>> Funding for "NJ Spotlight News" funded by the members of the New Jersey Education Association, making public schools great for every child.

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Briana: Tonight on "NJ Spotlight News," details of the congestion pricing plan revealed.

Get ready to pay an extra $15 to enter Midtown Manhattan.

Don't despair, there is always mass transit.

Ground was broken for the infamous Gateway tunnel program -- project.

>> These tunnels are more than portals of concrete and rebar.

They are portals of opportunity.

Briana: Plus, a new report shows gun owners seeing little to no value in securing firearms at home.

>> A lot of folks are using faulty information to estimate how much risk is involved in keeping a firearm loaded on the bedside table.

Briana: Smoke-free casinos?

State legislators looking to finally banned smoking in casinos, but will it be bad for business?

>> The impact would be there economically.

Briana: Fiscal fight.

A surcharge on the corporate business tax set to expire, but opponents cry foul.

>> We do not give the largest corporations in our state A $1 billion tax cut on the backs of working people in our state.

Briana: "NJ Spotlight News" begins right now.

♪ >> From NJ PBS Studios, Spotlight news with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Thank you for joining us, I am Briana Vannozzi.

Drivers heading into midtown Manhattan may have to shell out on additional $15 in the spring as part of a controversial congestion pricing plan.

New York City's traffic review Board revealed recommendations for the pricing which is lower than originally proposed, but it will still hit New Jersey drivers hard.

The move is meant to discourage driving south of 60th Street, which is always jammed.

The news eclipsed another transportation announcement, shovels in the ground on the long-delayed Gateway tunnel project, which could give drivers who have to reach deeper into their pockets more mass transit options.

Senior correspondent Deborah Flanagan reports.

>> It feels so far off from what is fair right now.

Reporter: Governor Murphy paned pricing rates that would charge cars headed into Manhattan's central business District an extra $15 on top of regular tolls and trucks even more.

It is an effort to control traffic jams and vehicle pollution and raise money for the MTA but Murphy called it ill conceived.

>> It is ripping off New Jersey commuters to pay for whatever financial feedings the MTA has.

We are contribute -- considering all options including legal action.

>> You have hard-working families now with a $15 taxa day on top of what they already paid to go through a bridge or tunnel plus parking, gas, a fortune.

Reporter: The transportation mobility review Board recommended prices of $15 per car with a discount for overnight hours, 24 dollars for small trucks and $36 for big rigs.

As for discounts and proposed $5 for cars taking the Lincoln, Holland, Queens Midtown or Brooklyn battery Tunnel's but no discount for the George Washington Bridge.

The board says it waived both sides.

>> We know it is controversial, but we tried to strike a balance of fairness.

Reporter: The chairman said the board approved recommendations to the MTA.

He added they are designed to push trucks to opt for discounted overnight crossings but tricks -- critics say big diesel rigs may bypass the district entirely.

>> You will trying to avoid New York City, going to the GW bridge, and all the cancer-causing toxins released.

>> That is the balance for us.

We want to see truck traffic coming in go down, but at the same time we do not want it to go down at the expense of low income communities.

Reporter: Mass transit advocates doubt trucks will divert to avoid the extra toll.

>> I do not know who would make the decision to put this on the GW when it is already slammed.

That is not what I think will happen.

I think folks will be this incentivized from driving and hopefully, looking to New Jersey transit.

Reporter: Congestion pricing advocates a higher tolls will help move folks out of their cars and onto mass transit.

Talk about timing, one of the biggest passenger rail projects got its official Jersey kickoff today.

Officials broke ground for the Gateway project along the Avenue where a bridge will allow rail lines to connect to the new tunnels.

>> These tunnels are more than portals of concrete and rebar.

They are portals of opportunity.

Reporter: Folks celebrated after a decade of fits, starts and installs.

Gateway looks like it is underway.

The Biden Administration's promise to kick in another $3.8 billion in funding moved the federal share to 70% of the Gateway's $17 billion price tag.

Amtrak says if mass transit is properly built, folks will ride it.

>> We are 15% ahead of where we were pre-pandemic.

There is no question there is a hunger and demand for strong, efficient, safe, reliable passenger service.

Reporter: Still lagging at 80% of pre-COVID levels, the new tunnels will be built until 2035.

