and in studio for different analysis.

Joining me will be Colleen Cruise and Ben Dworkin.

That is Tuesday, June 10 on NJPBS, also on our YouTube channel and digital site.

Nurses at Southern Ocean Medical Center reached an 11th hour contract deal on Sunday, averting a strike less than 24 hours before it was set to begin.

Leaders let the nurses Union say the tentative agreement was reached after a daylong negotiation on Saturday following months of debate over language that included an forcible nurse to patient staffing ratios, higher wages, and other benefits.

The contract now heads for a vote members, who are expected to ratify it by the end of this week.

But hpea president says this isn't the end of the fight for safe staffing.

Good to talk to you.

This came down to the wire.

What was at that got this contract over the finish line?

>> We were able to bargain safe staffing into our contract.

We have made no bones about the fact that every contract, starting last year, would need to see staffing ratios for nurses if we were going to be able to settle.

You are right, this came down to the wire.

Briana: I know your members after ratify this so you can't divulge specific details of this contract.

Can you give us a sense of what it looks like?

This is now the ninth that hpea has negotiated in the last year?

Does it mirror any other contracts that have now been ratified and are in effect?

>> It does.

It is similar to all of our other contracts.

We have been pretty clear about the language we need to see.

Units are all different but they are all based on the studies that have been done.

We have 20 years of studies saying safe staffing is best for patients, nurses, and saves hospitals money.

All the ratios are different based on the acuity of the unit, but they have been well studied so we know what those studies show and we know that these studies show the benefits to the patient's.

We were pretty clear that we needed to see it, and it's been in every one of our contracts.

Every one of our contracts now has safe staffing in it since we started bargaining last year.

Briana: Is this an element that we should expect to see now as part of standard contract negotiations?

It seems like this all came to a head back during the Covid pandemic, but it was an issue prior to that.

>> yes, it was something that was important to the steelworkers.

You will remember when they did go on strike in 2023.

They walked that picket line for four straight months for this very specific issue and they won.

If we had the patient protection and safe staffing act into law, if that was passed into law, we wouldn't have to go hospital by hospital.

We would have every resident in New Jersey entitled to safe staffing, just like our contracts have safe staffing.

Briana: Is that the next move, to push for this legislatively?

>> we have been doing both simultaneously.

We have been looking to pass this bill into law and at the same time, bargaining staffing into all our contracts.

We have had more success so far with our contract but not every hospital in the state of New Jersey is unionized and unions are leading the way for safe staffing.

Briana: Let me ask about that since you brought up the role of the union.

The hospital had said it offered a contract with a safe staffing ratio with wage and benefit increases but that the union refused to put it before its members for a vote.

What's your comment to that?

>> That's not true.

They did not offer us safe staffing.

They offered the same promise they have always offered and that was, we promise to safely staff but we are not going to put it in writing and we are not going to give you specific ratios.

Our proposal was specific language in writing that guarantees these patients have access to nurses who are not stressed out, burned out, distracted.

That's what safe staffing does for patients.

That's what we put in writing and that's what we want.

Briana: And your members will vote on that to ratify that contract.

We have to leave it there.

Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Right aid store closures are continuing to pile up as the pharmaceutical chain files for a second bankruptcy.

A group of lawmakers and independent pharmacists are calling attention to rite aid's financial troubles as what they say is a public health crisis in the making.

Ted Kohlberg -- Goldberg reports as part of our ongoing series under the dome, exploring state government and the impact it has on the people who live here.

>> You're on the precipice of an impending public health emergency for New Jersey residents.

>> we don't want that to happen to pharmacies.

Ted: call it a random gust of wind or ill omen for New Jersey pharmacies.

More of them are closing, creating pharmacy deserts and some are blaming the cost of doing business on pharmacy business managers.

>> In PBM dealings with independent pharmacies, there is no fairness, accountability, or negotiations.

It is their way or the highway.

>> A lot of legislation at the state or federal level is targeted toward reforming their practices, making it more fair.

Currently right now with PBM's, the contracts provided to pharmacies are take it or leave it.

We don't have any negotiations in the process.

The rates are loosely at or below cost.

Ted: PBM's act as middlemen in the drug supply chain and were supposed to be a way to streamline the industry.

>> In the 1970's everything was pen to paper and you had to log everything.

It was a more streamlined way to build and submit to insurers for payment.

At the time it was considered an easier way to submit claims and get paid.

Ted: Brian Pinto has owned a pharmacy in Westfield for more than 20 years and he says PBM's forced him to sell most of his legislation at cost or at a loss.

Ted: There used to be the tendency that generics used to pay better, that there was higher reimbursement, but because PBM's operate in the same market, they know what our costs are.

