(upbeat music) - From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

- Good evening and thanks for joining us on this Friday night.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

Tonight a few stories we're digging into later in the broadcast.

Congress is back after a summer break and the controversies have already kicked into high gear.

We continue our back to school coverage with the fight to ban cell phones in the classroom over concerns of safety and mental health.

And later, our shrinking shoreline, a look at what officials are doing to prepare and protect towns from flooding.

First though, a few of today's top headlines.

State workers have a health benefits deal.

After months of negotiations, Governor Murphy and public worker unions representing some 100,000 workers struck an agreement to avoid a massive hike in health insurance premiums.

The deal, announced late last night, scraps a plan that would have required unions to find $100 million in savings in the state health benefits program and instead cut costs by $75 million.

Now no details have been shared on how those savings are going to happen, but according to the governor's office, the compromise includes a mix of higher deductibles, prescription drug changes and copay increases for certain care.

Both sides though are describing this deal as a victory, which is a sharp contrast to what happened earlier this year when Governor Murphy and legislative leaders put language into the state budget bill requiring the unions to find those savings by next June, angering many.

Lawmakers now have to pass a bill repealing that requirement.

Also tonight, 13 people from New Jersey have been charged in a multi-state auto theft ring that's connected to the death of a Philly police officer.

Attorney General Matt Plotkin and law enforcement leaders today said the group, which operated out of Camden, stole over 40 cars from 2021 to 2024 across state lines.

They targeted homes, car dealerships, and parking garages.

Authorities say the vehicles were then sold on social media or through text messages using a sophisticated scheme where they falsified documents like temporary registrations and even creating new VIN numbers.

According to prosecutors, Philadelphia police officer Richard Mendez was fatally shot by members of the group while he and another officer tried to stop a car theft in progress at the Philly Airport parking garage back in October 2023.

The group members are facing charges of racketeering, weapons offenses, promoting organized street crime and theft and conspiracy.

Authorities by the way are warning the public not to leave key fobs in the car because that's how thieves can hack the signal to unlock and start it.

In our Spotlight on Business report tonight, it's good news, bad news for SEPTA commuters and transit riders in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

A Philadelphia judge ruled SEPTA must restore all services that were slashed last month and blocked plants for any new cuts, which included two lines in Trenton and West Trenton, along with about 20% of across the board service.

Now that means all 32 bus routes that were eliminated outright last month are also set to resume.

But SEPTA officials say don't expect service to be back to normal today or even next week.

It'll take at least that long to get everything back up and running, depending on the service.

Now for the bad news.

As part of Thursday's ruling, SEPTA can still go ahead with a 21 percent fare hike.

It's unclear exactly when that increase will go into effect.

The decision comes after riders and a consumer advocate sued to block the cuts.

Meanwhile, PA lawmakers are looking for a permanent funding solution to the transit agency's $213 million budget deficit.

And coming up, Governor Murphy's called for a ban on cell phones in schools.

But what do districts and parents have to say?

We'll take a closer look in our Back to School series.

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- Well, Congress is back at work after a month-long August recess, and it didn't take long for things to kick into high gear, from a failed attempt to censure one of New Jersey's Democratic members, to the annual spending battle dominating the September agenda, and the Epstein file drama hanging over the Capitol.

It's expected to be a busy month, to say the least.

Our Washington, D.C. correspondent Ben Hulak joins us now for more on what's happening on the Hill.

Ben, good to see you.

Where to begin?

Let me start with Congresswoman Lamonica McIver.

There was an attempt by Republicans to censure her.

What went down?

Yes, this was brewing when Congress left for its August recess, and we hit the floor running with this right away when we got back on Wednesday.

I talked with her after the vote.

She was surprised, actually, that it did not pass.

So Democrats tabled a Republican measure that would have stripped her of her Homeland Committee assignment and censured her.

And I just caught her in the halls and she said, you know, basically live to fight another day.

That was a surprise to her.

This sort of thing has become a little bit more common.

Democrats when they're in the majority in the House censured Marjorie Taylor Greene, a firebrand Republican from Georgia over violent and hateful phrases she's used.

And then recently in March, Republicans who, again, hold the majority here in the House censured Al Green for interrupting President Donald Trump's speech that same month.

So it's a bit of a common thread.

But let's remind folks, this all stems, of course, from the incident that happened at Delaney Hall, an immigrant detention center in Newark, where there was a scuffle between McIver and those ICE agents when they were attempting to arrest Newark Mayor Raz Baraka.

