- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Working to create a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Keep getting better.

Newark Board of Education.

Seton Hall University.

Inspiring great minds to greater purpose since 1856.

EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

And by Johnson & Johnson.

Promotional support provided by CIANJ, and Commerce Magazine.

And by NJ.Com.

Keeping communities informed and connected.

[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

We kickoff the program with a compelling important conversation about public health with Dr.

Denise Anderson, Executive Director of the Center for Health Equity & Wellbeing.

This is New Jersey's Public Health Institute.

Doctor, good to have you with us.

- Good to be here, thank you for having us.

- You got it, we put up the website of the center right now.

Tell everyone what it is and why it's so significant.

Because we had an interview with Dr.

Richard Besser, the head of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation recently, put up our website, people can check it out.

And he told us about this initiative and why it's so incredibly significant for New Jersey and 9.5 million residents of the state, please.

- Yes, and so the Center for Health Equity and Wellbeing, New Jersey's Public Health Institute, we are an independent and transparent and innovative non-government organization, and we have a structured relationship with the state of New Jersey that really enables us to join them in ensuring that the conditions that make good health within reach for all, exist.

Our role is as conveners, collaborators and supporters to eliminate the differences in outcomes of health, it's to function as what we would say an assertive, a responsive, and a nimble fiscal and administrative entity to support public health initiatives statewide, and really to serve as a community-driven and trusted partner, the People's Institute.

Steve, we're poised to address many of the recommendations from that independent review of New Jersey's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

So preparedness, emergency response, partnership building, and government collaboration.

- Okay, so first of all, an incredible portfolio that you're responsible for and the website's up right now for people to find out more, but Dr.

Anderson, lemme try this.

We're engaged in a whole series of conversations around public health, trust, distrust in the public health system.

Vaccines is a new initiative that we're doing called Vaccines, What You Need to Know, the graphic will come up.

How much concern do you have and your colleagues about the confusion, the mixed messages, and the fact that people, many are not sure whom to believe and trust when it comes to public health information, Dr.

Anderson?

- Yeah, Steve, it's very, very concerning.

What we're seeing in New Jersey and all across the country is a decrease in the uptake of vaccines and people not knowing who to trust or where to get trusted information from.

And so it's important that we work really hard to make sure that the individuals that people trust, like some of the medical societies, the American Academy of Pediatrics, among others, who have been studying and researching and providing us information about vaccines for decades.

And so we're looking to them to continue to provide that information as the folks who are practicing with these different populations, pediatrics, pregnant persons, and the general population.

And really what we're concerned about is vaccines has never been just about an individual choice.

When we talk about vaccine, we talk about that herd immunity, that there's enough people who are vaccinated to protect those who are unable to be vaccinated for different reasons.

And so that's truly a concern for us.

- Along those lines, we've had certain candidates and certain people in public office who keep arguing that vaccines should not be mandated.

And I follow up and I ask this question, well, if certain vaccines are not mandated and it's, they'll talk about parental choice with children and people's rights and hey, we found out things about COVID vaccine several years later we didn't know at the time, so therefore we shouldn't mandate it.

Florida's not mandated as we speak.

And my response, not my response, but my follow up question is, well, what about those who are more vulnerable?

What about older people who have immune systems that are compromised?

What about children who are more vulnerable?

I'm not here to get on my soapbox, but help us on this, Dr.

Anderson.

It isn't just whether you get the vaccine or not, but isn't it also the impact you potentially have on others?

- Absolutely, Steve, let's take the COVID-19 pandemic, right?

Let's talk about our long-term care facilities, which were, you know, devastatingly hurt here in New Jersey, right?

- That's right.

- Those residents did not leave, correct?

They did not leave those places.

And so what we know is that it was the staff coming in and out and visitors.

And so I like to talk about, you know, our children, Steve, you know, they may come down with a cold or the flu and you know, maybe a little bit of a nose run, a sneeze, and they're still active and running around.

But when that gets transferred to parents, to caretakers, to grandparents, the way that it impacts us is much more different in terms of the illness that we experience, and even sometimes sick enough that it can lead to death.

And so, that's the prime example of why vaccine is not just about individual choice again, but it's also about being able to protect the people that we care about around us.

- That's why it's called public health.

- That's right.

- Doctor, your background clinically is?

- So my background, I started off as a clinical dietician and then also in this public health space.

And so I've been on the healthcare side of it, and then public health.

- How the heck did public health become political?

Isn't it about science?

Isn't it about medication?

How the heck does politics get connected to decisions that government officials responsible for public health are talking politics?

- Steve, politics have always been there, right?

- This is not new, are you saying this is not new?

- This is not new, this is not new.

