- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by Hackensack Meridian Health.

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

We kick off the show with someone we're honored to have, once again.

she's United States Congresswoman, Mikie Sherrill representing the 11th congressional district.

Congresswoman, great to have you with us.

- Great to be here.

Thanks for having me.

- We are taping on the 16th of November, it'll be seen a little bit later.

First of all, in advance, happy Thanksgiving.

(indistinct) The President says in this bill signing of this $1 trillion infrastructure deal, right, America is moving again, be specific and precise.

What does, hate to be so crass, what does New Jersey get out of this?

- That's what I'm always asking.

It's not crass at all.

I, I think that's a really fair question, Steve, because as you know, New Jersey gives more and generally gets less from the federal government than any state in the nation.

We tied for the bottom with New York usually.

And so to ask, what are we getting from this, I think is an incredibly fair question.

And the answer is for once a really great answer, almost more than any other region in the nation.

- Name a couple of projects.

- Yeah, I would love to.

And the first project I'm going to name, because I've been incessantly fighting for this for a couple of years now is the Gateway Tunnel project.

This is the nation's biggest infrastructure investment.

Most significant project will impact the most amount of people.

Many of them right here in New Jersey, that is a critical investment.

We are also going to invest in remediating our lead pipes, which we've been working on.

We have some of the oldest water infrastructure in the nation.

We want to make sure that everybody in the district gets access to clean, safe, drinking water.

We're also going to invest in remediating PFAS because that is a contaminant leftover by many of our Superfund sites.

As you know, we have more Superfund sites in New Jersey than anywhere else in the nation.

So we want to remediate that.

And then we also are investing in an electric car charging grid across the state, which again, our biggest carbon emitter are our cars.

So doing that in our state will have immediate ramifications for our clean environment.

- Real quick on childcare, we've talked to you about this many times, we were involved in an initiative called Reimagine Childcare, any money in this or the other legislation for childcare from the feds.

- Yeah.

So this was a, the infrastructure bill, which was just signed into law today that I just described.

That was an incredibly exciting moment.

As we got the Gateway Tunnel project finally signed into law.

The, we are also working on another bill, which I have been focused on.

What are some of the greatest economic impacts we can have on North Jersey.

And so of course, for me as a mother of four and a resident of New Jersey, that's SALT and that's childcare and- - State and local tax deduction capped at 10 grand.

- Lifting that, that is, that has been something that has impacted too many of my families, has made the cost of living already a difficult barrier to entry for too many families, even higher.

So remediating SALT, making sure we're getting rid of that cap, which I'd been working incredibly hard on.

And I think, you know, we've got to fix that we're ready to put forth for this second bill, but also childcare because as you know, from your work in this area and looking at the jobs numbers, I'll tell you, I go to my small businesses all the time and what I hear again and again, and again is they are having workforce shortages.

And one of the largest groups of people that are not re-entering our workforce are our parents, too many times our moms who just don't have access to the childcare that they need at an affordable price.

And believe me as a working mom in New Jersey of four kids, it is a struggle.

It was a struggle before the pandemic.

And now we're looking at five children for every one spot in childcare in New Jersey.

- A very direct connection between childcare, adequate accessible, affordable childcare, quality childcare, and the economy.

Let me ask you real quick.

Can I get a number on this?

Do you have a sense of what the, if in fact, the state and local tax deduction cap currently at $10,000.

President Trump at the time said, that's what it should be.

Certain states, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, real coincidence.

I imagine got hurt real bad on that.

Not sure the reasons for it.

What do you think the number will be now?

If it's not 10 grand?

- You know, I think it will be around 80 grand, which will cover just about everyone in the district.

And this is something that I have been constantly fighting for.

It's something that Bernie Sanders has taken out of the legislation again and again, and myself and Josh Gottheimer, Tom Swazi of Long Island have added it back again and again and again.

- So listen, I'm going to do veteran's affairs with you because you're a veteran and thank you most importantly for your service.

And I will go back to that in a second, but I want to ask you this every time you're with us, I ask you this.

Why did it take so long for the Democrats who control the United States Senate, the House of Representatives and the White House to get any of this done.

And it's all not done yet.

A and B, how devastating was that in the November 2nd election for Democrats in Virginia, New Jersey, and in other places who were having to explain why the Democrats in Washington couldn't get anything done that matter.

It's a loaded question.

I know, but it's pretty embarrassing in the eyes of many.

- So Steve, I would be lying if I didn't say that I had been incredibly frustrated over the past several months at the path leading to this, I will say however, that if you take a step back and think about the fact that we have just passed the largest investment in our infrastructure in generations and that we did so in one of the most hardest times our nation has seen in my lifetime and that we did so with a very slim majority, and that we did so in a bipartisan way, I, I mean, I, I have to tell you that people in my district want Washington to work.