That of course has led to charges being filed against McIver, which she is fighting.

The video, of course, showing the scuffle.

It was a pretty powerful moment also because none of the Republicans from New Jersey were part of the effort to vote this attempt down.

Right.

In fact, two of them, I'm not sure about Congressman Smith, but I know Congressman Kane and Van Drew from South Jersey have both called for her to be punished, for McIver to be punished.

So the aid, the defense, the Republicans that came to McIver's defense were from Ohio and Nebraska.

Some more moderate members, including Don Bacon, who's from Nebraska and is not running anymore.

So again, it's, this is what Republicans prioritized early in this session, and it's going to be a tight window this month to get all that they have done.

Yeah.

Then if we flip the script, Democrats are pushing hard to get some of these Epstein files released.

This controversy just won't go away for the Trump administration.

What can you tell us about that.

The Republican leadership in the House has tried to sideline a bipartisan push to bring the full disclosure whatever batches of records exist out into the light.

So what happened this week was Republicans offered a purely symbolic measure to allow an investigative committee here in on the House side to continue its work.

That committee is already doing its work.

So that was adopted that measure.

But what is brewing now is a bipartisan push from every Democrat and a handful of Republicans who want to get this done.

So if you look at the broader batch of files released, that would have to clear the House.

They're trying to use a motion called a discharge petition to force a floor vote on this item.

That's really rare and really hard to do.

It then, of course, would have to go to the Senate and for Donald Trump's signature.

So there's a long road ahead on that topic.

But this is an issue that's dogged Republicans all summer.

And it's really not going right.

This is an issue that resonates deep within the Republican base.

And a lot of Republican voters, this was high on their on their list.

They wanted to see what was in these files.

And that's in part why they voted for Trump back in November.

- Meanwhile, folks at home are wondering what they're doing to help constituents.

So what are their priorities aside from Epstein, aside from censures?

What are at least the New Jersey delegation's priorities?

- Well, Mr. Van Drew has been talking a lot about beach replenishment.

That was a key theme for him back in his home district over the break.

That is that's an issue that's of course popular among Republicans and Democrats on the shore.

But the big issue and we can talk more about beach replenishment but the big issue really is the deadline of September 30 which is the annual budget deadline if Congress doesn't act and pass some sort of some sort of legislation to keep the government open the government out of the day-to-day cash it needs to operate so that is looming large there is also a defense bill that has to pass every year to authorize the Pentagon to sort of operate its day-to-day agenda but really it's that hanging cliff of the end of the end of money.

Yeah I mean Republicans are gonna have to figure out a way to work with Democrats on this or as you said head toward a shutdown how likely is that or are they going to slap some type of spending bill together.

They will likely slap some sort of spending bill together.

What's known as a C.R.

continuing resolution in these halls.

That probably gets gets them gets Congress likely if past years or any judge into November or December and then they'll they'll have to act again.

But the key pressure point is here.

Here is really Senate Democrats.

So if you remember back to March Chuck Schumer the New York Democrat who needs senators in that chamber essentially caved at least.

That's that's the in the eyes of the Democratic base caved and allowed Republicans to pass a bill without any Democratic priorities in it.

There's a lot of pressure on him now and on Senate Democrats to get some concessions because remember to fund the government to get through the Senate you need 60 votes.

Publicans only have 53.

So they have to come up with seven Democratic votes or more to pass this thing.

Whatever sort of spending bill emerges.

And that's a real serious point of leverage Democrats have.

They didn't really use it in March.

We'll see if they use it this month.

All right.

You can check out all of Ben's reporting on this past week in Washington and more on our Web site and a spotlight news dot org.

Ben thanks as always.

Of course.

Residents got a final chance this week to weigh in on sweeping new rules aimed at protecting the state from flooding by using updated data on things like sea level rise and existing threats from climate change to determine where and how any future development should be built.

But the rules have been a source of fierce pushback on both sides of the issue and it doesn't appear the key groups involved are willing to budge.

Our senior correspondent Brenda Flanagan covered the hearing and joins us now with the latest.

Bren, good to see you.

Hey, Brie.

So, DEP officials sort of offered a last-ditch open mic night for people to comment on recently revised rules aimed at protecting towns from destructive floods and sea level rise.

