- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by NJM Insurance Group.

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[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi, I'm Steve Adubato, but way more importantly, it is my honor and pleasure to introduce a giant in the New Jersey State Legislature, and in the state of New Jersey.

Yeah, she's rolling her eyes but she is State Senator Loretta Weinberg, she's a Senate majority leader and how dare she, after nearly 30 years in the legislature, decide that she's stepping down and moving on to other things?

How are you, Senator?

- I'm doing well, thank you Steve.

Busy trying to finish up legislation that everybody's counting on me to get passed before I serve in whatever will be the final legislative session of the Senate.

It's really been a great run and I don't wanna say all those things that kind of sound trite but I can't imagine being in a position to lead a life that you actually can act on your passions, that you can actually change things and then bring you along a very adventuresome path, full of adventures, some good, some bad, but always challenging.

- And it's been great.

- Senator, I'm sorry- It's been great but I wanna push you a little bit.

What are you most proud of after nearly 3 decades in the state legislature?

- Well, that's a question that's been put before me before, but it's not something that I can pick out one thing.

I have a group of things other than my family, and as I said, the two perfections in my life, my two grandchildren.

But things like the 48-Hour Bill goes way back, where we required insurance companies to pay for, big deal, 48 hours of aftercare for new moms and their babies.

It really changed things when we were in a period of time of the so-called 'drive-through deliveries.'

Banning smoking indoors, that took 10 years.

I was the primary sponsor in the assembly and then became a co-prime when I moved into the Senate.

Issues around earned sick leave, family care, which gave people time to take care of their relatives who were sick or if there were new parents.

And I learned so much, just my own life, from being the daughter, taking care of the frail elderly mother, being later widowed but taking care of my husband, who did pass away of cancer and when I thought of that Family Leave Bill, I was in a period of life where, first of all, nobody questioned my ability to make healthcare decisions on his behalf, hence marriage equality.

Nobody questioned.

I didn't have to punch a time clock.

So nobody questioned my ability to be able to stay home in his last weeks of life.

So those were all the things that I'm most proud of and hope I contributed to.

- Well, it's not my job to say so as a broadcaster with public broadcasting but you'd be hard pressed.

Even those who have disagreed with some of your positions to say anything other than you've made and continue to make a meaningful contribution.

Senator, let me ask you this, you and I have had so many conversations over the years both on the air and privately, but I'm curious about something.

At a time when so many young people, younger people, let's say, turned off the government, people are polarized, divided, family members don't even talk to each other, friends have decided not to be friends, not to have dinner together, not to bring up certain topics, certain whatever, are you optimistic about our ability to move forward as a nation but more importantly, as a people, even if we disagree on the issues?

We're so polarized.

- I am an optimist about life in general, - That's why I asked you.

- and I have to say if I wasn't I wouldn't have been able to stay in this long, long range.

Yes, I am optimistic.

It's going to be difficult.

We're fresh off the prior national administration which played in such a negative way, played into our differences.

And I have in my own family, not me, because I love my cousin, even if she's a Trumper,(laughs) but I actually in my own family have people who don't talk to each other or blocked each other on Facebook due to these kind of political differences.

But I think as time gets a little more distant that we will definitely overcome that.

I think young people being involved in whether it's Black Lives Matter, gun safety issues, women's access to health care, all those things that bring us together it's gonna help and I am optimistic about the future.

I kidded about my grandchildren, but I look at them, they're teenagers so I look at their friends, I see what they write on social media and this is a new generation that I have a lot of confidence in.

- Senator, again, it often strikes me that I served one term in the legislature, was out quickly after two years, you've served and I always wondering what would it have been like to serve all those years?

But for you, it's a little bit different in this way, a woman in a male-dominated world, having significant influence, sitting at the bargaining table and bargaining.

Why are you looking like that?

Did I get that wrong?

- Because I get criticized for being at the bargaining table.

I get criticized coming - Go ahead.

from the more purist folks who are engaged in politics, but if I had to sum it up, I think of the phrase and it's really an art form; "How do you get along without always going along?"

So, there are really no textbooks written on that subject and that's what interchanges that I have with particularly many women's groups, young women I've spent a lot of time over the last year on Zoom doing these meetings with a whole variety of women's groups, certainly the center for American women in politics.

- At Rutgers at the Eagleton Institute- - But, you know if you want to get something done, you have to find the levers of power that enable you to get bills posted, that enable you to get 21 votes in the Senate and 41 votes in the assembly, that enable you to reach out to advocates to join in.