This is something, you know, over the past decade or so, right?

We've talked about these social determinants of health, the things that happen outside of healthcare, right?

That impacts your health outcomes, whether it's education, the economy, the neighborhood that you live in.

All of these different things.

- Transportation, by the way, can we still talk about social determinants of health without getting in trouble?

- Well, we may not be able to talk about them without getting in trouble, but they're definitely still- - But they're real.

- At the forefront, absolutely.

- But they're real.

People can't get to- - They're absolutely real.

- Because of transportation.

- That's right.

- Where someone lives and what their neighborhood is like and access to, they don't go away 'cause someone say, "Stop saying those words."

- They don't.

Childcare availability, access to food, all of those things still matter, Steve, because the truth of the matter is that if we're doing it right, we spend more time outside of the healthcare setting than we do within the healthcare setting.

And so access and addressing these social determinants is what helps us to do what we're supposed to do outside of the healthcare setting to keep us from coming in there, unless it's for, you know, preventative methods.

But back to your question around how did public health become politicized, my conversations now is that the social determinants of health is this layer, right?

But the overarching umbrella definitely are the political determinants.

And when we talk about upstream interventions in terms of what we see play out in public health is at the public policy level, and that's where the politics are through and out.

- Got it, real quick, the several, the three year strategic plan of the Center for Health Equity & Wellbeing, New Jersey's Public Health Institute, health equity, as we've been talking about, democracy in health, civic engagement and public policy, trust in science, database action, public health workforce, infrastructure development, I'm gonna go back to democracy and health, civic engagement.

We're obsessed with our media and information platform with civic engagement, public awareness.

How the heck would the center be engaged in civic engagement, and what does that to do with democracy?

- Yes, because Steve, in public health and healthcare, you know, we are in contact with the populations that we serve all the time.

And we do a lot of education and awareness on everything from Alzheimer's disease to diabetes and to vaccines.

And so I think that there is a way in public health and healthcare, a nonpartisan way to talk about the importance of civic engagement and active participation in this democracy.

So we talked about the social determinants of health, right?

Education, access and quality is one of those.

However, folks who sit on school boards, that's an elected position.

And so it's important for people to know that that's an elected position.

And if we are concerned about education access and quality and what's happening in our neighborhood schools, then we have to be paying attention to who wants to sit on the school board and making sure that we are coming out for folks who are representing our issues in a non-partisan way.

We can make sure that people are aware, that they are registered to vote if they're eligible, and that they have a voting plan.

- Before I let you go, what do you believe the role of those of us in the media to be in this regard?

- Oh, that's a great question.

I think the role is to be authentic, Steve, and to be a truth teller regardless of what the outcome of the truth telling is.

Because we depend on it to keep us grounded, to bring us information and our democracy depends on it.

- That's Dr.

Denise Anderson.

She's the Executive Director of the Center for Health Equity & Wellbeing, New Jersey's Public Health Institute.

And again, I wanna thank the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Dr.

Richard Besser, the former head of the CDC, who told us about this initiative.

And Dr.

Anderson, I promise we'll continue the conversation.

We'll do our part, okay, and I know you'll do yours.

- Thank you, absolutely.

- Thank you, all the best.

I'm Steve Adubato, stay with us, we'll be right back.

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

- She's back by popular demand.

She's Tara Colton, Chief Economic Security Officer for the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, EDA, one of our longtime underwriters and partners.

Tara, thank you for joining us.

- Thank you.

Always a pleasure to be here.

- We've never talked about food insecurity before.

We're gonna talk about it now.

What is the issue as it relates to the Economic Development Authority?

Why even in this business?

- I think the fact that the Economic Development Authority sees food security and food deserts as an economic issue is really backed up by data.

There's countless studies about the impact of hunger on health outcomes, housing stability, educational outcomes, and we know that too many New Jerseyans don't know where their next meal's coming from.

So Governor Murphy has had us commit over $300 million in a very diverse toolkit of programs to try and address those issues.

- There'll be a new governor in January, 2026.

Is that money in place up until the end of June, 2026 when the fiscal year ends?

- Yeah, we are very fortunate that we have a unique source of funding to support our food security work that actually will persist for several years beyond this administration through some legislation that was signed several years ago.

Because we know that the permanence of food insecurity and the impact of some of the recent federal cuts on nutrition programs mean that hunger in New Jersey is likely to get worse before it gets better.

And so we have funding that will last for the next several years to deploy to try and address that issue.

- Talk to us about FEED, F-E-E-D, Food Equity and Economic Development Initiative.

What is that?

- I think it says so much of it in the name.

It's a competitive grant program that we've developed.