These proposed rules include safe building standards and they define flood risk zones that will determine how high residents need to raise up their homes or where developers must plan for stronger flood resistance.

But even after the DEP eased back on some proposals, they remain deeply controversial and opposed by many Jersey Shore mayors, builders and business groups, including the NJBIA.

These rules are not a workable solution to our resiliency problems.

There are still major flaws with this rule.

It's going to have a major negative impact on our coastal and river towns.

It's going to harm our urban redevelopment.

Now, maybe some of the hardest pushback comes against sea level rise forecasts in the revised rules.

The DEP made some major changes, like lowering building elevation requirements from five feet down to four feet above FEMA's base flood levels.

Scientists pointed to new data predicting oceans will rise more slowly than originally predicted.

But four feet still a big deal.

It would put 40 percent of Cape May County underwater within 75 years.

A consultant calculated.

These are not abstract numbers.

They represent real land real property and real homes where people live and work and invest.

The economic consequences of these restrictions cannot be overstated.

Property values will decline as land becomes subject to new regulatory hurdles.

Tax bases will shrink.

Beach Haven has quite a large historic district and we still haven't heard a lot on how that's supposed to be dealt with because obviously you know to raise all those old homes would be virtually impossible.

We still don't have a robust evaluation of the economic impact of the rule.

And I say that because there's still no mention of exactly how many properties are set to be impacted by the new floodplain and how that will affect their value.

Some studies suggest it can cause a 10 percent devaluation of a property.

As a homeowner I realize that we have a huge problem.

The water is rising.

I look at it every day.

So if people don't realize that because they don't live on the water, shame on them.

Now, that last speaker is Kelly Smetkowsky, not a lobbyist or an official.

She's a homeowner in Forkett River.

She lives right on Barnagat Bay.

Her property is eroding, she says, despite an offshore barrier reef of baby oysters installed by the American Littoral Society.

The whole area is under siege and losing its shoreline.

We connected on a Zoom call after the DEP hearing and she showed me her front yard.

It's almost entirely all underwater.

This property went out 185 feet, probably in the 70s from this point.

But in the past 10 to 15 years, they've probably lost 50 to 60 feet.

I do think that builders and the towns, even though they want revenue and taxes, there should be areas that you just can't build on.

If you know that the ground is eroding and you're losing property, they shouldn't be able to sell that property.

That just should be it.

- Now, Smetkowsky admits she should have done more research about climate change before building there on the Bay.

She strongly supports the DEP's proposed rules, noting she's not an expert, but she's living with the issue.

And several experts did endorse the DEP-revised rules during Wednesday night's hearing.

The sound science that backs these regulations really is calling for us to become more resilient over time.

So rather than waiting and passing the buck into the future and letting future generations deal with these impacts, what we are saying in these regulations is that we know these sea level rises are happening now.

We're protecting residents.

We're protecting businesses from the damage of flooding, from having to be put out of business, from having to be put, you know, customers not being able to get there, people not being able to get to their jobs, and buildings destroyed and damaged, and people have lost their lives.

And that's what resiliency means.

That's what these rules mean, taking steps.

But some environmentalists felt the DEP's made too many concessions to developers, especially a rule change that would permit exemptions for developers building affordable housing in a flood zone.

They asked the DEP to restore the stricter standards.

By lowering the standard, the state risks enabling development in areas that will face chronic flooding within the lifespan of infrastructure and housing projects.

This is not precautionary planning.

It is a gamble with public safety and taxpayer dollars.

Now, the DEP will continue taking written comments through September 19.

And, Brianna, the DEP is hoping to formally adopt these rules by January 2026.

At least that's the regulatory process.

That's not the only process, is it, Bren?

Oh, no.

There's politics involved here, heavy politics.

This is now one of the flashpoints in Jersey's governor's race.

Republican Jack Ciattarelli's vowed the real rules would be "DOA" when I'm governor.

Democrat Mikey Sherrill calls for a smart and responsible balance that protects coastal areas without hampering economic development, especially new housing.

Republicans are saying it's the winner of the governor's race who should ultimately decide whether those rules should be adopted, Brianna.

And of course, we're not going to know that until November.

Yeah.

And then they'll have some time to get that under their belt.

Brenda Flanagan for us.

Brenda, great reporting as always.

Thanks so much for coming in.

Thanks, Bri.

We continue our back to school coverage tonight with a deeper look at the debate over cell phones in classrooms.