So it's not a business for purists.

It is a business to keep your eye on what your goals are, what it is you want to do, what you want to accomplish.

Is it a bill about reproductive, women's reproductive rights or any number, banning smoking?

Then you know what you have to do.

The banning smoking is a classic example.

We had to deal with the restaurant industry, we had to deal with the alcohol industry, who somehow, if you were banning smoking in a restaurant, that meant somebody wasn't gonna order a second glass of wine.

So that you had to reach out, make the best accommodations that you can make, if it was necessary, in order to get the votes.

Marriage equality, we went through domestic partnership, we went to civil unions.

I didn't wanna call it civil unions.

I wanted to call it marriage equality then but I had to call it civil union.

- Yeah and by the way, I wish we had more time with the Senator because I wanna mention two things; one, the work group on harassment, sexual assault and misogyny in New Jersey politics, she's leading that effort.

The other thing is this, way back in the day, Senator, as the sponsor, with some extraordinary people in Bergen County, if you remember, I co-sponsored the bill called the Gay Rights Bill, which was anti-discrimination legislation against those based on their sexual orientation for housing and employment in 1985, it was considered that'll never happen.

Seven years later, it did and it's not about me.

The point is about compromise and working things through.

Hey Senator, on behalf of everyone in the world of public broadcasting and media, just thank you for being accessible, available, speaking your mind and helping us understand better.

Thank you, Senator.

- Thank you Steve.

And thank you for running these kind of public affairs programs that help educate our public.

Thanks so much.

- Lot of work to do.

That's Senator Loretta Weinberg.

Thank you so much.

We'll be right back right after this.

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

- We are honored to be joined by the Mayor of Atlantic City, in New Jersey, Marty Small, Senior.

Mr. Mayor, great to have you with us.

- Yes.

Thanks for having me, Steve.

Thanks to your viewing audience.

It's a great day here in the city of Atlantic City.

- Let me ask you this.

As we tape on the 23rd of March, it'll be seen later, What makes these days, particularly with the challenges around COVID, so positive for Atlantic City and your leadership down there?

- Well, listen, we handled the pandemic.

We were extremely proactive from the beginning, calling for local testing sites, and we delivered for our residents.

We had a walk up at Showboat parking lot a drive through at Bader Field.

We fed 3,780 senior citizens two hot meals per week.

We had a field hospital here.

We have one of the mega vaccination sites and for the numbers to not even reach 4,000 with the great city of Atlantic City, being a tourist destination, it's a tribute to all that worked hard during this pandemic.

We're not out of the woods yet, and I'm wanting to continue to provide the leadership that's needed during these difficult times.

- Now Mr. Mayor, you talk about the resort city.

What do you believe the longer-term impact will be?

We're taping this program in spring and moves into the summer.

I know we can't predict and know what the restrictions will be, what the governor will do or not do, but, in terms of the casino industry, what impact do you believe it will have in the next several months?

- I believe as we continue to open up, the occupancy loans continue to increase, I believe that Atlantic city is going to soar.

You saw it last summer when I made the decision, when everyone around us were closing, to close that beach and boardwalk, we stayed open.

And I believe that that was a benefit when things opened up.

We're at 50% right now with the casinos.

Simple mathematics says that the economy is on the way back because now you're going to need at least double the amount of jobs.

And I think that through this summer, through the late spring and summer, you want to see things hopefully back to an old sense of normalcy.

And as I stated, we're coming back with a vengeance.

- And, and giving people, Mayor Small, a sense of confidence that they are safe.

Listen, the vaccine distribution, we hope and pray it continues to go well, but we don't know what the variants, we don't know what's going to happen, but what is the message you want to deliver to folks about how safe it is to be in Atlantic City particularly not just on the, your wonderful boardwalk, but in those casinos?

- Well, as Dr. Fauci often stated, the virus is the timeline.

We will not be irresponsible?

I was quoted last year on another news network saying that all money isn't good money.

As mayor, I'm responsible for the health, safety, and welfare of the good people of Atlantic city, and we're not going to make any crazy decisions.

We're not going to govern on feelings and emotion.

We're going to be guided by our health experts and the data that's presented.

Though some states, some states' cases are rising with the multiple variants out there, but here at our center, we're vaccinating over 4,000 people a day, and hopefully that continues to climb.

