[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - We have him back.

He is State Senator Anthony Bucco, Republican leader in the Senate, a new grandfather, and also one more thing, Senator Bucco was recently named Legislator of the Year by the New Jersey Conference of Mayors.

Senator, congratulations on more than one count.

Thanks for joining us.

- Thank you, obviously the grandfather part is top of the list.

- Yeah.

No disrespect to the Conference of Mayors, but you know.

Hey, Senator, let me ask you this.

New governor in 2026 in January, Jack Ciattarelli, Republican, you're supporting the Democrat, Congresswoman Mikie Sherill.

Top couple of issues that you believe the new governor will face.

Whoever is elected, I'll remind folks we're doing in-depth public policy issues that matter to you, conversations with both the congresswoman and former state legislator, Jack Ciattarelli.

Go ahead, Tony.

- Well, I think, look, first and foremost, affordability here in New Jersey has gotta be addressed.

And the next governor is gonna have a tough time at that.

You know, this budget that's coming up that we're gonna vote on by the end of the month is 58- - We're taping in late June everyone.

Folks, Jersey's budget has to be constitutionally in place by the last day of June.

I'm sorry, Senator, go ahead.

- Correct, this budget that we're gonna adopt sometime between now and the end of June is $58 billion, give or take.

It's gonna leave a huge structural deficit for the next governor to have to resolve.

So affordability is gonna be a key issue on their plate, and they are gonna have to address it, and they're gonna have to address it from day one of when taking office.

- Talk about utility rates.

As we speak, utility rates, energy costs are going up significantly in the state.

Please, Senator.

- Well, you know, that goes to the affordability crisis again.

You know, I think this governor has missed the boat here on this one.

You know, I think the governor and my democratic colleagues on the other side of the aisle chose ideology over practicality when it came to developing our energy policy.

You know, you and I have talked about this a number of times on this show, and I've said for years now that you know, we can't decrease supply and increase demand.

And that's exactly what this Energy Master Plan has done.

And now what we're seeing is that New Jersey has become a net importer of electricity.

And when that happens, you're at the mercy of the grid.

And as demand continues to go up, - The energy grid that, is it PJM?

Is that the name of it?

- That is, that's PJM.

- PJM is the, this is complex.

We're actually gonna do an in-depth interview with the president of the Board of Public Utilities talking about this.

They set the price Senator?

- Well, they go to an auction.

And as a result, they have to purchase energy and then they distribute it to the region.

- Well, how's that Governor Murphy, how's that the Democrat's fault?

- Well, look what happened here as a result of the Governor's Energy Master plan, is we shut down gas fired plants.

We moth-balled a nuclear plant.

And at the same time, we began to ramp up demand by saying, we're going to be completely electric.

You're gonna have to buy an electric vehicle by 2035.

And at the same time, we went all in on wind energy and that wind energy program failed.

And as a result of that, we are now having to buy electricity off the grid.

Seven years ago, we were selling electricity to the grid.

We had excess electricity.

And today, seven years later, as a result of this policy, you know, trying to make New Jersey, the California of the East Coast, we are now in a position we are at the mercy of purchasing our energy off the grid.

- Senator, sorry Senator for interrupting.

But along those lines, many Republicans, President Trump, not sure where Jack Ciattarelli is on this, deny and if they don't deny, they minimize climate change.

Many would argue that, and I'm not here to defend Governor Murphy, but that another perspective is to find alternative sources of energy that help us deal with climate change.

Where does that fit into the agenda for the next governor, Senator?

- Yeah, I wanna make something clear.

- Please.

- Republicans are not denying climate change.

- Some do Senator respectfully, some do.

- Some may do, but for the most majority, I can tell you- - You do not.

- For my caucus, I can tell you that folks recognize that we have an issue.

And the problem though becomes when you go all in on this renewable too fast, you can't meet the demand that's out there, and they can't put the renewable energy into the grid because it's not reliable.

Like if you have a week like we just had, where the sun's not out, what does the producers of the- - As we're taping, it's been raining a lot.

But go ahead, Senator.

Hopefully when this airs, it'll be a nice sunny day.

