- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

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[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi, I'm Steve Adubato.

We kick off this program with state Senator John Bramnick from the 21st legislative district back by very popular demand.

Good to see you, Senator.

- Great to see you, Steve.

- I loved...

Listen, you are the funniest lawyer in New Jersey, you have a comedy act, but unfortunately we're talking taxes.

Nothing funny about that Senator.

So the Governor says, Governor Murphy recent budget address we're taping toward the middle back end of March.

He said, "listen, we need to give some money back to taxpayers, including not just homeowners, but renters."

How could you and the Republicans in the Senate and the Assembly be possibly be against that?

- Nobody's against it.

You send me a check in the mail, I'll deposit it.

The question becomes whether it should be the same old same old, where you mail back these so-called rebates or do you continue a structural changes in New Jersey that Chris Christie started with the 2% cap?

No, of course, I'm happy to take this-- - Well, 2% cap on local spending, correct?

On state on local government spending.

- Yes, but there should be a 2% cap on state spending as well, but that's for another day.

- Okay.

- Bottom line is the rebate.

Cool, interesting, political, not a structural change.

- Hold on.

So, to be clear what the governor is saying is that if you are a homeowner and it's up to... Give me the amount here, homeowners up to $250,000 rebate would be a percentage of your property taxes up to $10,000, renters making up to $100,000 will get direct payments up to $250 and over the next several years, those numbers go up.

People are gonna want that Senator.

You're saying, "Listen, we don't wanna send you a check."

The Republican plan in the Senate is to give a tax credit.

- Well, that's not my plan.

I mean there are others who have different plans.

- Well, what do you say we should do?

- Well, two things.

First, we should model after Florida, with the homestead, meaning that your taxes stay pretty much stable until you sell a house and when the young family comes in now it goes up to market value.

I've had that bill for a long time.

It's a great idea.

And in the meantime, cap state spending, and if you really wanna lower property taxes, move 2% to 1%.

The only reason we had a reduction in property taxes, I like the Phil Murphy but that's not why we had a reduction.

We had a reduction because of the 2% cap.

So let's work on structural issues.

And in the meantime, good, send a Christmas bonus out to everybody, send them a little money, I have no problem with that.

- So what about this?

For years that I've been doing this program and you've been in government, we've been talking about the cost of local government, local governments having their own fire department their own police department, their own school system et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Alan Karcher the late speaker of the house wrote a book called Municipal Madness.

And he basically said there were too many localities.

Senator why don't we just finally acknowledge that some towns are too small to have their own and force mergers and consolidations of two little towns so you have one chief of police, one head of the fire department, one superintendent.

Why all these small communities and isn't that part of the reason for our massive property tax bills?

- I think it's a small part but I can tell you one thing, when it comes to schools, you want the local parents running the local schools.

So if you start doing the John Corzine approach where you do county schools, let me tell you, you don't want government far away from where you are.

I think the one thing people are willing to pay for are their schools.

So if in Westfield you start making that a county district you're gonna have a problem.

So first and foremost, make sure parents run their schools.

Sure, we can do some mergers of some towns but leave the schools alone.

And we're heading in that direction and that's gonna be the kiss of death for this state.

You start opening up county schools, you're gonna have a problem.

- Okay, and I'm not talking about county schools.

I'm talking about two local communities who are very small merging together, not the county.

That's different Senator, isn't it?

- But the taxes, okay.

You're talking about taxes.

Most of that money is for the schools.

Most of those budgets, it's a small percentage for the municipalities, but yes, you wanna merge police and fire?

Sure.

I still think the biggest problem is when you have state government now spending $50 billion and that the budget since my friend Phil Murphy took over has gone up 30%.

And now you blame the fact that Garwood and Westfield have a separate police department?

I don't think so.

- Senator, how much of New Jersey's largesse in terms of the amount of money the state has and the government coffers... How much of it is because the federal government has sent many billions of dollars to the state of New Jersey in connection with the COVID crisis?

- Well, it's interesting.

So, we borrowed, or should I say the Murphy administration borrowed 4 billion.

There's a lot of off-line spending by the federal government.

I understand that's a couple billion and then revenues were up like 4 billion.

Now it's interesting during this COVID 19 pandemic all of a sudden there's a lot of money around.

So, I'm gonna say there's about 8 billion more than we've had in the past.

That's why it's time really we can make a dent in property taxes, we can really change things but you know, it's Trenton, same old, same old.

Here we go.

- Well, let me ask you this.

Switching gears, we've had many conversations and you should check out our website.

You'll see it up on the screen, SteveAdubato.org, several interviews with the Senator who was previously in the lower house, now he is... And the assembly has 80 members, the Senate has 40 members.

The Senator is in the upper house now.

So he's been with us for years, different interviews.