They are buying from the same place so they are paying what it costs to get those products.

Ted: Pharmacists like Pinto joined lawmakers outside the Statehouse today, raising awareness for the patient and provider protection act.

It would require PBM's to have a fiduciary duty to the long-term health outcomes of those who are covered and would prohibit marketing with inaccurate or misleading information.

>> Instead of worrying about individuals, this is being managed by spreadsheets, and it should not be.

>> Patients should not have to struggle to purchase life-saving medications while the PBM industry is taking in millions of profits.

Ted: The pharmaceutical care management Association represents PBM's in New Jersey and argues this bill would make health care more expensive.

They tell us the legislation that pharmacists are pushing would significantly increase health care costs in New Jersey.

To give drug companies and pharmacies higher profits.

The fact is, over 50% of the pharmacies in New Jersey are independent pharmacies and over the last decade, the number of independent pharmacies increased by over 14%.

The speakers were not far from New Jersey's Bankruptcy Court, where right aid is going through bankruptcy for the second time and closing stores statewide.

>> That happens to independent pharmacies all the time and goes by without a word.

>> This isn't about losing a storefront, this is about losing patient access to care and their established relationship with community pharmacies.

Ted: To help prevent pharmacy deserts, the patient provider protection act was introduced in October and passed out of committee in December.

Lawmakers help two hearings on PBM this spring.

A vote on the assembly floor is not yet scheduled.

>> Under the dome is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Briana: A new report finds New Jersey is making decent gains in child well-being, ranking seventh in the country according to the new kids Count data book from the NIE Casey foundation, showing promising signs when it comes to kids' education and health.

But the state landed toward the middle of the pack when it comes to economic pressures, mainly the high cost of housing, transportation, and other goods.

That along with rising poverty rates are taking a toll on our most vulnerable kids, according to Mary Coogan, the president and CEO of kids Count New Jersey.

Thanks for coming on the show.

I'm wondering what type of story this data tells us about our kids in New Jersey and how they are faring compared with other states.

>> Thank you very much for your interest in this topic.

Data tells part of the story, not the whole story.

New Jersey has consistently been sixth or seventh compared to other states, but I think you have to dig in deeper.

Four domains and four indicators in each domain.

While we are seventh compared to other states, people are still spending too much on rent.

Poverty is going up.

Kids are not proficient reading third grade level where they should be and they are not proficient at basic math.

All these things interact.

If children feel stressed at home because parents don't have stable employment or housing is not stable or there is distress at the home, that's going to impact their ability to function at school.

Briana: You and poverty.

Where does the state stand with our poverty rates?

Is it housing, cost of living in New Jersey, lack of employment?

Are there factors you could pull out from that data to see why the rates are where they are at.

>> it could be multiple things, I don't think it is any one thing.

We have gone up in the number of families where parents don't have secure employment, meaning they may be changing between jobs, might be working part-time.

Our poverty rate has gone up slightly, which means there is more households, family of four earning less than $30,000 a year.

New Jersey is a very expensive place to live.

While other states, being just above the poverty level may be OK, in New Jersey people are going to be struggling.

Briana: What else does this latest report show us about our kids?

You mentioned reading proficiency.

But New Jersey recently has been touted for having some of the best public education in the nation.

>> That's true and I think there are some excellent schools in New Jersey, but when you actually look at proficiency.

The adage that you learn to read by third grade, so after third grade you read to learn.

When children are not proficient -- right now only 62% of third are reading at grade level.

This changes when you break it down by race and ethnicity and it's going to change whether you are in an urban or suburban district perhaps.

But overall that's not a good place to be, even if you are second in the nation.

Children are not proficient at eighth grade math and we know math, you need that.

Basic existence.

Whatever job you have, you need to have basic math skills and we want kids to have even better math skills so they can have engineering jobs or become a scientist or a doctor.

Briana: You typically have some recommendations you put forward when data like this is released.

Are there any key pieces you want policymakers to focus on?

>> We do encourage people to look at the data when you are marshaling limited resources and put a focus on those programs that have been proven effective.

We are also concerned about the fact that currently there are pending cuts at a federal level, which may impact our New Jersey family care program.

As poverty rates go up, you are going to see more families enrolling their children in New Jersey family care, which a lot of people don't appreciate is a Medicaid funded program.

We urge policymakers to be aware of that as well because New Jersey to its credit has stretched its Medicaid dollars far to provide a system of care which provides behavioral health services.

It does support other programs and that all could be impacted.

The progress we have made, we could fall back.

Briana: Thanks so much for coming on, really appreciate your time.

And that's going to do it for us tonight.

A reminder, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch as any time by subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube 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 for your primary election coverage.

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