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BRIANA: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," tightening the purse strings in Trenton.

Governor Murphy re-freezing pay raises and holding hiring, as the government faces a budget crunch.

Plus, a major milestone to rebuild the one 14-year-old portal bridge, a crucial component of the good wood tunnel project.

>> The green traffic will go underneath so he will not have to have the bridge opening and he will be able to go over that Minnie Mouse is straight through to the new tunnels.

Briana: Also, President Trump threatening to dismantle the department of education.

How that will impact classrooms across the state.

>>.

>> The federal education Department doesn't have a lot of oversight over schools across the country.

Curriculum decisions are made at a district level based on standards developed by the state.

Briana: And sounding the alarm on the staffing crisis at the state's service agencies.

>> Fewer people want to go into that field.

Fewer people feel supported, feel like that job could help them support their own families.

Briana: "NJSpotlightNews" begins right now.

♪ ANNOUNCER: from NJPBS Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

♪ Briana: Good evening, and thanks for joining us on this Tuesday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

We begin with today's top headlines.

First, more signs New Jersey is nearing the fiscal cliff economic experts have been warning about.

The Murphy administration has ordered all state departments to freeze pay raises for most workers, limit new hires, and cut budgets by 5%.

It was first reported by roi NJ, the governor's office said week to the heads of all cabinet departments, asking them to take attempts to cope and conserve student resources.

The call for cuts from those years of increased spending, where the end of the budget grew from 34.7 billion dollars during fiscal 256 point the rest this year.

The bulk of that was spent on funding New Jersey's long neglected public worker pension system, and added money for school aid and tax relief programs.

Many Democrats in the legislature say the move is not only a surprise, it comes as nearly all the federal government funding from the pandemic is set to run out.

Republicans so that it just proves the governor has been a, quote, kicking the can down the road and.

Also tonight, another delay in the federal bribery trial of Nadine Menendez.

An attorney for former U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez's wife has made another request to push back the trial date, which is already been rescheduled several times due to her breast cancer treatments.

This time, though, the request is to accommodate another client of Menendez's attorney who was on trial for participating in the January 6 riot on the U.S. Capitol, and is worried that the timing of the two will conflict now.

According to New Jersey Monitor , the attorney also wrote in a Monday filing that Nadine Menendez's trial is likely to be longer than the 10 week trial her husband and two codefendants went through earlier this year.

That's because her medical condition will require her to take frequent breaks.

The attorney also filed a heavily redacted letter written by Nadine's doctor earlier this month, who reported that her treatment has been significantly delayed, in part, because the media and public interest in the Menendez's legal issues has made leaving the House difficult to make appointments.

And with Thanksgiving just two days away, volunteers across the state are stepping up to make sure New Jersey residents in need of a meal for the holidays.

Of the Salvation Army in Kearny today, more than 100 families received free turkeys with all the Thanksgiving trimmings.

Recipients had to pre-register and be a resident.

The food, more than 1000 pounds of it, was donated by the Food Bank of New Jersey with the help of about 15 volunteers to distribute the tables.

.

Were set up inside the Kearny Salvation Army location on Chestnut Street, and separated by food group, allowing people to select what they need based on their family size.

Members of the Salvation Army say over all the seen an uptick in numbers of families, in requesting help, so once a month on the last Wednesday, the group sets up a similar food donation events, minus the turkeys, of course.

The Kearney Corps say there is also a food bank's open five days a week for emergencies, and a country open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for regulars.

>>.

>> Whether it's a slight increase or a large one, we have had a whole variety of them in this last year.

Right now we are at a stagnant pace in terms of how many people come in each month, but we have a number of people coming in every week.

With food prices and toy prices for the Christmas season coming up elevating, we do see a number of folks coming that we haven't seen before, or who have never had to ask for help before.

It is an unfortunate reality.

Briana: It took years of effort, millions of dollars, and a over turn it down the Hudson River, but the first of three massive arches to support the new portal Northbridge arrived today, just as construction on replacing the current 114-year-old swing bridge that opens friendships and frequently suffers mechanical issues causing widespread service delays on the northeast corridor and headed for commuters.

As senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan reports, it's a major step for the long-awaited Gateway program.

Reporter: Trains rumbled past on the old portal swing bridge as workers prepared to move a massive arche spand into place along the new portal Northbridge, taking shape along the Hackensack River those plans are.

>> For hundred feet long, 85 feet long and we will be sliding it into position tomorrow or it will sit in its final resting place.