And I keep asking the same thing I'm gonna ask you again, as you see the chyron on the screen Democracy at a Crossroads here's my question to you, to what degree is there any sense in Trenton first and then your sense in Washington any willingness and desire of Democrats and Republicans to actually work together and try to get things done on behalf of the people they serve, as opposed to making sure they do everything possible to beat the other party in the next election?

- Well, it's such a great question because I even listen to these cable stations where they scream at each other, right?

So it looks, every time I say anything good about Joe Biden or anything good against Murphy these Republicans, or let's say some of the crazy Republicans come out and scream at me.

So remember this, every time you do something that looks bipartisan, the wing of your party starts to criticize you.

I've never been afraid of that.

One of the biggest problems is the people in the middle that's 70% of people in New Jersey need to stick up for that kind of working together across the aisle.

Remember that the people in the middle don't get on the internet.

They don't get on social media.

They don't say that's a good idea.

It's normally the people who need psychiatric help from both wings of the party who criticize you.

So, it's a lot easier to stay in your corner but it's really bad for America.

Now in New Jersey, we get along pretty well, right?

At the federal government, it's a disaster.

And I hear it all the time.

And I think that's sad for democracy and I hope it changes, I can tell you that.

- Senator got a minute left, we're involved in an initiative called Reimagine Childcare for several years now, talking about the need, creating greater public awareness around affordability quality childcare, how high a priority is this for you and state government?

- I think it's high for everybody.

There's no denying that this is an important concept.

And I think you're gonna see bipartisan support for childcare and, you know making sure kids get a good start.

- So there's nothing partisan about quality and affordable childcare.

- I hope not.

- Yeah, we hope you are correct on that.

Senator John Bramnick I wanna thank you so much for joining us once again.

We appreciate it.

I'm Steve Adubato.

That's Senator Bramnick, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To watch more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're honored to be joined by State Senator Vin Gopal, a Democrat based in Monmouth County.

He is the Conference Chair of the Democratic Party in the Senate, and also the Chair of the Senate Education Committee.

Senator, great to have you with us.

- Thanks for having me, Steve.

- As we're doing this program, there's actually a piece in NJ.Com, Star-Ledger, I go old school, the print as well.

It's about mental health issues, a crisis of mental health for our children, and it's written by Adam Clark.

Check it out on NJ.Com.

You were just telling me before we got on the air that the Senate Education Committee just held a hearing on these, the mental health crisis with our kids.

Talk about it, Senator.

- Yeah.

We had a great hearing, over two hours.

Christine Beyer, Commissioner of Children and Family Services, Amy Kennedy of the Kennedy foundation, a lot of really good testimony.

It's a crisis right now.

Children over the last two years, have lost a lot of normalcy.

We don't know the damage it's going to do long term, and it's something that we need to collectively work, and fund and make sure that folks, especially those under the 18 have immediate access.

- Senator, let me follow up on, on a previous, follow up on this, in a previous interview I did with you, you talked candidly about some of your own challenges and struggles with mental health.

How important is it that public officials, prominent, successful public officials like yourself, talk openly about it so that we can can in fact, destigmatize mental health issues, particularly for our kids?

Senator.

- It's so important.

And I've spoken openly on the Senate floor about my own struggles with depression.

I think it's important for people to hear that you may have any challenge in life, and it's not your fault, whether it's depression or anxiety, sometimes people get alcoholism, substance abuse, and to get out of it takes a village, but the person that it has to start with is yourself.

So I tell students and I tell folks, I say, listen, I'm leading a very productive life.

I ran successfully for the state Senate twice, and I did that all while high having some mental health challenges.

So it's more common than we think.

We're seeing early studies in schools, and one out of every six kids are going to have some challenges, and we're not just talking about missing a prom or graduation, but not being in the classroom for a year.

Maybe seeing a sibling who had a different experience than you did.

These are going to have a compounding impact.

And we've seen a rise in substance abuse, and alcoholism and a lot of other things during the pandemic.

So it's important, but without a doubt, we got to break the stigma, especially in a lot of our immigrant communities where they don't want to talk about mental health.

That's a problem - What kind of reaction, I know there are a whole range of issues we could be talking about, and we'll do that in another segment, but I want to stay on this for a second.

Senator, what kind of reaction have you gotten from most of your colleagues, when you're so candid, talking about your own experience, and the need for, not just policy change, but greater public awareness and government action, helping those struggling with mental health issues, particularly our children, what kind of reaction have you gotten?

- Positive.

People come up, look, they're definitely a generational gap.

Governor Codey has spoken very candidly and openly about his family's challenges.

We've seen a lot of other folks who've, talking about alcoholism and other other challenges they've had, but I think it's important for people to have honest conversations.

It's no different than breaking an arm or a leg.

This is science.

You don't get depressed or anxious from something that's situational, that can, that can affect it, but it's chemical.