They want us to come together on these investments for the American people.

And it has been tricky to carry that out.

Cause that's what I committed to.

I said, look, when you got on my helicopter, nobody was asking if you were Democrat or Republican, right.

That was not how - - Hold on, you mean your helicopter when you served in the military.

- Exactly- - You didn't mean private helicopter.

(Laughing) - Oh, I wish I would get to Washington a lot faster.

- Just want to clarify.

- I love Acela.

I love the trains, but-- - But now Amtrak is getting credit.

Amtrak got money in this as well.

Go ahead.

- Yes.

Amtrak did very well in this, which is going to be great for New Jersey.

But, but this was a commitment I made, you know, making sure that I'm working across the aisle to get to deliver for New Jersey.

And we did that.

I just sat at the signing ceremony yesterday at the White House with Republicans, with infrastructure officials, with union members to pass the largest investment in our nation's infrastructure, because I have heard again and again and again, Mikie, what's going on.

Our nation led the world in infrastructure, and now it's an embarrassment that will no longer be the case for future generations.

- You run in 2022, the mood of the electorate, listen, we don't do polls.

We're not interested so much in horse race stuff, but right now, every poll I've seen shows that if the election were held today that the Republicans hold a significant advantage, approximately 10 percentage points in terms of wanting to vote Republican versus Democrat in general, in congressional races.

Does that matter to A and B, do you basically believe that all congressional districts come down to the district, the candidate, the incumbent and the politics at the time?

- Well, that would be a little bit naive to think that it's just, you know, if you just deliver and you're just running a good race, then you know, everything else will solve itself.

But that's what, to a large extent you have to do as a candidate, because there are things that I can control and things I can't, but the one thing I've committed to, and that I have kept as my north star is how can I fulfill my commitments to New Jersey?

How can I deliver for our district?

How can I make the lives better of people in our district?

And you sort of alluded to this, people are going through tough times.

You know, I, I have to tell you as a parent, it was devastating to have our children go through in their formative years and some of their most vulnerable years, the past couple of years of COVID and really watching them then get back.

And it's not like it just turns on a dime.

It's not that we suddenly get our kids back to in-person school and they're back on the honor roll and their mental health is great and they're, you know, engage with their friends.

Again, it's a process and we're in that now.

And it's my job to make sure that I am addressing all of the speed bumps in the road for my families, making sure that they have access to mental health care, making sure that they have childcare's.

They're trying to get back to work, making sure that as they go back to work their commute easier so they can spend more time with their families.

These are the things that I am focused on and you know, these are the things I told my district I would do.

These are the things I'm working on, and these are the things I'm proud to say.

I'm now delivering for the district.

- Congresswoman give us a minute or less on the veterans affairs initiatives that are so important to you.

And by the way, tell everyone specifically what your service was.

- Sure.

So I served, I went to the Naval Academy and then served almost 10 years as a Navy helicopter pilot and a Russian policy officer.

And I'll tell you, I just had, as, as a member of the house armed services committee, I just had the real honor of going to Qatar, which was the country that was most important to our Afghanistan evacuation.

- Hold on, before you go any further, you understand military logistics.

Was the Afghanistan withdrawal a debacle or something less?

- There were many, many issues with our withdrawal from Afghanistan and on the house armed services committee, we are committed to taking a holistic look at Afghanistan.

How did we get into it?

How did we prosecute that war?

How did we get out of it and where the bolts were and where the problems were because that's critically important to going forward and making sure our military never repeats past mistakes.

- Great.

Go back to your service again.

I'm sorry.

I interrupted.

- No so I was just in Qatar and I met with our troops and I'd have to tell you that it was right before veteran's day.

And of course on veterans day, we thank our troops.

We have a Thanksgiving holiday card writing event for our veterans to thank them.

We're always thanking our troops, but often times when we think of that, we're thinking of their service in battle.

We're thinking of our combat veterans.

We're thinking of those who've died in battle.

We're not always remembering the day to day sacrifice of our veterans.

And I can tell you, I saw it on full display in Qatar.

I saw men and women who were apart from their families for over a year while there is a, a lovely city in Qatar where our base is not in that city.

It is in an area of desert, just cracked earth desert.

There's an airstrip and a bunch of buildings and not much else.

And our men and women are serving they're away from their families for over a year.

And I couldn't have been more proud of their professionalism, their compassion, because they were helping the Afghan refugees through an incredibly tough time.

They were waiting there for the final determination of their status.

Thoughtful, compassionate, proud of their work despite the hardships.

And as we say in the military, you know, when a member serves their whole family serves.

So not only are those those service members serving in Qatar but their family members are going through holidays and Thanksgiving and Christmas alone.

