[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC STING] - He's back, yes, by popular demand.

State Senator Paul Sarlo, deputy majority leader and chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.

Good to see you, senator.

- It's always great to be back with you Steven.

- What's that logo you're wearing?

What's the logo on the?

- New Jersey Senate?

It's my New Jersey Senate pullover.

It's a good for a Wednesday casual fall day.

- Love it.

We are taping about a week or so after the presidential congressional election.

Hey listen, Paul, we'll do political prognostication, some other program.

But real quick, what the heck did the Democrats get wrong?

You represent a working class, middle class district.

I would argue they went for Donald Trump.

What went wrong for the Democrats, senator?

- I think what went wrong, and I think it's proven out now as you look at the results across the country, but if you take a deeper dive into New Jersey, let's also be realistic here.

The Harris campaign and the Democratic National Committee did not do any campaigning in New Jersey and spend any money.

So putting that aside, I believe the Donald Trump and the Republican Party framed certain issues that scared everyday Americans and working class people.

They focused in on the borders and illegal immigration.

They focused in on some of these woke issues, which only pertains to and placate to a very, very, very, very small minority of the population.

And the Democratic Party did nothing to defend themselves on the fact that the economy is not as bad as you think it is.

Gas prices are much lower than they were when Joe Biden took office.

Stock Market had a pretty good run these last four years, but the Democratic Party did nothing to defend that.

We allowed them to define us, and I think we need to move back to the middle.

That's where I am.

We need to be practical.

We need to be moderate, we need to be main stream.

We need to deal with affordability issues, pocketbook issues, and get back to the basics.

And that's what the Democratic Party needs to, that's what I'm all about.

We can't get caught up on some of these really, really left, woke issues.

Let's get back to the basics.

- Senator I wanna go into this deeper but I... Give me a minute on this stance.

- And you agree with me?

I know you agree with me.

- It's not a question whether I agree with you or not.

My job is to not express my views here as an interviewer.

But I will say this, you keep calling them little, little small, the woke issue.

Woke issues like what?

What are you talking about diversity, equity, inclusion?

Are you talking about pronouns and the transgender community?

What are we talking about in particular?

Because on one hand, the Democrats stand for protecting all people's rights, but where did that go wrong so that it's a tiny fraction of the party and it's too far left?

- We didn't do enough.

We didn't do enough to talk about the economy.

While defending those folks, right, and defending some of those folks, we allow Donald Trump and others to define us as defund the police.

That we've only cared about the transgender community.

We did not give our opportunity to talk about what we stand for.

That we do stand for freedoms.

We do stand for a woman's right to choose, and we do-- - Hold on, senator, why is so hard for so many of your colleagues?

And again, it's not a meat and potatoes economic issue.

But when asked the question, should men who or people who are previously men or born as a man who transitions to be a woman, that they should not compete in women's sports?

Why is that a controversial issue that so many of your democratic colleagues couldn't give a straight answer to?

No, we should protect women in sports and women should compete against women.

That is some radical position.

- Democratic party failed miserably.

It's very simple, right.

Males should not be participating in women's sports, whether it's at the rec level, the high school level, or the collegiate level, period at the end.

- All right.

But I will say this, some of your colleagues on the far, the more progressive wing of the party are not only uncomfortable saying that.

They will not say that.

That being said, people can decide for themselves, but moving forward, I'm -- - I'm not afraid to say it.

I feel strongly about that, and I think if we just talked a little bit more straight up, have a little more practical and common sense, we could have did much better at the polls.

Hey, elections have consequences.

- Yep.

And by the way, Paul Sarlo, beyond being a senator, has been involved in youth sports' his entire adult life, particularly baseball.

That being said, Stay NJ program tax relief program.

First of all, what is it and if it's so great, why is it not taking effect until 2026?

- It's a program that had to get ramped up to raise the revenue to actually pay for it.

We just went in this recently and had cleaned it up a little bit on some of the processes associated with it.

Ultimately, this governor is gonna need to take a hard look in the next budget on taking a look at State New Jersey and Anchor.

Do we combine them in one form?

Do we look at the age limits?

There's an argument that could be-- - The Anchor program, the Anchor property tax program, and the Stay NJ program.

You're saying there may not-- - Those two programs right now, you have two major programs.

Anchor has shown some success, Stay New Jersey's about to kick in next year, and it's ramped up.

There's some monies put aside, but the question will be is can this economy sustain it over the long period of time?

Do we have the revenue sustain it?

And that's gonna be the decisions that this governor in his final budget year is gonna have to make to the legislature.

I'm looking forward to it.

As the longest serving budget chair, senate budget, and appropriations chairman of the state.

I think this is gonna be one of the, our biggest issues that we're gonna have to deal with.

- Senator, you've been a long time advocate of supporting "End of life issues, palliative care."

Why the commitment to this issue, A and B?

What is the state's role in this regard?

- Listen, everybody deserves at the end of their life to have a compassionate end of life.

And I think places like Holy Name and others around the state are doing a really good job of stepping up on the palliative care and end-of-life issues.

And the state has as well.

We started to fund some of these programs to get people the comfort that they need at the end of their life to be there with their loved ones.

In the comfort of a quiet zone, a quiet setting, and be able to do it in such a manner with dignity and grace.

- Last question on school funding.

How screwed up is the state school funding formula state sending dollars to local communities A and B?

If it is, what needs to be done to improve, if not, fix it?

Please senator minute.

- Well, listen, I actually respectfully disagree with some of those folks.

I think we've done a good job in the state of fixing the school funding formula.

We are in the last year of it.

This governor, unlike many governors from both parties in the past, has fully funded the school funding formula.

That school funding formula now is up.

And there are some areas that we need to take a look at and make some modifications, especially in the areas where populations have decreased.

Take Toms River, they've been talking about the large loss of dollars.

They've also had a population decrease in their schools.

They have four high schools.

So we need to take a closer look at some of those communities and towns that have suffered under the school funding formula.

It's about a hundred.

It's only about a little over a hundred in all of our school districts.

- Senator Paul Sarlo.

By the way, next time we have the Senator back, we'll talk about a range of other issues including childcare, affordable, accessible, quality childcare.

Senator Paul Sarlo, deputy majority leader.

That means the Democratic Party and the Senate.

And also chair of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee for seven years.

Longest serving chair.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Appreciate it.

- Good to see you.

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

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