The state doesn't have a uniform policy, leaving it up to individual districts and sometimes even individual schools to decide.

But that could soon change.

Governor Murphy is calling for tighter limits and legislation is moving through Trenton that will require new statewide guidelines, citing concerns about mental health, cyber bullying and student distractions.

Senior correspondent Joanna Gagas has more on what it'll entail.

In New Jersey, many districts are considering how to handle cell phone use by their students, given the impact they can have on learning and kids' well-being.

They do serve as a distraction.

They can interfere, you know, with their academic achievement, there are mental health issues, bullying involved.

- But should schools ban them?

Many, like Jersey City, are considering it.

Some districts have already said yes.

Take Cherry Hill, that enacted a ban last year with input from parents, students, and faculty.

Superintendent Kwame Morton describes it as... - A rational, intelligent approach to trust the kids a bit, however, to protect the time that's most valuable.

And the the time that is most valuable, is the instructional time.

- Their policy offers sliding scale of usage based on age.

So at the elementary level, the cell phone devices are away all day.

At the middle school level, they can have them on the bus when they're coming to school, when they're going home after school, but they're away all day.

However at the high school level, the students are permitted to use their devices only during recess or a non instructional time.

- Like lunch or in the hallways between classes.

In just one year, they've seen positive impacts on student behavior, although Morton says it's too soon to really measure any academic benefits.

- You see kids engaging in social dialogue.

You see kids playing Uno cards and doing things that are productive and healthy.

In addition to that, we have definitely seen decreases in conflict related disciplinary events.

You see a great decrease in the amount of students meeting up at bathrooms, for instance, during class time.

But other districts like Brigantine want to keep cell phone use in the classroom.

If a teacher wants them to use it for podcasting or digital video and/or connecting, sending a quick email to a professional across the country, whoever it may be, they'll allow them to do that or to listen to music.

So I'm not taking away the right to the cell phones of the kids.

I'm giving the autonomy to my staff.

And our staff is also modeling what technology can be when they get to collegiate or high school or to the workforce one day.

Brighantine Superintendent Glenn Robbins says teaching safe and smart cell phone usage is a priority in his district and he thinks a ban would undermine that.

We can teach our kids when to, you know, put it on silent.

when is the appropriate time to use a cell phone; to have those critical conversations.

I think that's paramount to teaching these kids.

If not, we're just avoiding it and saying "alright, you go on your own after 3:00 when the day is over and experiment, and we know so many things happen till 7am the next morning.

And then we're going to pretend it disapeared again.

I think we have an obligation to teach them.

State lawmakers took up the issue last year, drafting a bill that would require school boards to enact strict phone bans, but with input from districts and groups like the New Jersey School Boards Association.

It's been amended to provide more flexibility.

It's not all that simple and one size fits all approach isn't something we think is really the best way forward.

We believe local control home rule flexibility has worked really well for our public schools in New Jersey.

They all have different priorities, different levels of resources.

And while you might expect a mental health counselor to support the ban, John Paul Simon, who works with families and advices schools through Care Plus NJ, takes a more measured approach.

I ask schools to think about active and structured restriction.

The more the phone gets taken away, kids are more attentive, kids are more engaged, but the piece and the component when I strategize with schools is are we building automonmy and independence with these students?

Are they inherently learning a value that being present is much more important than being distracted?

>> It's a question that districts and communities will have to consider as they decide how and when students should have their cell phones.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Joanna Gagis.

Finally tonight, could the second time be the charm?

Amanda Anissimova of Freehold Township has once again reached the final of a Grand Slam, besting four time Grand Slam champ Naomi Osaka in the US Open semifinals that stretched into the early morning hours.

She made a dramatic comeback from a tough first set tie break loss to win the match in three sets and will face off in the finals on Saturday night against Arena Sebelenka.

She's the world number one Anna Samova beat to reach the Wimbledon finals in July.

She called reaching the final of the US Open a dream come true and she now goes on in her quest for her first major title.

Good luck.

That's going to do it for us this week.

A reminder though, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us anytime by subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

Plus, you can always follow us on Instagram and Blue Sky to stay up to date on all the state's big headlines.

And if you want to help support the programming public media brings you and keep stations like this one thriving, head to njspotlightnews.org/donate.

I'm Briana Vannozzi for the entire team at NJ Spotlight News, thank you for being with us.

Enjoy the weekend.

We'll see you right back here on Monday.

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