We're making $30 million available up to half a million dollars per award for creative solutions in food deserts throughout New Jersey.

We launched a similar program in Atlantic City about a year ago and have been thrilled at the impactful solutions we've seen there.

And so we expect that we'll be able to support dozens and dozens of organizations and retailers up and down the state to bring food to people, bring people to food, and think differently about how New Jerseyans are nourished.

- Last time you joined us, we talked a lot about childcare.

I wanna revisit it.

The initiative we're engaged in public awareness initiative around childcare is called Start Strong NJ.

The website's up right now.

The role of the Economic Development Authority as it relates to promoting and supporting quality, affordable, accessible childcare and its connection to the economy.

- Yeah, I think we've proven, both anecdotally and empirically that childcare is economic infrastructure.

We have committed over $140 million in funds to New Jersey's childcare sector for them as businesses to be able to make improvements to their facilities.

We expect that funding will contribute to thousands of new seats, especially for infants and toddlers, will allow families to go to work or go back to work, and it'll improve the quality of care for tens of thousands of New Jersey's children.

So the economic impact for both New Jersey's workers and the businesses that care for their children while they're at work is a very high return on investment for every dollar that we spend.

- You know, Tara, you and I talked about this before we got on the air that the Economic Development Authority is a quasi-government entity.

It is in the state government, but does it have its own separate governance?

- Right, we say that we are in but not of state government.

So we are state employees, but we have a board of directors that is appointed by both the governor and legislative leaders.

And we are a state authority.

And so much of the funding that we utilize here at the EDA is used for initiatives that are both bipartisan and long-term in nature.

And so we are really optimistic and excited about the foundation that we've built during the Murphy administration, but also the opportunity to continue delivering for New Jerseyans on issues that affect so many people in communities big and small throughout the state.

- And the EDA, the website up one more time.

They'll be around regardless of who the new governor will be in January, 2026.

Tara Colton, I wanna thank you so much for joining us again.

All the best.

- Thank you so much, Steve, great to see you.

- You got it, stay with us.

We'll be right back.

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

- We are honored now to be joined by Curtis Bashaw, who's Founder and Managing partner of Cape Resorts, a former candidate for the United States Senate in the great state of New Jersey, who's staying involved and engaged in public issues that matter.

Curtis, good to see you.

- Good to see you, Steve, thanks for having me on.

- You got it.

Let me also disclose that Cape Resorts has become one of the newest underwriters of our public policy programming.

And speaking of public policy, Curtis, you made a decision to stay engaged, involved.

You've been writing op-ed pieces in major national and regional publications, a whole range of websites.

What are the most pressing issues from your perspective, now that you're not a candidate, but you're still an active business professional who cares about the state of New Jersey, please?

- Well, thanks for that.

Yeah, I think it's affordability, affordability, affordability for our state.

You know, as a candidate, I heard from everybody I talked to, it didn't matter if they were democratic or Republican or Independent, if they were young or older, everybody in our state is worried about whether their kids and grandkids can stay here and afford to build a life here.

You know, we're a multi-generational state.

People love the state, the loyalty, I heard it last year, this year, back at my business running Congress Hall in our lovely collection of hotels in Cape May.

It's the same thing.

As a business person, we struggle with affordability and we hear it from our guests, our neighbors, our employees, our team members.

And so affordability to me is the number one issue in our state for its future.

- By the way, to clarify, all of your different properties, if I'm wrong, you'll correct me.

There's over 1300 employees.

- We do, yeah.

We peaked out about 1300 every summer.

We have about 800 year round employees, so we swell seasonally, but we are, you know, making a payroll every two weeks and have an enterprise that welcomes guests from all over the country and internationally, but mostly from the great state of New Jersey to our hotels and resorts and restaurants.

- Absolutely.

You know, I'm gonna talk about red tape and regulations that you are deeply concerned of, but first, can we talk about energy cost, utility rates, the increases in electricity rates?

What is your number one concern about that, A?

And B, how does that affect your business and your employees?

- Well, it affects all consumers in our state.

Rates went up a ton, but it also affects businesses, which then again affects consumers even more.

And you know, my biggest concern about it is we don't have a long-term solution.

And, you know, some of the policy decisions that were, I think, too narrowly focused on one set of energy solutions precludes us from having access to other energy opportunities.

I think we need to be a little bit more diverse in how we approach the solutions here.

We need to use innovative technologies, but we sure as heck have to protect the Jersey shore.

So I think it became a partisan issue, a national policy issue that wasn't handled in a way that was good for the stakeholders in our state, both our business owners, our small business owners, as well as the people that live here and have houses.