We want to get as many shots in people arms, as we possibly can, to let the world know that when you do come to the great Atlantic City to the great city of Atlantic City, that you want to be safe and secure, and people want to maintain a social distance and wear their masks.

- Mayor, the communities outside of Atlantic city, there's been lots of talk and news coverage over the years about the tale, if you will, it sounds like a cliche, of two Atlantic cities, the lights, the glimmering, if you will, the shimmering, if you will, of the casinos and the communities outside.

What is the employment situation in Atlantic City as we speak right now, particularly as it's been impacted by COVID outside of the casinos?

- Yes.

You know, unemployment numbers have skyrocketed.

As you know, we can't often rely on casinos anymore because of the neighboring competition, but the casinos are our biggest employer, and you can't have a hundred percent of the people employed when, just before last Friday, you had 25% of the people allowed to occupy the space.

So that's going to shift private jobs opening up here at the city of Atlantic City.

We're hiring a job placement coordinator.

We're working with the Lieutenant governor, Sheila Oliver, on the Atlantic City Restart and Recovery Committee, the casinos, right at the perfect time as we gear up for the season, 50% occupancy as we speak, hopefully by Memorial day is 75%.

That's going to be by the numbers, but here in the city of Atlantic City, we're going to continue our agenda.

One thing we've learned that we have to create pandemic proof industries.

So we have a small business academy to promote entrepreneurs.

We have a real estate cohort where 15 Atlantic City residents are learning real estate.

And by the end of the month, if they pass the test, that we'll do that, we're going to teach the community how to invest.

We want to grow with the times.

This is a new way.

COVID has told everyone to get creative.

And not only will we focus in on bringing jobs back, but we first, we are, we focusing on creating entrepreneurs to give people more options.

- In the minute we have left, the role of the state and being supportive of Atlantic City is... finish that sentence, Mr. Mayor, sentence, please.

- So goes Atlantic City, so goes the state.

The state of New Jersey is committed to the great city of Atlantic City.

We have a tremendous partnership with Trenton.

Things are getting done.

We're still an investor confidence here in the great city of Atlantic city.

And I'm just thrilled to be the mayor during this great time because, as we often say, tough times don't last, tough people do.

The city of Atlantic City has been counted out time and time again.

They counted us out in 2012, with Hurricane Sandy.

They counted us out in 14 when five casinos closed.

They counted us out in 16 when we were teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, and the state came in and take over, but those days are long gone.

Now, Atlantic city is fiscally sound.

Standard & Poor's and Moody's have upgraded the city two years, two consecutive years.

And for the second year in a row, we're delivering the good people of Atlantic City a tax decrease.

Now that's leadership.

- Well, I'll tell you what, if enthusiasm and passion has anything to do with leadership, you are all there.

Mr. Mayor, Marty Small, Senior, by the way, at 29, the youngest member sworn in to be a member of the city council back in the day, which I can't believe I'm saying, it's not that long ago.

Hey, Mr. Mayor, thank you so much.

You honor us by being with us.

Best to you and everyone down in Atlantic city.

Hope to see you soon.

- Thank you.

You got it, I'm Steve Adubato.

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 the commissioner of the New Jersey department of banking and insurance.

Commissioner, Marlene Caride.

commissioner thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you for having me.

- Commissioner we're taping on the 23rd of March end of the month but I want to clarify this because it's so important and things are changing quickly.

The Get Covered, NJ initiative, A, what is it?

B, how long has it been extended?

And could it be extended again because of the realities and challenges around COVID?

Loaded question I know.

- No, but it's a fair question.

So Get Covered New Jersey is the state's official health insurance marketplace and we had our grand opening, so to speak of the marketplace on November 1st of 2020.

And that is where residents in the state of New Jersey, that do not have health insurance, purchase health insurance.

Prior to November 1st of 2020, New Jerseyans were buying health insurance by way of the federal marketplace - Commissioner, could you hold it right there, I'm gonna ask our team to put the website up as you speak, because we wanna be involved in help in terms of public awareness.

What is the website?

We'll put it up and you can keep talking.

What is it?

- Yes, it's GetCovered.NJ.Gov.

- One more time.

- GetCovered.NJ.Gov.

- Got it.

Pick it up from there.

So the federal, they were going on the federal exchange and what happened.

- So we were prior to November 1st of 2020, New Jerseyans could buy, would purchase health insurance on the federal platform.