Reporter: Is the first of three spoons to get floated down the river on barges to eventually support the modern portal Northbridge, a critical segment of the good wood tunnel project designed to upgrade train service for rail riders along the Northeast corridor.

>> All the marine traffic will go underneath so you will not have to have the bridge opening.

You will be able to go over at 90 miles per hour, on the bridge and right through into the tunnels.

NJ transit says the project is coming in on time under budget, money that is fully obligated.

He considers this a success story that could persuade the incoming second Trump Administration, and a Republican Congress to keep funding Gateway.

>> they like to see this kind of stuff.

It is critical for the economy, I am cautiously optimistic.

Meanwhile, we are looking for we lock down all the money we have got now, for sure.

Reporter: Transit advocates also consider the good wood tunnel funding pretty much a lock.

>> For the project, a lot of the agreements and commitments have already been made, they were made earlier this year.

There is a full funding grant agreement in place.

So things should just proceed according to plan.

>> The only vulnerability New Jersey transit and Amtrak have our new potential projects like the $23 billion Penn Station South, and the Port Authority bus terminal 42nd Street project.

Reporter: The Biden administration committed 30 -- 70% federal funding to the projects, but the first Trump Administration slow-walked get refund it due to perceived political grudges between the president and New York politicians.

Back then, it alarms local business leaders.

>> The political tone is really high.

Everybody from New Jersey and New York continued to poke the president in the eye and the chest with all these issues about stopping holding up the funding.

And they don't respond really well to being poked in the eye.

Reporter: Governor Murphy has taken a more diplomatic approach since 2020 when Trump treated that they met in Bedminster to chat over dinner about the portal Northbridge.

They met again recently to discuss infrastructure and transit.

>> And he understands the Northeast corridor really well.

Those are all good facts.

That's not to say we think we can sit on our hands and let the grass grow.

Reporter: Back at the bridge, rails and overhead power structures still have to be added but the last two spams will be floated down the river in coming weeks and installed by February.

>> And at that point the bridge will be structurally complete.

Reporter: The first train will likely cross the portal bridge in 2026.

Governor Murphy said he has already invited President-elect Donald Trump to stop by and cut the ribbon.

In Kearny, Brenda Flanagan, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: There is new hope tonight, that the Bayonne Medical Center will be saved from the brink of financial ruin.

Hudson regional Hospital today officially announced its takeover of the cash-strapped facility, which comes just weeks after Hudson regional completed a merger with care point health, the previous owner, to create an entirely new health system, as care point and the three Hudson County hospitals it operates struggle to stay afloat.

But as senior political correspondent David Cruz reports , there are concerns in the community about whether Hudson regional can follow through on its promises.

>> Can you guys hear me?

No?

Reporter: Hudson regional health CEO struggled to be heard, as you deliver good news to a curious staff at Bayonne Medical Center this morning.

The troubled facility, now officially under the care of Hudson regional Hospital, pending state approval and a couple of weeks, is poised for a turnaround, which considering it had shattered operations in key specialties and struggled to keep basic supplies on hand, was good news indeed.

>> it has taken us a long time to get here.

But we are here now and we are dedicated to bringing this hospital to where it is supposed to be, to bring it to its prime and exceed everybody's expectations.

Reporter: If you have been following this hospital-set soap opera, you know that care point, the former operator of Erin Popolo -- former operator of Bayonne and other hospitals has filed for bankruptcy, leaving the county, the most densely populated in the state, in the precarious position of losing one or more of its hospitals.

The CEO said changes at Bayonne are already underway.

>> this is the only facility that Bayonne that has one of the best cath labs in the state of New Jersey.

Unfortunately it had to be shut down.

That means patients with acute heart attacks had to be transferred outside of this facility.

Reporter: But as of this week's, the cardiac catheterization lab is back up and running.

Updated and new operating rooms, a physical therapy Center, sleep lab, and other technology upgrades are also on the way beginning in just a few weeks, said the CEO.

The ER and lobby, pharmacy, and doctors lounges are also due for major reservations.

Today the mayor and other officials who were said to be involved in some tough talks over the past year, or feeling as if this fixed, the third or fourth one depending on how you look at it, would be the one that takes.

>> You have dedicated your life to taking care of the people of Bayonne, and I will always stand up for you because of what you do for us.

[APPLAUSE] I can honestly say for the first time and may be 25 or 30 years, that I am confident that we have owners of Bayonne Hospital, and we are not going to go through this 10 years from now again.

