[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - They're back, two very popular and opinionated experts on politics.

Jeanette Hoffman, Republican Strategist and President of Marathon Public Affairs, and Brendan Gill, Democratic strategist and President and CEO of the Gill Group.

Hey, how you doing, both of you?

Good to see you.

- Great to be here.

- Great to be here, Steve.

- Brendan, and this is the only title we're going with, you are currently a commissioner in Essex County, but will no longer be as of when?

- As of the end of this year.

So the end of December '26.

- All right, so you're free to share your views on any topic.

Lemme start with you, Brendan.

What do you like about Governor Sherrill's administration so far, particularly around her budget, and then we'll talk about some concerns you have.

Go ahead.

- Well, first of all, incredibly disciplined from day one of this administration, both from a policy perspective and from a message perspective.

In the budget address, you noticed her tackling some of the largest issues that are in front of us, pension payments, healthcare, transportation, infrastructure, education, talking about both what has worked and what hasn't worked, even within her own party.

It was, I thought, well delivered, well done, and really has been reflective, I think, of an incredibly successful first 100 days for her.

- Jeanette, your turn.

- So what I've heard from some of my colleagues in the business community, some friends who may have not supported Governor Cheryl in the election, is that this administration has been very proactive in meeting with people, and in a way that maybe the Murphy administration hadn't been with the business community with some constituencies that may not be in the Sherrill camp.

So I think that is great, and there has been a transparency with Governor Sherrill that, frankly, wasn't there with the Murphy administration, and going forward in the budget process.

Now we're gonna have to see how that plays out.

And one thing that I really liked as a Republican in Governor Sherrill's budget speech is that she committed to end those last minute Christmas tree items that get tacked onto the state budget that cost millions of dollars that go to constituencies and legislative leadership, that's just really, like a lot of money at taxpayer's expense that go to partisan politicians.

- Jeanette, since you brought it up, I gotta do this, Brendan knows this as well.

As a former state legislator, back in the day before both of you became so prominent, I was on the budget committee, and there were things that I brought back, including our hometown, Brendan, in Montclair, when I was a legislator, I brought back dollars because Montclair was one of the first school districts to desegregate.

They had magnet schools desegregation, they needed transportation money, we got it.

To Jeanette's point, Brendan, is it fair to say that it's all pork and waste, or are there times that some of those items, I don't mean mine, I mean that some of those items are legitimate and impactful while a lot of it is wasteful?

- I think there are many of those items that are actually legitimate.

I think what you heard the governor talking about was the process itself.

I think there was a large conversation.

- Very secretive.

Very secretive.

- So I really think, and that's been something that's been talked about for a while, and if we're serious, right, about some of the reforms that we all need, and I really don't think this is a partisan matter.

We know that the budget process itself is in need of reform.

It's probably done in the same exact way, frankly, Steve, the way that it was done when you were in the legislature.

- You mean the Dark Ages?

- Which respectfully was a long time ago.

And the fact that we're still doing a budget, and we don't do multi-year budgeting, the fact that we have legislative add-ons with a lot of times where there's not enough time for people to review them, you could go down that list.

By the way, that doesn't mean, though, that some of those things that the legislature fights for are not very worthy.

Many of them are.

- But it should be more transparent, right, Jeanette?

- Absolutely.

And I think that's what Governor Sherrill talked about is a commitment to transparency.

And Republicans have said this all along, this is no way to run a railroad.

And a lot of the times the Republican party, which happens to be in the minority right now, votes on the budget, and hasn't even seen a copy of the bill.

So transparency is really important.

Republican leaders have said they will work with the Sherrill administration to accomplish that.

Whether the democratic leaders are gonna go along with that for this budget process, we're gonna have to wait and see.

- Jeanette, I wanna stay with you.

By the way, I also wanna make it clear, when Republicans are in the minority, which is most of the time in New Jersey in the legislature.

- Well, lately.

(Jeanette laughs) - What's that?

- Hey, I worked for a Republican majority at one point in time, Steve.

- Oh, but okay, but isn't it fair to say that the party in the majority and the legislature, one or both houses, they're the ones who get the disproportionate, if not all of those so-called Christmas tree items, those extra perks, the party not in power gets nothing.

Is that fair, Jeanette?

- That's, yeah, that's mostly true.

- It's not fair, but is it accurate?

- It's accurate, yes, that's an accurate statement, yes.

- Okay, how about this, can we talk about a big picture property tax issue?

- Yeah.

- Were you watching, we were actually interviewing the Speaker of the House, speaker Coughlin today, speaker of the Assembly.