So it's really a heavy lift for these men and women, but I could not have been more proud of them.

- Let me ask you something.

Article in, I still read newspapers.

Talk about old school.

I'm reading an article on the associated press by Jill Colvin, C O L V I N. Check it out.

Republican leaders say little to condemn rhetoric laced with violence.

Look, I don't care what your politics are.

That's everyone's business.

But Congressman Paul Gosar of Arizona.

He put out a meme, a doctored meme.

You know what it was, it was a, a cartoon where he was shown a murdering, a Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez.

Says come on it's a cartoon.

What are you making a big deal about this for.

How concerned are you particularly given your military service?

And you're fighting for a representative democracy.

There's a question here, I promise.

How concerned are you about post January 6th political violence?

Including members of the New Jersey congressional delegation who voted Republicans who voted for this infrastructure bill who many others, Republicans are saying, you are traitors.

You did a horrible thing.

You were not with us.

You were with Biden.

There are members of Congress not running for Congress because they're afraid for their families.

Am I making too much of this?

- No, I, I think, you know, I was on the floor of the house when it was attacked.

I was face down-- - On January 6th.

- On January 6th.

with my cell phone in one hand and a gas mask in the other as angry crowds tried to break down the door of the house chamber to attack members of Congress.

As we were performing our constitutional duty.

I never in my life thought I would be in the Capitol as it was attacked by other Americans.

I could not have contemplated that even several years ago.

And so I am concerned about the, the incitement to violence of our electorate.

I am concerned-- - Including members of Congress threatening other members of Congress.

- I am concerned that that that is seen by too many people in this country is somehow okay or appropriate.

And I'm concerned not just for our democracy.

I'm concerned about our children and the message this sends to them.

And that is why, you know, I remind people again and again and again that every single one of us has taken an oath to our constitution.

That means we believe in the values of this democracy and we are committed to upholding them.

And if you cannot fulfill that, then you have no place in the United States House of Representatives or really anywhere in the government of the United States.

- That is United States Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, from the 11th congressional district.

I want to thank you once again for joining us.

We appreciate your thoughts and your candor, and we look forward to future discussions.

Thank you, Congresswoman.

- Thanks for having me.

- 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 honored to be joined by State Senator Steve Oroho.

As we do this program at the end of 2021, he's about to become the Senate minority leader in the upper house of the state senate.

Congratulations, Senator.

- Well, Steve, thank you very much.

Glad to be here.

- How many years you've been in the legislature, by the way?

- This is actually my 14th year.

- 14th, I was in for two very short unimpressive years.

I just wanna clarify that.

(Steven chuckles) That's got nothing to do with anything, I'm sorry.

(Steve laughing) - You doing good stuff now.

- Yeah, all good, hey listen, biggest message from November 2nd, 2021 election.

Biggest message you take away from it, and voters should take away from it.

- Well, Steve, I think what voters said loud and clear is that they were tired of being told what they could and can't do, for now going on 20 months.

And I think it was basically, keep your hands off my children, and keep your hands out of my pocket.

- Okay, so the tax issue is one thing.

The governor did say in an ad that Jack Ciattarelli ran more than a few times.

If taxes is your issue, New Jersey is probably not your state, but hands off the children, I wanna clarify this.

So you're saying that even though there are vaccines that are mandated for virtually for every child that go to kindergarten, that a vaccine for COVID that the government is overstepping, I'm confused here.

- Well no, no- - There isn't a mandate.

- No, there's no, listen, because I'm vaccinated.

I do believe in personal, the personal choice of the vaccine.

Quite frankly, I think people don't trust government, Steve, you know that, people just don't trust government.

We'd probably have better vaccination rates, they're going up.

We'd probably have better vaccination rates if we're providing education piece and government wasn't mandating 'cause let's face it, people just don't trust government for a number of reasons.

- Do they trust science?

- I would hope, you know, listen Steve, the idea of science people have to be educated to it.

I think most people do trust the science.

I think most people are very thankful that we had very smart people who came up with a vaccine very quickly, came up with testing, came up with a vaccine very quickly, but also let's face it, it's only been a matter of, when you look at it in time, months that the vaccine has been out there.

So it's gonna take a little time for people to get, you know, some people get comfortable with it.

And now the vaccination rates obviously are going up.

Now children, you know, five, I think it's five and older can get a vaccine.

- Five to 11 right.

- Yeah, so I think more and more people are seeing that it is successful.

The scientists knew it was successful.

I have scientists in my family and quite frankly, they got us comfortable with it.

The kind of testing that had to be done.

So I do think that as science tells people, as doctors tell people what they need to do, I think that's a lot more effective than government saying, you got to do this.