[APPLAUSE] Reporter: But to think of this agreement is not yet dry.

In addition to state approval, assumed but not certain, a Union Rep today said they are still waiting to hear back from management about what their relationship will be in the future.

>> We do have concerns.

We have sent them an agreement for recognition.

And what that means is, it is a written assurance through our members that it will recognize the union, the collective bargaining agreement which means the contract, and not make them reapply for their jobs.

In other words, they will have jobs when this acquisition takes place.

We send this agreement over to them at the end of last month in October, and we are still awaiting.

Reporter: officials were not taking questions today.

The point here was at the hospital is saved.

Again, for now.

I am David Cruz, NJ Spotlight News.

Briana: Among the many promises President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to make good on during his second term, is dismantling the federal Education Department.

But experts agree accomplishing it will be far easier said than done.

For starters, he will need the help of Congress, where the idea is unlikely to gain traction even with Republican control of both the Senate and House.

It doesn't appear, at least for now, at that Trump would have the necessary votes, but he could give the agency less money and shrink its footprint by cutting employees.

For more on the effect it would have in our schools in New Jersey, I am joined by our education and child welfare writer.

Good to see you.

Let's dive into this first part about why it would be so tough for this to happen in the first place.

Guest: thanks.

So the Education Department was created by Congress which means it would need to be Congress to dismantle it.

And a lot of the initiatives of the Education Department are wildly popular among both parties, so it would be difficult for Trump to get the necessary votes even though he does have control of the House and Senate.

Briana: But he has talked about giving less money to schools that say, to gender ideology or critical race theory, things like that.

Does the federal Department of education actually have control over that, and curriculums even?

GUEST: the federal Education Department doesn't have a lot of direct oversight over schools across the country.

Curriculum decisions are made at a district level in New Jersey based on standards that are developed by the state.

But normally, the Federal Education Department does not have control.

Briana: So what are the practical implications then, if this department were to go away, how do we see that affect our students here?

GUEST: So, if the department goes away, it is possible that a lot of its functions and the sources of its funding would just be transferred to other departments, because the Education Department hasn't alludes existed on the a lot of the main funding sources actually used to belong to other departments, so it could return to the way that it was before.

Briana: With those departments doesn't get extra federal employees to take on that larger workload, and I am guessing the answer is probably good to be probably not?

Guest: It's unclear if that will happen.

But lately they will need extra resources and extra support, because it does take a lot of resources to control an $80 billion budget that the Education Department has.

Briana: But they do oversee federal student eight.

What about our college students?

Guest: I mean, we are already in a difficult situation with federal student eight.

It is possible that aid would go down or be focused more on private institutions than it is currently, or career technical education, which is a big priority of who he has nominated to lead the Education Department.

Briana: Yeah, let's talk about her for a bit from a Linda McMahon.

Which is curious because of the department is going to go away, why name someone to lead it?

I guess in his mind, to us through the end of that era, but what do we know about Linda McMahon and her credentials for leading the department?

Guest: Trump said he picked Linda McMahon to help send education back to the states.

Which has been a big campaign promise of his.

And she has experience to do that, according to Trump, because she has experienced in politics monkey she served in his first administration -- has experience in politics, and she served in his first administration leading the Small Business Administration and was also cochair of his transition team.

She has been in the Trump orbit, clearly works well with Trump and his someone that he thinks can handle the job.

She has a bit of a slimmer resume than some of the past secretaries.

She served on the Connecticut State Board of Education for one year.

And the board of trustees at Sacred Heart University in Connecticut for about 16 years.

Briana: So a little bit less of the traditional background that we would see.

What should parents know?

Anybody who is reading this who feels concerned about it or maybe they want to see more control, what are the implications that students and parents rightly, should know?

Guest: I would say to parents, just keep paying attention to what is going on.

Know that most of the funding in New Jersey comes from local and state sources and only about 5% comes from the federal government which means they are , probably won't be too many changes that are felt by students and parents, at least immediately.

So just keep following it and also keep paying attention to what's happening in the state and what's happening in your school district, because that would have more of an impact.

Briana: All right, Hannah.

There is a full peace online about this, you can check it out at NJspotlightnews.org.

Hannah, thanks so much.

In our Spotlight on Business Report, President-elect Donald Trump is also planning to slap new tariffs on America's top three trading partners, day one in office.