He was the person, he was the legislator who pushed the Stay NJ initiative that right now, as it is, up to $500 grand, you get a rebate, you get money back, and I believe that could be up to $6,500.

The governor proposed that that level be moved down to $250,000, and if it's more than that, you get nothing.

And from $6,500 to $4,000.

Jeanette, you know the legislature well, as does Brendan.

How hard is it going to be for the governor to get that through, particularly with the Speaker of the House being the person who's the author of Stay NJ?

- Well, I think this is going to be something that's gonna be very contentious through the budget process.

Listen, affordability is an issue that Governor Sherrill campaigned on throughout the whole campaign season, and the legislature, frankly.

But this budget does nothing to make property taxes more affordable for anybody.

There's no real reform here.

The school formula isn't really changed.

So no one's gonna feel property taxes go down, or anything being more affordable, especially if the Stay NJ program gets cut.

So I don't think legislative leaders are gonna let that stick, and I don't think Republicans are gonna go along with it either.

So I think at the end of the day, on June 30th, you're gonna see a very different budget in terms of the property tax relief program than what Governor Sherrill's proposing right now.

- Brendan, go ahead.

- I think it's a part of a negotiation.

I think that Governor Sherrill should be given a lot of credit, again, for challenging her own party.

Even in that budget address, you remember, if you had the opportunity to watch it, she turned around and looked at both Senate President Scutari and Speaker Coughlin, and said, "We may have to do some things differently here."

And that's a bold move to make when you're right outta the box in dealing with the legislature in your first budget.

That program itself, I think is a very valuable program, a needed program.

This budget also does not raise taxes.

She was clear on that, that she wanted to find a way not to overburden the overburdened population in the state of New Jersey.

And where that number lands, I think that program's still gonna be in the budget, Steve, at the end of the day, in a very effective way, in a way that both the speaker and the governor agree to.

So more to come, but I think it's a start of a negotiation process.

- Let's stay on affordability, and let me also say we just did a half an hour, we're taping on the 17th of March.

That's, was that St.

Patrick's Day?

- It is.

- It is, I know, I should be wearing green.

It's St.

Patrick's Day while we're taping.

We also did just a half hour with the governor, and a lot of the conversation was about this issue, energy.

And by the way, check out, Jeanette hosts "Energy Matters with Jeanette Hoffman" on ON NJ, terrific streaming service.

Check them out.

Did I get that right, Jeanette?

- Yeah, you got it, thanks for the plug, Steve.

- Okay, how about this?

The governor doesn't need a plug when it comes to energy because she's gonna get a lot of people, well, put it this way.

A lot of people are looking forward to seeing what happens.

Those executive orders that she signed as she was accepting her role as governor, as she was sworn in, what impact do you really believe, Jeanette, and then I'll come to you Brendan real quick on this.

What impact do you believe a governor can have on actually lowering energy costs in the state?

Jeanette?

- Well, you said it best.

We're gonna have to wait and see.

I mean, I think her intention is good, to expand New Jersey's energy supply.

What I really liked in this budget was the governor said she's going to fast track DEP permits for energy expansion, so that is a good thing.

We need more energy supply.

That's why our rates went up under the Murphy administration because he put all his eggs into one basket, and that was in renewables and offshore wind.

That never happened.

We don't have enough energy supply in terms of natural gas, of nuclear, all of those things.

Governor Sherrill has committed to expanding our energy supply.

Right now she's fast tracking solar, batteries.

We need more natural gas, we need more nuclear.

It's very early right now, and time will tell if she works on expanding those things.

So again, it's a wait and see approach, but I do think her intention is good, and I'm waiting to see more.

And I think every New Jerseyan who pays their high utility bills is doing the same.

- I got it, I just wanna give Brendan a final word.

Go ahead, Brendan.

- Listen, I think she absolutely has a huge impact on what's gonna happen here going forward.

She has the opportunity to hold these companies accountable.

She has the opportunity to hold grid operators accountable, and she has the ability, in lots of different ways, whether it's through executive order, through legislation, through expansion, as Jeanette said, to lower costs.

So I think she has an opportunity to make a huge difference.

And most importantly, what she's telling the electorate, Steve, as you know, is that she understands.

Like she understands this, it is job number one.

She has heard from people, time and time again, that something needs to be done.

And she's doing it.

- Brendan Gill, Jeanette Hoffman, two political strategists with different points of view.

Could you imagine a civil, respectful dialogue in the media with different points of view?

We need more of that.

Thank you, Jeanette.

Thank you, Brendan.

I'm Steve Adubato, those are two important people who matter in the state, who have different perspectives.

Let's move forward.

I'm Steve Adubato, see you next time.

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