Brenda Flanagan, "NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: Rutgers researchers released surprising new insight on gun owners in New Jersey, finding many keep at least one firearm stored unlocked and loaded in their home.

That is despite evidence showing secure storage reduces the risk of suicide and unintentional shootings, and increased gun violence prevention efforts that emphasize safe storage to prevent injury and death.

I am joined by the lead author on the study, Mike Anestis from New Jersey's gun violence research sector.

Thanks for joining me.

I want to get into this report.

It seems we have talked so long about the benefits of storing a firearm and despite that, not everyone sees the value.

Mike: That is the Crux of our new study.

The folks storing firearms, loaded, unlocked, they see less value in secure storage, whether to prevent suicide or unintentional shootings or just deaf from a file or -- firearm.

Briana: Why is that, given the research out there?

Mike: I think it is a few things the biggest reason folks own a firearm is for protection at home.

The message they received is that you need to have it ready because what if someone breaks in and you need to get to it quickly?

People have come to a place where they overestimate how likely that horrible tragedy would be and underestimate how likely it is someone in your own home will get hurt, intentionally or not.

They are not seeing the actual cost and benefits.

Briana: It sounds like a standard argument.

If I have this as a means of protection for my family, I need quick access, not unloaded in a storage box in a safe somewhere.

How often are firearms adding into the wrong hands in homes?

Children in particular?

Mike: Far more often than any of us want to know.

These tragedies unfold daily.

That is not to say a firearm has never been used successfully to defend a family.

That is not the point.

The outcomes we are afraid of are not happening as often as the outcomes I am talking about, particularly suicide.

We all accept a certain level of risk, but a lot of folks are using faulty information to estimate how much risk is involved in keeping my firearm loaded on my bedside table.

Briana: Are these casual firearm owners researched in the study, or did it run the gamut to those in law enforcement, or those who use firearms for myriad reasons?

Mike: Runs the gamut.

A representative sample of folks living in nine states including New Jersey.

Some more law-enforcement, military or veteran, some had no affiliation with those organizations, just a member of the community who happened to own a firearm.

You see these patterns across the board, how will I stage my firearm at home?

Briana: What does the take-home need to be to get more firearm owners to start storing these weapons in a Safeway?

Mike: A few things.

One, we need to better understand what they are open to using and make sure they are available and affordable.

The biggest thing is countering the messaging in place, from in large part, manufacturers.

The idea of world is dangerous and you need to protect yourself.

That message has resonated with folks.

We need to do a better job equipping trusted voices with the ideas that secure storage can prevent other tragedies.

You need to make decisions based on the full understanding of the facts.

Briana: Mike Anestis, Executive Director of the gun violence research Center.

Thank you for sharing the study.

A Bergen County man arrested for an assault outside a downtown Jersey City bar.

The victim described it as a hate crime but Jersey City police authorities tell "NJ Spotlight News" they are not investigating the incident as a bias attack.

Mo hamza, a Palestinian-American man, said he was assaulted after -- outside of a bar after a patron asked where he was from.

Patrons through slurs at him, kicked him in the face and spit on him.

One was charged with aggravated assault but the investigation remains active.

According to the FBI's Newark office, attacks against Jewish and Arabs in America has increased since the Israel-Hamas conflict.

The extension on the pause in fighting followed an intense last-minute deal with Hamas to release more hostages and get more aid into Gaza.

So far 70 Israeli hostages have been released and 210 Palestinian prisoners free.

The fight on banning smoking from casino floors was punted today by lawmakers scheduled to vote on a bill to ban anyone from lighting up.

A legislative committee heard passionate and tense testimony from people on both sides of the issue.

Despite bipartisan support, the bill struggles to make it to a vote.

Ted Goldberg is in Trenton with the latest.

Ted: The debate on banning smoking in casinos has become two different issues depending who you ask.

For the folks who work in casinos they say it is unhealthy and unfair they have to breathe in smoke while working, while others think a lot of damage could be caused to casinos if it is banned.

>> I was at a funeral for a 54-year-old dealer Tuesday, non-smoker, died of lung and thyroid cancer.

Sad stories are over, the facts are in.

There is no debate or compromise to be had.

>> 17 years since our lives were exempt from the protection of the smoke-free air act.

What we face on a daily basis is degrading and cruel.