The shocking but not surprising announcement came on Monday via Trump's social media network Truth Social, where he said he would sign all the necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada in 25% tariff on all products coming into the U.S., and keep it in place until both countries clamped down on migrants crossing the border and drug flextension medical making their way to the U.S. Trump went on to say China would get an additional 10% tariff on top of existing ones, unless the country implements the death penalty for drug dealers connected to the fentanyl trade .

Economists say that tariffs would have dramatic implications for U.S. industries, including automakers, farmers and food packages, adding an estimated 25% to the cost of imported goods especially in New Jersey, which does tens of billions of dollars in trade between both Canada and Mexico.

Declining staffing and increasing caseloads hurting social service workers' ability to help vulnerable New Jersey residents according to a new survey conducted by the Communications Workers of America.

Across the county agencies polled by the union, workers reported being understaffed and underpaid for the amount of work they are doing.

These are things like helping the elderly apply for Medicaid , or connecting for needy families with food assistance for veterans benefits.

As Ted Goldberg reports, roofers -- workers say the result is the most vulnerable people in the state are waiting longer to get the assistance they need.

Reporter: in the report from the labor union.

Save bleak picture for people who work in social service agencies statewide.

>> will be able to give them less time and so that means more errors, more delays in benefits.

Everything like that.

And honestly, that leads to burnout.

Reporter: You wrote this report, which surveyed about 600 people and found that while the workforce has dropped 3% in the last half decade, Facebook have gone up by nearly one third workers say lack of pay is the biggest reason why counties struggle to hire and retain workers to help people sign up for programs like S.N.A.P.

or Medicaid.

>> We have heard directly from those that try to recruit people , that people do, and listen, and then when they hear what they pay is, they are not interested.

>> Fewer people want to go into that field.

Fewer people feel supported.

Fewer people feel like that job can help them support their own families.

>> It is hard to pay college loans.

If you pick a compliment, live in New Jersey and earn $42,000 a year.

>> Their benefits are just not enough.

Their pay is not enough, so they end up having to rely on the very programs that they are also helping people connect to, and, again, you can't attract people to a job if they don't feel like it is going to help them support their families.

Reporter: CWA workers posted a virtual press conference yesterday, to explain how low pay and low worker morale are working against the counties trying to hire more people.

An exception seems to be Ocean County, which agreed to a new labor contract this year.

Ensuring $4000 pay raises with $3000 raises in each of the next two years.

>> And it is because of that, that our retention rate has gone up amount of our work staff.

And as a direct result of the hiring rate, we have added 60 new employees since we settled the contract into.

>> I am really hoping that counties will start to see how important it is to retain employees, and of to fill the empty desks.

Reporter: The press conference also featured stories about clients who might have been helped if there wasn't such a backlog of cases.

>> Three months later, I've met his daughter.

Her dad was no longer with us.

She came to thank me not only for what I did, but for how I did it.

John relayed the effort and care I afforded to him, to his daughter.

It let me know the importance of the services we provide.

But it also made me wonder what would've happened if we would have gotten services to him faster.

Reporter: while workers are asking for more money and flexibility, it's not always easy for counties to just pay up.

>>>> These salaries are paid for by property tax payer dollars, so they have to be mindful of that.

And anytime you talk about salary, you have to factor into significant health benefit expenses and pension health benefit expenses, which at about 50% to 60%.

Reporter: He leads the New Jersey Association of Counties.

He says some counties are considering privatizing parts of their social service departments to save money, in the same way that some municipalities have privatized their water supply.

>> I don't know that it is the best-case scenario to work at advertising, but in some cases, it is the only option a county may have to deliver essential services in an effective manner.

If they don't have the staffing and can find the people, what are your alternatives?

Reporter: Meantime, social service workers will go to do doing what they do?

>> As human beings, we care about the work we do which is why we do it.

We don't want to see them suffering, waiting for months and months to connect them with S.N.A.P.

for Medicaid.

Reporter: and counties will deliver it paying more for their social service workers, or possibly privatizing some of what they do.

For NJSpotlightNews, I am Ted Goldberg.

Briana: That's going to do it for us tonight, but before you go a reminder to download the , "NJ Spotlight News" podcast so you can listen to us anytime.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

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

Have a great night.

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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And by the PSEG foundation.

>> have some water.

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I became an ESL teacher to give my students what I wanted when I came to this country -- the opportunity to learn, to dream, to achieve, a chance to belong and to be an American.

My name is Julia Torriani Crampton, and I am proud to be an NJEA member.

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♪ ♪