And I think that's important for people to understand, that it's nobody's fault, these things happen, just like any other medical challenge that any resident will face.

- Follow up on this.

You have in fact sponsored legislation that deals with telehealth.

It actually, help us understand what this does.

I believe it reimburses healthcare professionals around telehealth.

Connect that with the exact issue we're talking about right now, which is telehealth around behavioral and mental health issues.

People getting the help they need, in some cases, via telehealth.

Please Senator.

- Sure.

So this is extremely important.

Telemedicine really took off during the pandemic.

And so many mental health sessions, therapy sessions, are done through telemedicine.

Now, telemedicine may not make sense if you break an arm or break a leg, because a doctor might need to touch and feel.

That's not the case on mental health.

So we fought hard bipartisan bill to make sure insurance companies reimbursed on telemedicine services.

That was one piece.

The other thing we did Steve, last year, which I was proud, two things, is we expanded early intervention to all 21 counties.

The largest funding increase the legislature ever put in.

Which means if somebody has a mental health crisis, they get immediate access to a therapist, immediate access to a psychiatrist if they need it.

And the third thing we did, part of that package, was increase $5 million to the School Linked Service programs, which is actually beginning the process of creating and expanding mental health programs in our school district.

So we have a lot of work to do in the months and years ahead, but I think New Jersey has really made some incredible progress this past year.

- I disclose a whole range of things, particularly whether someone's an underwriter or not, or a relationship I have, but in the spirit of trying to be consistent with what you've done, and how the you've provided a great public service by talking about your own issues, in terms of telehealth, I would be less than candid if I did not share that seeing a therapist, largely in the last several years through telehealth, has been very helpful for me, and I know I'm not alone.

And so anything we can do, not just in government, but those in the media, to destigmatize some of the challenges that many of us face, it's our responsibility.

So shifting gears, help us on this.

In another segment, we're going to talk more about school funding, but I want to talk about an initiative at Monmouth University.

You and former state Senator Joseph Kyrillos he's a Republican, you're a Democrat.

You have come together with the folks at Monmouth University to do what?

And what does that have to do, as we put the graphic up, Democracy at a Crossroads, with more civil public discourse.

Senator Gopal.

- Sure.

And just really quick, Steve, that's incredible for you to be open and say that, and it's important for all of us in leadership positions, to say, because it's important for everyone to hear, and I think that's how, that's how we continue to improve so many lives here in New Jersey.

We've seen a rapid decline in civil discourse over the last several years from both political parties.

You go on Facebook and Twitter, people are fighting, they're yelling and screaming about masks, and vaccines and everything else and, look, I talked about this.

I go on governor Murphy's Facebook page, and people aren't criticizing him on his policies.

They're talking about his looks, they do this across.

Like they talk about his family.

I just don't know how we've gotten to such a less humane place, and I really blame that partially on social media, but also partially on just a breakdown of structure, things we wouldn't have done, unfortunately even 10 years ago.

So Senator Kyrillos is a former Republican State Chairman, incredible guy, Republican nominee for US Senate against Senator Menendez years ago, but really Republican, so as we came together and we said, listen, we have to make the civil discourse, and we have to show we can work together.

So we held our first session, Monmouth University, the Office of the President, Department of Political Science organized it.

We're going to do four a year.

We had hundreds of students tune in, we had Senate president Scutari, and Senate Republican leader Steve Oroho.

Basically have an incredible conversation, how they have passionate, strong fights and disagreements with each other, but they're always able to respect each other as human beings, where they come from, and never make it personal.

And I think that's what we need to bring society back.

So I really hope what Monmouth University is doing becomes a model for every college across the country.

- Senator, before I let you go, real quick.

We have an initiative called Reimagine Childcare talking about greater public awareness around affordability, quality and quality childcare.

Why is that such an important issue?

- It's incredibly important.

I mean, this is, we know the early stages of a child as far as every type of development, greatly impacts later in life, and all elements of a child, social and emotional wellbeing, physical health and everything else.

So this is obviously extremely important, and it's something that we need to continue to focus on.

And I know the last several governors have is really an early, early intervention, early support to make sure our child is successful.

- That is State Senator Vin Gopal, who is the Chair of the Senate Education Committee, and the Conference Chair in the Democratic Caucus, and the Senate.

Thank you, Senator.

- Thank you so much.

- Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To watch more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're now joined by Amy Keefe, who is Manager of Authorization and Family Services at the New Jersey Sharing Network.

Good to see you Amy.

- Good to see you too.

- We're gonna put up the website for the Sharing Network.

People who know us know that, for a long time, we've been involved in public awareness around organ and tissue donation.

That's what the Sharing Network is involved in.

Amy, your brother, Brad, tell us about Brad and how Brad's experience, Brad's situation impacted your commitment to this movement.

