Tonight on NJ PBS news.

It is a well known trend fo countless families in our area, leaving the bright lights of New York for a more space and smaller bills in the new Jersey suburbs.

Tonight, though, a detailed look at how that so-called new Jersey discount is definitely not what it used to be.

A Bloomberg reporter crunched the numbers and the results are fascinating.

Tonight, we'll give you the real cost of living if you decide to cross the river.

Also tonight, one on one with former Governor Christine Todd Whitman.

Even at 80 years old, our state's first female governor is not done with politics.

We talked to Whitman about her ongoing efforts to build a viable third political party in America, and why she says the tim has never been better than now to do it.

Also alarming news tonight about a potential nursing shortage here in Jersey.

Long term federal projection are offering a sobering warning about these critical jobs, and why our state may not have enough people to fill them down the road.

We talked to a leading nursing official about the troubling trend.

And PBS news starts now.

This is NJ PBS news with Rob Nelson.

Well, for generations in our area, the deal has always seemed pretty simple.

Keep your job in New York City.

Move across the river an get more space for less money.

However, a new Bloomber analysis finds that new Jersey, that bargain that we think we have by moving to Jersey is actually disappearing and rapidly.

So since 2021, the annual budget needed to support a two income family of four in Jersey has risen by nearly $41,000.

Housing, childcare, health care and commuting are all adding to the squeeze, and family costs in every single county in Jersey are rising faster than the national rate.

Again, all 21 counties.

Bloomberg News reporter Paulina helped break down the numbers and is joining us now to share her reportin that really, I think, hits home for a whole lot of folks who have done the jersey.

I mean, city to the burbs move thinking, hey, I'll save money and get more space.

Well, the space part may still be true, but the money thing, that gap is really extraordinary that you quantified here.

Did it surprise you?

And what's been the reaction to the piece?

Yeah, I think it surprised a lot of people.

As you mentioned, this is kind of a well, playbook.

People, you know keep their bigger city paycheck and then they're able to go to, to the suburbs and you get that discount.

Now it hasn't disappeared, but it is shrinking.

As you mentioned, you know, the cost of raising a family in many new Jersey suburbs has jumped up $41,000 in five years.

And actually, if you break down counties across the U.S.

with population of over 100,000, eight of the 20 large U.S.

counties had the fastest famil budget growth across the U.S.. So it's not just, you know, in Hudson County, which did see the highest growth, which they saw growth of 9.1% annually since the pandemic, and now you need about $123 after income just to raise to to support a household of now, you know, in Manhattan by comparison, it's $135,000.

But you can imagine in years past the money that you would save by moving to Hudson County or other suburbs was much larger.

Wow.

And this graphic kind of tells the story which you were alludin to from 20, from 2021 to 2026, you kind of ranked the cost o raising a family like you said Hudson up 9%.

Then it goes Passaic, ocean, Burlington, Gloucester, Cumberland, Monmouth, Essex and then Manhattan.

And what seems like a lovely 4.6% raise compared to the rates we're seeing here in Jersey.

Your article pointed out a lot of really fascinating dynamics, but the bottom line did seem to be the cost of child care.

And it's fascinating because, look I have two young boys at home.

Trust me, I understand this, bill, but the fact that the city has universal child care and three K pre-K and three K makes a huge difference in the cost of living.

Talk a little bit about that.

Yeah, I think, you know, it's a supply and demand issue.

You know, New York City has funde universal child care programs.

It's expanded to children who are two years old.

And obviously it's a pilot and we don't know how long it will last.

But there are simply more options for child car for families in New York City, for those that are moving, you know, into new Jersey, they have fewer options.

And actually, one of the parents we spoke to talked about, you know, she wasn't able to access the public childcare options because it didn't work with her, her schedule.

She is a working mom.

And so they had to pay for private child care.

And because there's so many working families that have to use that private care options and not enough child care services, those costs are actually more expensive than what they were finding in New York City.

And I think, you know, we've just had so many people moving to the new Jersey suburbs in the last few years, because of the cost of living in New York, that, you know, in some different areas, it's flipped.

Right?

Childcare is more expensive.

Housing is not as expensive.

But, you know, you're getting less bang for your buck than you did.

And, you know, the cost of commuting returned to office makes train access more valuable.

And all of the homes along those lines have gotten more expensive.

So, you know, the full family math, housing, childcare and commuting, you know, it's just not the same deal that it used to be.

Do you think that may result for some people saying maybe this move to the burbs, listen to this report and kind of go, yeah, we're going to try t stick it out here in the city.

It may actually be cheaper or just about the same or not enough of a difference to come to the burbs in that city.

Jersey Pipeline kind of takes a little bit of hit.