- Break down and help us understand, those of us who are not engaged in the level of business activity you are, what you mean by government regulations and red tape, excuse me, for small business, what the heck are we talking about, Curtis?

- Well, you're talking about everything.

There seems to be a bias in the heavily regulated states, which New Jersey is one, that everyone's guilty until proven innocent.

And so we go overboard to try to protect all of us from bad actors.

You know, most small business owners are good, solid, hardworking people that are trying to make a living.

They're the most community engaged in main street activities and schools and charities and nonprofits, as well as the engine of the employment base in our state.

And so when you have to get a permit for every single thing, when you're being charged fees out the wazoo for each and every inspection, a fire inspection, this inspection, we've gone overboard in a way that we need to streamline.

We are the most heavily regulated state, the least business friendly state in the country, or at least in the top five.

And people know that.

And I worry for our long-term viability when I talk to young people who find it easier to open a business in Florida or even now Pennsylvania, that they have the ability to move locations.

There's so many more startups and young businesses that are virtual and are handled in different ways than the bricks and mortar.

- That's right.

Yeah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you 'cause the irony is our business evolved and we are not brick and mortar right now.

We are this.

And so you're saying being able to move easily has made the business environment, I don't wanna make your case for you, Curtis, but it made the business environment and the challenges of it that much more impactful.

Is that a fair assessment?

- A bigger segment of our business community is mobile and they can choose to do their business from other places.

But then you look at how many municipalities we have with Main Streets.

We are still a small business state, as many wonderful larger corporations that we have.

But the small businesses that have mom and pop shops that are brick and mortar, they can't move.

I can't take Congress Hall and move it down to Florida and go there and run a hotel.

You know, Congress Hall is here in Cape May.

And so, we need to make sure that we are incentivizing people to stay here, to reinvest here, to build their future here, because we've had out migration at every level of our state.

And it's concerning.

- Let me ask you this.

When we were talking a few months back, Curtis, we were brainstorming about what public policy issues we should examine with the resources, with the grant that we got from you and your colleagues and we talked about many of them already, but one of them that came up and I just wanna gimme a minute or so on it, affordable housing.

Talk about that, that's a huge, not just public policy issue, it's a quality of life issue, please, Curtis.

- It is, and it's a economic driver as well.

You know, we employ a lot of people.

We are often recruiting people for jobs, management jobs, middle management jobs.

And when they look at the housing costs in New Jersey, they make sometimes choices to go other places.

You know, housing affordability is not, it's bigger than affordable housing.

Affordable housing is a term used to describe low and moderate income housing that is tied to adjusted gross income.

But beyond that, we need workforce housing.

We need housing in our communities for our EMTs, our teachers, our firemen, our police people.

We need housing for middle managers.

We also, in our resort destinations, and the Jersey Shore is of course, the huge one.

We need seasonal housing.

And so we need to look beyond a one size fits all housing solution that, you know, we have had the Mount Laurel decision.

We've now have a Fair Housing Act that tries to regulate that.

And, you know, a well-intentioned mission has become, in many times, creating unintended consequences.

So when each town is restricted to their own solutions, you can get bad development.

You can even have towns using eminent domain to take a farm away to build housing.

And so I believe that we need to look at that afresh in urban areas.

We need to use density as our friend in our rural areas.

I think that we should be able to look at regional approaches.

Cape May County has 16 municipalities.

We get along and I believe if we were allowed to beta test, sort of using the housing requirements across municipal boundaries, we would get better developments.

We would rebuild and revitalize communities, and we have to work together on this.

It's very important, in my view, for us to look at a state in a proactive way to solve this problem because it's keeping people from staying here.

Our students are leaving, our graduates are leaving, our people on pensions are taking their New Jersey pensions to other state.

And we gotta roll up our sleeves on this one.

- Curtis Bashaw, you may know him from his very public campaign for the United States Senate, but now as the longtime Founder and Managing Partner at Cape Resorts, engaged and involved in public policy issues and running a pretty big operation with 1300 employees.

Curtis, I wanna thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it, wish you and your team all the best.

- Thanks, Steve, take care.

- I'm Steve Adubato, that's Curtis Bashaw.

See you next time.

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

Funding has been provided by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Newark Board of Education.

Seton Hall University.

EJI, Excellence in Medicine Awards.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

And by Johnson & Johnson.

Promotional support provided by CIANJ, and Commerce Magazine.

And by NJ.Com.

- (Inspirational Music) - (Narrator) Great drive fuels the leaders of tomorrow and today.

Great vision paves the way for a brighter future.

Great ambition goes places, moving onward and upward.

Great empathy finds strength in kindness and in each other, working together to create something bigger than they ever imagined.

Great minds can change the world and great minds start at Seton Hall.