>> At some point in the process I was told that if I did not cut out an exemption for casinos, the bill would never pass the assembly.

I realize it was a self interest, it was wrong, horribly wrong.

>> Those of us in South Jersey and Philadelphia know how short that commute is and the impact would be there economically.

Smokers would be traveling.

Timing wise in a perfect world, Pennsylvania and New Jersey banned smoking together.

>> 17 years of pregnant mothers like myself who had to work in the smoke putting -- had to make the impossible choice of putting their unborn children in harms way just to earn a paycheck and keep health insurance.

>> Employees have to choose between their health and their paycheck to support their families.

It is barbaric and awful.

>> Fewer people will come to Atlantic City if there is a complete ban.

Fewer people will eat there, drink there, buy things, stay there.

There will be a reduction in jobs, development.

>> We have evolved along way as a culture, society.

People used to smoke everywhere, television, restaurants, bars.

Maybe not in church, but elsewhere.

You think back to those times.

It seems like a thousand years ago, but it was not.

>> This could have significant impact we are not ready for.

There is not a lot of economic diversification.

>> We oversee millions of dollars of chips in front of us, so we cannot move or walk away or turn our head or wave it away, we have to suck it up, and keep on dealing.

>> This is an important discussion that needs to happen.

I will support tax subsidies to support our casinos, economic development for construction for casinos.

I cannot mix that when it comes to smoking.

I know the direct impact smoking has on people.

Reporter: With no majority the senator says it will be another month until the bill gets a vote, prolonging the saga between casinos and folks who work there.

Briana: Thank you.

More than 800,000 workers in New Jersey could see more job protections if they use paid family leave insurance.

Lawmakers in the assembly labor committee moved a bill to expand the program and require any business in the state to provide paid family leave, along with job security, regardless of the number of employees.

The current family leave act applies only to businesses with 30 or more workers.

That leaves one and five at risk of being fired for taking family leave to care for a newborn or sick family member.

Research from the Rutgers Center found hourly and low-paid employees are most vulnerable, but business groups warn will put more burdens on employers and expose small business owners to potential lawsuits.

New Jersey expanded the paid family leave law in 2019, but bill sponsors say it is one of the few that does not have job protections written into the program.

The bill heads for a full vote in the assembly.

In our spotlight on business report, the corporate business tax surcharge is not going to expire without a fight.

Progressive groups today rallied outside the Statehouse in Trenton asking lawmakers to make a last-ditch effort to keep the 2.5% surcharge alive before it sunsets at the end of the year.

They see it as the equivalent to cutting a massive check to some of the most profitable businesses, but Governor Murphy is not budging.

Joanna Gagis reports.

>> Pay up.

>> Amazon.

Reporter: Organizations that make up the coalition for the many gathered outside the Statehouse annexed demanding Governor Murphy reverse course on letting the corporate business tax surcharge sunset at the end of the legislative session.

>> We are here to say and urge that lawmakers and the governor make sure we do not give the largest corporations in our state a $1 billion tax cut on the backs of working people in our state.

Reporter: The tax surcharge was enacted in 2018 and increases the tax on businesses whose net profit is more than $1 million.

It was extended during the pandemic but Governor Murphy promised to let it expire at the end of this year.

Gov.

Murphy: They have committed to invest here with more jobs, a deal is a deal.

Reporter: These groups cry foul.

>> Why is it the deal we care about is one with the largest corporations?

Not just New Jersey, but multinational corporations that happen to do business in New Jersey and make money off us.

Why is that the deal that counts?

What about New Jersey's commuters, people who use transit every day to get to work, doctor's appointments, school?

Reporter: They are calling for the tax to be renewed and allocated as a permanent funding source for NJ transit which is facing a $1 billion budget whole next year.

Some lawmakers like the chair of the Senate budget committee call for a dedicated source to keep the agency from falling off the fiscal cliff.

The governor addressing NJ transit said -- Gov.

Murphy: All options are on the table, it is a work in progress.

It is not hanging over our head tomorrow.

This is two years from now.

>> Why are we writing a $1 billion check to Exxon Mobil instead of New Jersey transit?

Reporter: Or to another -- a number of other social support programs that would help struggling families.

>> Trickle-down economics does not work.

There are too many families in crisis in New Jersey.