Do you think that that may be the result as people really, you know as these numbers really sink in?

Yeah, I think now, you know, people used to make the, you know, final decision used to be the math and the space.

Right.

And now that the, you know, that calculus is a little bit more unclear, people are willing to pay for the lifestyle that, you know, the suburbs offer.

I think that's something that I heard a lot from the families we spoke to.

You know, they knew they weren't getting a discount by moving to the suburbs.

But, you know, they wanted to have a single family home.

They wanted to have a yard.

They wanted to, you know, take their kids to soccer.

And, you know, have that lifestyle.

A lot of them were new Jersey natives and didn't imagine raising their kids, you know, in a townhouse in Brooklyn or, you know, in Queens.

It's just a different lifestyle.

So people are willing to pay up for that lifestyle.

But there's definitely it's not cheaper anymore.

I did find it interesting.

There is one parent we talked to who, you know, had lived in Washingto Heights and moved to Fan Wood, new Jersey after having twins.

They were just like, we can't raise a family and a a three bedroom apartment, but they're paying more to live in the suburbs.

She was able to get her eldest into the three care program.

And, you know, she wasn't.

All she had to pay for was aftercare.

And now they're paying, you know, $5,000 a month for three kids to be in private childcare full time.

And they're paying more for their mortgage than they were paying for their three bedroom apartment in Washington Heights.

So, you know, she was willing to make that sacrifice because her husband wanted to live in the suburbs in new Jersey.

But, you know, she's not saving any money.

And she found that she was paying more.

And don't forget, on top of that, a very hot housing market in Jersey for all the reasons you just just mentioned.

And then the interest rates are high.

And then that Jersey property tax bill as well.

So it's a lot of math to consider.

Bottom line the discount from city to suburbs isn't what it used to be.

And now you've done a beautiful job quantifying that.

It's a really fascinating look at life here in the northeast for so many.

Paulina thank you so much for your time, your reporting, your expertise on this issue.

And please come back and make me rethink life decisions again as you, as you, as you have tonight.

It's constantly changing.

There's n right or wrong answer.

You know.

Exactly what works for you.

That's all that matters.

What works for you.

Paulina.

Thanks again.

We really do appreciate it.

Thanks for having me.

Few people understan new Jersey Republican politics better than Christine Todd Whitman, the former two term governor, has become one of the party's most forceful critic and is now a founding co-chair of the Forward Party, which she says can offer voters an alternative to a two party system that is simply no longer serving them.

Here now, as our conversation with the governor.

Governor, thanks so much for giving us some time here to NJPW.

We certainly appreciate it.

I'm delighted to be with you.

Outside the horse race of politics.

As you can imagine, we the media do a lot of that, but I kind of wanted to have a different kind of conversation with you as a former governor, a former Republican.

And the glass ceiling you shattered here in Jersey in your positio to kind of do a bigger picture take on politics right now and this push of yours for a third party, you have a lot of mistrust.

You have folks who are dissatisfied with both sides feeling nothing gets done in D.C.

it always seems like the mood is ripe for a third party in this country, but it never gets.

But so far down the field, I' wondering why you think that is.

And will the time come?

All of that will be different.

I think the time is altogether different now than it ever was.

When you have 49 to 50% of registered voters registered independent.

We've never had that before.

And they're saying on both your houses, that's why a third party, viable third party, is possible.

In fact I just got back from Idaho and Utah campaigning for our Forward Party candidates.

The Forward Party is is a different kind of a party we are in now as a recognized party in seven states, partially on five.

You haven't seen that before.

We're building from the ground up, and we're not a party of platform issues.

We don't tell our constituents, our our candidates that they have to be pro-choice or anti-gun.

What we say is you should represent your constituents.

And if we endors you, we've done a thorough check to make sur that they've lived our values.

But then they sign a pledge for their to their people that they will uphold the rule of law, respect the Constitution.

Work with anyone to solve the controversial issues.

Create a safe space to discuss those issues.

Make decisions based on facts and data, and ensure that anyone who has the right to vote, the legal right to vote gets to vote and then base that on decency, democracy and diversity.

And what's that's doing is freeing them u to represent their constituents.

We have some 81, 82 now currently serving elected officials who are either running and have run on the forward party where we are a party or they're Republicans.

Democrats are independent.

So we've endorsed an we'll have some 200 this cycle.

But we are the party on the ground and we're building from the ground up, because those other efforts that we've talked about have generally been around one person and the presidential level, you know, you've been talking abou one person, that's Ross Perot, Michael Bloomberg, and then once they've lost, it's gone.

Everything's gone.

Everything they've built because they're not building a party underneath.

And the other third party efforts are tend to be around just a certain set of issues.

The Green Party i environmental issues important?

Lord knows I certainly believe in that.