- Senator let's do this economic issues.

Describe the Governor Murphy's relationship as you believe it will play out with the state legislature, particularly around fiscal issues in his second term.

- Well, hopefully that the governor got the message that people want reforms to be done.

I know you know I worked on the path to progress to have the reforms done.

You know I've been very- - You mean fiscal reforms on the state so that we get our fiscal house in order.

- Correct, I've been talking about New Jersey needing to be more competitive in every year since I've been down in legislature.

- So I'm gonna be clear here.

In the governor's second term, there are a whole range of issues that are important, but one of them, and I'm gonna disclose this, we've been talking about childcare for a long time, and we have a series called Reimagine Childcare.

Let me ask you this question, Senator, do you believe there's a direct link between adequate affordable childcare and government subsidy supporting that and an economic recovery?

- Yeah, as far as the subsidies for it.

Also I do believe that childcare is a truly important.

I do believe that there's obviously a private industry that that's out there.

Some people need some help in order to do it.

I've been supportive of childcare credits with respect to, for the taxes including- - Tax credits.

- Tax credits, including refundable credits.

So yeah, I have been supportive of that.

I am supportive of just like I was one of the sponsors to help increase the earned income tax credit.

I do believe- - Yes you did.

- Go ahead.

- No, no, you did.

Go ahead, I'm sorry for interrupting.

- I do believe in the idea of helping people to work, whether it be through childcare tax credits, whether it be through earned income tax credits, that sort of thing.

I do believe rewarding work is the way we should go.

- Yup, senator, I've asked everyone about this because I have this obsession about protecting our democracy and I'm not the only one, but I believe we in the media have an important role.

January 6th was an important event that insurrection at the Capitol around that, and the so-called big lie around the 2020 election.

A, some of your thoughts about January 6th and B, you never bought into the big lie, did you?

That Joe Biden did not win that election?

- No, the idea that, listen, the idea that we have to have voter integrity, I've been sponsors of bill for voter integrity.

I do think that too many rules would change.

And obviously we were doing it during a pandemic.

But my biggest issue was this, Steve, was, is if you could go to a grocery store, you'd go to the drugs store, you could go to a bar or a restaurant, but you couldn't go and vote in-person type of thing.

And I had a real issue with that.

And I do think there are things that we need to do to make sure that our voting rules are cleaned, that only eligible people are there to vote.

And I do think that that's important.

However, at the same time, so many rules had changed and therefore people didn't trust what government was doing for a whole host of reasons.

Now, I believe that we have to, as Republicans, whatever the rules of the game are, we have to play by the rules and we have to educate our voters as many of our counties did, it's last election and people got comfortable we were more comfortable with the mail-in ballots or the in-person voting.

And we have to make sure that they're educated and comfortable with that.

And that's our responsibility.

- In the time we have, Jack Ciattarelli made sure that Donald Trump did not come in and campaign for him for governor.

Did that matter in the outcome, because Trump is not particularly popular in New Jersey?

- No, what I do think mattered very much in the election was all the executive orders and all the mandates.

Here, right here in New Jersey that people- - You mean Murphy, Governor Murphy's executive orders?

- Correct, and I do think that if the legislature and you know twice I stood up on the Senate floor to take away some of the governor's powers, not only this governor, any governor to keep extending the executive orders.

The majority party, the Democrat Party tabled each one, they tabled it when Senator Testa did it, they tabled it when Senator Doherty did it, they tabled it when Senator Pennacchio did it.

And I think if they had actually taken some of those limitations and passed it in the Senate, You know, some of the results may have been different.

- You believe that the outcome would've been different if that discussion would have gone forward.

- Well, I do think quite frankly, people are sick and tired of just one individual for 20 months having this kind of power.

- Even in a crisis Senator?

Even in a crisis like this?

- Of course it was it great, but Steve, look how uneven it was throughout the whole state.

You had South Jersey and North up by me, in North Jersey was considerably different than it was another parts of the state.

- You mean the COVID rates, the COVID rates were different every part of this, yeah.

- Absolutely.

And, listen, everybody likes the whole idea of being, I come from a very beautiful section of the state where going outside and being socially distant is something we do every day.

- I wanna thank Senator Steve Oroho and congratulate him for becoming the new Republican leader in the State Senate New Jersey.

Steve, all the best to you, Senator all the best to you and your family.

- Thanks, Steve, same to you.

Thank you.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, see you next time.

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

Funding has been provided by Hackensack Meridian Health.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

The Turrell Fund, supporting Reimagine Childcare.

PSE&G.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, Clean Energy program.

Operating Engineers, local 825.

Choose New Jersey.

IBEW Local 102.

Eastern Atlantic States Regional Council of Carpenters.

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 New Jersey Globe.

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