Thanks to Governor Murphy and our legislators, we changed the law here in New Jersey and we opened up our own state-based health exchange.

Reason being we could use the money that we were sending to Washington that was not being properly used for New Jerseyans, to benefit New Jerseyans and we were able to tailor our exchange to the needs of our residents.

In other words, we went from a six week window to purchase insurance to three full months.

We opened our exchange on November 1st of 2020 and the last day of the exchange of the open enrollment period was January 31st of 2021.

- Right.

- One of the great things about having your own state-based exchange, you could address the needs of the residents.

- Sure.

- We have this pandemic and prior to us having our exchange, Governor Murphy reached out to the previous president, President Trump and asked that the federal exchange be open, so that our residents who were losing jobs and losing their healthcare insurance could purchase.

The federal government refused.

Now with our exchange, we have extended open enrollment under a special open enrollment period for COVID-19 through May 15th of this year, 2021.

- So Commissioner, is it fair to say that health insurance, I mean so many people will receive health insurance through their employer.

So many employers are having financial, serious financial problems around COVID and the impact of COVID.

So that means potentially more and more people are losing their health insurance which makes Get Covered NJ that much more important.

So here's the loaded question.

Do you have A, the ability to extend-extend or is it, that's it May 15th it cuts off.

- As I mentioned before, the fact that we have our own state-based exchange, means that we can based on what is going on in the circumstances in our state, either extend or close the open enrollment.

At this point we are opening, the open enrollment has been extended to May 15th.

We will then review the circumstances and then move forward from there and we can extend it.

Now also, we have the rescue plan that was approved by the federal government - The $1.8 trillion rescue plan.

What is the connection between that Commissioner and the situation regarding health insurance?

- Well, the connection is that there's going to be more federal aid available.

So for example, with our state-based exchange not only were our residents able to get the federal credits that would normally go to them if they qualify for federal assistance.

But here in New Jersey we were able to launch a state subsidy program.

So (mute) the federal credits, New Jerseyans that qualified we're able to get New Jersey state subsidies.

So eight in 10 individuals receive financial assistance which lowered their premium.

Now add the rescue plan to this and you're gonna have more aid on top of that.

And folks that before didn't qualify for financial aid may very well qualify this time around with this federal additional aid to lower their premiums.

And that is the goal of the state-based exchange to lower their premiums - By the way, another few seconds on this.

And if I can ask our team to just keep the Get Covered NJ website up as I ask one more question of the commissioner.

what has been the response to date toward the end of March?

Again, this will be seen later what has been the response to that public awareness campaign.

And I've seen it everywhere and I think our partners in public broadcasting have done a great job in getting it out there as well.

Go ahead, commissioner.

- Thank you.

And we've worked hard to make sure we got our message out there.

I'm very happy with the open enrollment that we had this year.

We have been able to enroll over 270,000 individuals in the open enrollment period between November of 2020 and January 31st.

That's more than we enrolled in the last two years.

We don't have the full data since we've extended it but I expect that we will have added more to those 270,000 individuals who had enrolled.

- Okay in the time we have left, you're the commissioner regulating banking and insurance.

On the banking side and we have a whole range of banking executives come on and talk about their industry and more importantly their impact on consumers.

What is the most pressing issue in your view as it relates to the banking community and the community that it serves.

- So if we're going to look at what is the most pressing with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.

-Yes, yes.

- We are looking at and we've worked, we've had great partners in our banks, our state chartered banks and even our federal banks that I do not regulate.

We've worked with them for the mortgage for Barron's allowing folks to have some breathing room.

With regards to the student loans program allowing them to have some forbearance to have breathing room.

And we're working with them just to make sure that our residents continue to be able to meet their burdens.

But at the same time, not have to worry that they're going to lose their homes because they didn't make a payment or wind up in collections because they didn't pay their student loans.

So we're working with the banks and they've been wonderful to work with, helping our New Jersey residents.

- Clearly the commissioner has a very significant portfolio impacting millions and millions of New Jersey residents.

Commissioner Marlene Caride, who is the head of the department of banking insurance.

Commissioner I wanna thank you so much for joining us wish you and your team all the best.

- Thank you for having me, have a wonderful day.

- You too.

I'm Steve Adubato.

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 NJM Insurance Group.

Englewood Health.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Education Association.

Rowan University.

Operating Engineers, local 825.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Fedway Associates, Inc. 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 Meadowlands Chamber.

And by NJBIZ.

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