But then there are also the libertarians, which again, are a certain set of issues.

We're wide open.

We're saying you should represent the people who elect you, not a party.

But essentially it's preaching in some ways preaching the gospel of centrism in a lot of ways.

Everyone says, we know it's not the extreme this way.

We have to meet in the middle.

And and I think most people agree with that.

They define the middle differently.

But at the end of the day in politics, as you well know, what sells is, you know, is the big change or tear it all down that gets people motivated.

And I'm not quite sur whether pragmatism or centrism or incremental progress or gradual compromise lands on the bumper sticker lands in the ad, in people's living rooms, in the way t get them motivated to to vote.

Do you think the the middle will become, for lack of a better phrase, sexy enough to win and make and make progress?

Well, it's about 50% of our voters now, as I said before, who are in that middle.

But you know, when you say we're centrists, we have pro-life people who are running on the Forwar Party ballot or Ford affiliated.

And then we have and, you know, people who are not I don't know anybody who's pro-abortion.

Let me put it that way.

Everybody's pro-life.

It's just whether you're anti-abortion or not.

And we have people from both sides, and we're comfortable with that because they should represent the people who are going to elect them.

I have had no one who has said, this is ridiculous.

I had everybody that I talked to says, yes, this is what I want.

I want a party that will talk to me, represent me, represent my issues.

Because the two major partie now, this is what our founding fathers warned us against.

They said the worst thing that could happen would to be two parties.

And they always envisioned moving coalitions around different issues.

Different people would come together on different issues to solve those problems.

And looking at the public now saying we don't like either party, inflation is out of sight.

Congress has not been solving our problems.

They haven't been working on the big issues.

In fact, it's the opposite.

They try to keep us divided.

90% of our states are single party states.

That's just wrong.

Former new Jerse Governor Christine Todd Whitman, thanks for your time and insight today.

We sincerely appreciate it.

Please come back.

Happy to do so.

Thanks again.

Time now for the roundabout.

Our quick look at headlines from all across the state.

Tonight we are getting a look at some of the early vot by mail numbers in so far as we get closer to Election Day.

According to the new Jersey monitor, across the state, nearly half of all returned Mail-In ballots have been put in dro boxes, and that is nearly double the percentage from a similar time in previous elections.

These numbers not coming as a shock to most, as state election officials continue to urge voters to use those drop boxes instead of mailing in their votes.

Quick reminder if you'd like to drop off your vote at a ballot box, you have until 8 p.m.

on Election Day, November 3rd, to do so.

Now to a case getting gaining a lot of attention across Jersey right now.

A state deputy attorne general facing several charges after being accused of using AI to create and share child sexual abuse material.

Prosecutors in Pennsylvania say 51 year old Brian Fitzgerald was arrested after police say they searched his home and found sexual photos of real children, along with prompts used to create similar AI images.

Tonight, Fitzgerald i being held on a $2 million bond.

He's due back in court later this month.

A legal battle between two new Jersey hospital systems is brewing tonight, according to a lawsuit filed this week.

Saint Peter's health care system accuses a former OB-GYN and R J Barnabas Health of working together to divert patients awa from its New Brunswick hospital.

The lawsuit claims that the doctor, who is a member of the Saint Peter's Board, used that positio to gain confidential information to lure patients to Barnaba while maintaining her position.

Barnabas, though, is pushed back.

They call the claims meritless and heads up South Jersey drivers.

Some big relief is headed your way, as a major traffic project finally kicks off this week.

Officials broke ground on the more than $400 million Atlantic City Expressway expansion.

That project is going to ad a third lane in each direction along a 12 mile stretch between route 42 and Gloucester Township.

This is all aimed at making trips down the shore a little easier, a little safer.

But before you breathe a sigh of relief, just know this.

The project is expected to end in 2034, with construction set to begin next year.

And one of Jersey's biggest film festivals kicks off tonight, and is bringing some major Hollywood star power right here to the Garden State.

The Montclair Film Festival celebrating its 15th anniversary with ten days of independent films, student productions and must see features among the big names expected this year.

Actors Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti, along with directors Jesse Eisenberg and Ava DuVernay.

They will join Stephen Colbert for a live conversation about their work during the festival which runs through October 25th.

Tickets are on sale now.

And for details just head to Montclair film.org.

And that is tonight's roundabout.

New Jersey is heading toward a serious nursing shortage, the one that could affect everything from the care you get in a hospital to the help of for an aging parent.

Federal projections no show the state could be short.

12% of the registered nurses it needs by the year 2037, and the projected shortage of licensed practical nurses, that's even greater.

But this is not simply a matter of convincing more people to become nurses.

Jersey has plenty of interested and qualified candidates.