But go ahead.

- Let's hope so, but what happens is, when you have a week like we just went through, where the sun is not shining, the electricity is not being produced under these renewable scenarios at the rate that it should be.

So you can't say, "Hey, put this energy into the grid," because if they can't meet the demand, then what happens?

You have a brownout.

That's what's happening in California.

Same thing has the potential to happen here if we don't ramp up our supply.

Now, I would say that you need a gradual approach to this renewable energy, but while you are ramping that up and you're putting that online, you still have to have the backup of gas powered, nuclear powered and other energy sources to meet the demand.

If you don't, you'll have a supply problem.

- Senator, okay listen, you talked about California.

I'm gonna try to make this connection.

As we do this program in late June, LA, we know what happened there, particularly as it relates to protests in the streets.

President Trump sends in National Guard, then the US Military, Marines.

President said that could happen in other places across the nation, particularly when it comes to so-called sanctuary states, which I'm not sure is an official title, but Jack Ciattarelli, Republican candidate for governor, I'll get to my question, calls it a sanctuary state.

He says he is gonna stop at day one.

What is your view of the appropriate role, Senator, of the federal government, vis-a-vis deporting people who are here in an undocumented capacity and the role of the state?

Because right now it's this senator.

- Well, I can tell you what we have to do.

We have to allow law enforcement agencies to communicate amongst themselves.

And unfortunately, some of the laws that have been enacted and one of the laws pending in Trenton right now would prohibit that communications.

And that's wrong.

It would also prohibit the deportation of someone, who is here illegally who has committed a crime.

That's wrong.

- Doesn't it depend upon the crime Senator?

- Listen, I think that if you commit, you're here illegally and you commit a crime, you need to be deported.

It's as simple as that.

And we can't have laws that interfere with law enforcement's communications between each other or the deportation of those individuals that are here illegally that commit a crime.

It is as simple as that.

It's pretty easy and straightforward.

And look, I think that that's the approach that needs to be taken.

- But Senator, don't tactics matter?

Don't law enforcement tactics matter in terms of how they find people, where they find people, how they remove people, separating mothers and fathers from children who are now wards of the state, if you will.

I mean, doesn't it matter how it's not, because no one's gonna disagree with anything you just said, Senator, but how does matter?

Please, Senator Bucco.

- Tactics do matter.

I think a lot of times things get blown out of proportion.

I think that, you know, we have to be sensitive to that fact.

We can't operate on rumor and speculation.

- That's right.

- We have to watch and look at the facts as they develop and then make our adjustments accordingly.

But I can tell you this, that, you know, you talk about protests in LA.

You know, I don't know about protests, but you know, when people are throwing rocks at police officers, when they're burning cars, when it gets outta hand like that, you need to protect the residents of that state.

And if the state can't handle it, then the federal government has the right to step in and take control of that particular situation.

- Senator, no one would argue with anything you just said, but some of the same people who say the same thing you just said, would somehow characterize January 6th and the attacking of law enforcement professionals with all sorts of weapons, hurting, and in some cases, officers died later.

Somehow that was different.

That's not you, but there are many on the Republican side of the aisle, the so-called MAGA wing of the party, which is the party for the most part.

Somehow that was different.

Do you believe it was different?

- Oh, completely different.

You know, completely different.

- No meaning you've criticized those who did what they did to The Capitol on January 6th.

- Absolutely, those that did what they did to The Capitol on January 6th that put their hands on police officers, that destroyed federal property need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

It's as simple as that.

You know, you commit a crime, you need to be arrested and you need to be prosecuted, given your due process rights, and take it from there.

- Regardless of who the perpetrator or the victim is.

And it's hard to argue with that logic.

Senator Anthony Bucco, Senate Republican leader, new grandfather, thank you Senator for joining us.

Wish you all the best.

That's six.

You just told me, there's six grandchildren.

- Yeah.

This last one is a little girl.

So we now have three and three.

Three boys and three girls.

- Thank you, Senator.

All the best.

- Thank you.

- I'm Steve Adubato.

That's the new grandfather, six times over, Senator Bucco.

We'll see you next time.

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