- So my brother was 32-year-old male, he got in into an accident in March of 2016.

He suffered a traumatic brain injury, there was no survival.

So, at that point, the New Jersey Sharing Network came into our lives.

They introduced themselves and explained to us, that my brother had registered to be an organ and tissue donor on his driver's license, and to save lives.

We didn't know it, but we weren't surprised being the the type of guy that he was, we knew that he would definitely wanna do something amazing in his last moments.

So having him, he donated his liver, kidneys, and tissue.

From there, me, I was working as a nurse, in the Emergency Department.

And I was doing a lot of volunteer work with the network at the time for our 5K.

And from there, I decided there was something different I needed to be doing.

We met the team from New Jersey Sharing Network when we were bedside with my brother in the hospital.

And they were by far, the most caring, amazing, supportive people, we had ever met.

And that resonated with me, and I felt that at that time, I needed to be part of this team because I felt like every family should have the opportunity that my family had, and that was to be part of something amazing, and to have the support of the Sharing Network for life, because that's what we do.

- Well, first of all, your brother, Brad, sounds like he was an extraordinary young man.

32 years of age, gave the gift of life to so many others.

What message, Amy, every time we've done a program, a segment, connected to organ and tissue donation, I ask this question, and obviously it's personal for you, but what is the message, as there are 110 if my math is wrong, they'll tell me, 110,000 Americans waiting for an organ between four and 5,000 I'm not sure what the number is in New Jersey, but it's too many.

What message would you wanna share with everyone right now, as they see the website, the website for the Sharing Network, what's the message, with so many people waiting for an organ?

- The message I have, and the things that I see out in the field, is talk to your family, let them know your wishes.

If saving lives and doing something amazing, being a hero in your last moments here on Earth, and there's so many people waiting and need organs.

And if this is something you'd wanna do, talk to your family.

You can register on our website, it's gonna be on the, for you to see, but you not only register, but you can also register with Donate Life America, and you can also just speak to your family.

If something was to happen to you, God forbid, your family would know what your wishes were, and it takes it off the plate, and it's a less decisions that they have to make.

- There are a disproportionate number, a higher number of people who are black and brown, who are, let's just say, things are not equal in terms of the need, and also, the response.

And this is the question, what is the message that you would have for people in minority communities for whom organ donation is a huge issue?

- So as far as, there's so much diversity in donation.

- That's right.

- Every single, everyone needs organs.

This isn't single to one specific group.

So what I would say to anyone, including the African-American community, there's a lot of hypertension, there's a lot of diabetes, there's a lot of kidney disease, and if you're thinking that, this might affect someone in your family, in your group, in your church, your community, register as a donor, because you never know, and you know what they say about "Karma," Steve.

- Yeah, I know what it is, but also real quick, but Amy on this, if I'm wrong again tell me, that organ donation is not based on color.

Meaning someone who happens to be Caucasian could say, 'cause on my license that's what it says, it doesn't matter who it goes to.

- No, it does not.

- It can help anyone.

No, I mean, my brother is, being Caucasian, I know his organs didn't necessarily go to someone who's Caucasian, we've had written correspondence with them.

This is what I do know.

I do know that they were able to walk their daughter down the aisle because my brother saved their life.

No matter what race, religion, or whatever it is, across the board, people are in need of organs.

- What did that mean to you and your family?

- I mean, we always knew that my brother saved lives, it wasn't too big of a thing for us to have to meet them necessarily, but when the recipients wrote us to thank us, for the gift that he gave, and to tell us that, one of them could fish with his grandson and the other one was able to walk his daughter down the aisle, those things just solidify the decision that my brother made.

And it definitely solidified the decision that I would make to be a donor from there.

- Amy Keefe, is Manager of Authorization and Family Services at New Jersey Sharing Network, one of our longtime underwriters and partners in the effort to create greater public awareness around organ and tissue donation.

Amy, thank you so much, like I said, an amazing brother who gave the gift of life to so many others, thanks, Amy.

- Thank you.

- I'm Steve Adubato, and more importantly, that is Amy Keefe, we'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato Is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

MD Advantage Insurance Company.

University Hospital.

PNC, Grow Up Great.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Johnson & Johnson.

NJM Insurance Group.

NJ Best, New Jersey'’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

IBEW Local 102.

And by these public spirited organizations, individuals and associations committed to informing New Jersey citizens about the important issues facing the Garden State.

And by Employers Association of New Jersey.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com, And by BestofNJ.com.

- New Jersey's early educators and childcare providers are more than twice as likely to live below the poverty line versus the general workforce.

Reimagine Childcare formed by a coalition in New Jersey is dedicated to improving accessibility, affordability and quality of childcare and re-imagining the way we support these essential providers.

Learn more by visiting ReimagineChildCare.org.