We need to assist and invest in our communities and families, and need long-term sustainable funding for things like affordable housing, rental assistance, expand the child tax credit and more.

You know what we do not need?

Who does not need our help?

Our wealthiest corporations like Amazon, Walmart, Bank of America.

They are taking the money and they will run.

>> This is not Small Business, mom-and-pop, pizzeria.

Reporter: Organizations have applauded the surcharge sunsetting saying it will be good for the business climate.

As for whether increasing the surcharge could drive businesses out of New Jersey, one says -- >> no, there is no evidence of that whatsoever.

Choose New Jersey, which has issued report after report, talks about the number of companies coming to New Jersey.

This is nothing that has discouraged business.

They are making record profits.

There is no reason to let this sunset.

Reporter: The groups with further many say even if the surcharge does expire at the end of the legislative session, they will pick back up to fight to get it renewed at the beginning of the next legislative session.

In Trenton, Joanna Gagis, "NJ Spotlight News."

Briana: The temporary CBT surcharge helped get revenue at a time when Governor Murphy has been increasing spending, but the expiration comes as New Jersey faces a budget gap and fiscal challenges.

Our budget and finance writer took a closer look at how the tax has been used and how we got here.

He joins me now.

We were inevitably coming to this day.

This was always going to expire.

It should not come as a surprise.

John: Absolutely true.

This was extended once before.

Originally put in place in 2018, a time when a lot of big corporations were getting a tax break when Donald Trump was president.

There was a lot of mentor in democratic states like New Jersey to come back to that and change tax policy at the state level.

It was supposed to go away at the end of 2021.

We were in the middle of Covid, there were concerns about the state budget, so they added a few more years.

Briana: There were groups Joanna Gagis reported about, making the case for why the surcharge should remain.

You wrote about fiscal challenges in front of the state.

John: The state is in a position where it needs revenue.

We just came off a period where tax collections were roaring, the state has a surplus.

The pension obligation is funded, good things when you look at it from a fiscal perspective.

The last budget lawmakers enacted, they added on spending and we are projected to spend a lot more than we will take in in projected revenues.

Revenues this fiscal year have been less than last year.

We are getting into situations where the numbers misaligned.

That is a big concern.

Briana: Wasn't there talk to lower the surcharge rate and keep it permanently?

Is there a case for that?

John: In the context of New Jersey transit returns, projected shortfalls are about $1 billion in the not-too-distant future.

That is a big issue for lawmakers.

Traditionally the state budget has offset problems with funding.

That would be something lawmakers in the past have tried to say, let's keep a slice of this surcharge.

Businesses pay 11.5% at the top, it would fall to 9%.

Can you add more as you reduce it and not get the business community to upset and bring in revenue for things like mass transit or key investments?

That is the policy tension for lawmakers and the governor.

Briana: The argument has been, looking at a pro-growth mindset.

Where do we go from here?

December 31 it sunset, what happens next?

John: We have a budget discussion in February and they have to come to grips with these issues.

We will get a sense how much the current budget is in alignment with projections.

A lot has to happen.

Long-range this is $1 billion in revenue that would be lost when the surcharge goes away.

That is a big amount.

Briana: John, thank you.

On Wall Street inflation continued to cool in October.

According to the Fed's data on personal spending that sent stocks soaring today.

Here is how the markets closed.

>> Support for the business report provided by Newark alliance which curates the Newark holiday festival, in the arts in education district.

Details available at Newark holidayfestival.com.

Briana: Raven Santana looks at house New Jersey is preparing for the growth of artificial intelligence and wide-ranging uses for the technology including security at schools and boardwalks.

Watch it on the "NJ Spotlight News" YouTube channel at 10:00 a.m. That will do it for us tonight.

Catch Reporters Roundtable with David Cruz tomorrow.

He looks into the battle for the party line and talks to a Rutgers professor about her new research on the power of the party line and how it could affect the race for U.S. Senate and reporters break down the big political headlines.

Watch tomorrow at noon on the "NJ Spotlight News" YouTube channel.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

Thanks for being with us, have a great evening.

We will see you tomorrow.

>> NJM Insurance Group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

And by the PSEG foundation.

>> Have some water.

>> look at these kids.

What do you see?

I see myself.

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 be known and to be an American.

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

♪