The bigger question is why more of them are not making it from an application to a classroom, and then ultimately to a patient's bedside.

I recently spoke with Doctor Dario, executive director of the new Jersey Collaborating Center for nursing, and a clinical associate professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing.

About what all of this means for nurses and patients.

Here's our conversation.

Doctor, thank you so muc for giving us some time today.

We certainly appreciate this.

I saw the headline and it wa it was kind of of of of jarring because, listen, as someone who has had sick relatives and been there in th hospital as as a husband who's watched his wife give birth to two young boys and trying very hard not to throw up and pass out during that process.

Good nurses are worth their weight in gold is kind of scary to thin we're heading toward a shortage.

What is the root cause here and how are we defining shortage?

Rob, thanks for having me on, and that's a great question.

I think to answer that is multifaceted.

There are a number of things happening with the workforce.

So the first thing we can look at is the pipeline, the new nurses coming in.

And as you mentioned, we do have a lot of interested nurses applying or interested nurse candidates applying for nursing school.

So that's great.

But we can do a better job of increasing capacity in enrolling mor of those nurses in our schools.

So that's number one.

Number two i so we have a pipeline coming in.

But we got to keep them right.

And one of the things that's most concerning to me is that nurses are turning over at a higher rat than even during the pandemic.

So our most recent data shows that the turnover rate in 2024 was 31%.

That went up from 25% the yea before and is 56% for LP ends.

So that is one thing that we need to take a closer look at now.

And that's what was most fascinating to me, is that one angle of this.

It's not like there aren't people out there in our state who are interested i taking on this extraordinarily stressful and exhausting and and necessary job.

It's that the capacity issue.

You mentioned that the interest is there but getting them into a program so they can further launch their career.

That's the hard part, is the fundamental issue here that that Jersey nursing programs are at capacity.

So in other words, there's no more room left at the at the end.

Is that the driving factor here.

For some of the nursing schools?

And every nursing school is different.

We do an annual survey of all of the nursing schools in the state.

There's about 49 of them.

And our data, our most recent report showed that 40% of pre licensure nursing school.

So these are the schools training are 40% of them are saying they're having difficulty increasing enrollment or increasing who they accepted to the program the number.

And that's for a number of reasons.

One of them is because especially for our BSN programs is the lack of classroom space.

So some of the schools have been around for decades, right?

And they haven't necessarily increase the capacity they need to increase to mee the demand, the growing demand.

Another reason is lack of clinical sites or lack of clinical preceptors.

And so if the issue is being driven largely by a lack of a capacity, what can be done to improve that?

I assume it's an infusion of state and federal dollars.

Yes, I know since you mentioned I work at Rutgers, is has a plan to increase capacity and and is doing a great job of doing that over the coming years.

But there is a bill out ther in new Jersey that can increase capacity with, I think it's appropriating $25 million.

Senator Joseph Vitale has been a great champion for increasing access to care in new Jersey and has been supporting this bill.

And he's the primary sponsor.

So to be great to see that, take some have some movement in this legislative session.

Absolutely.

And let's boil it down to what folks who are watching this can relate to.

If this projection turns out to be true, and where there's a 12% shortage by the year 2037, so 11 years from now, what's that mean for patients who need car while they're in the hospital?

Well, if there is an ongoing nursing shortage that, ends up being 12% by year 2036, 2037 patient care is going to suffer when the nursing workforce struggles.

Patient care suffers.

There's going to be longer waits, perhaps not as optimal patient outcomes, but looking at a little bit more positively, what we are seeing now, looking at the trend specifically from 2023 to 2024, we've seen a growth in a lot of important factors that we look at.

Number one the number of seats provided to schools has increased, the number of enrollees, the number of graduates.

And then we see that on th supply side, we're seeing more nurses become licensed i entering our workforce as well.

So let's hope that trend continues.

Yeah fingers crossed for that that that for sure.

And listen last question here.

If you could give one bit of advice right now to people who may be watching, considering a caree in nursing here in new Jersey, considering everything we've talked about tonight, what what would be your numbe one bit of advice to him or her?

I think the nursing profession is a very noble profession.

You can not only help people, but you can critically think and apply the scientific process.

And there are a number of amazing opportunities out there for nurses.

And when I work with nursing students every day at Rutgers and out in the hospitals that we work with, I'm always so impressed by the caliber and quality of our nurses.

So I hope that we continue to attract a nursing workforce for the years to come.

All right.

Well, double amen to that.

Again, a good nurse, they're worth their weight in gold.

And we all, or someone we love will need one at some point.

So this is a critical issue.

And I'm so glad you were here to shed some insight on it.

Thank you so much.

Doctor Daria was executive director of the new Jersey Collaborating Center for nursing, and also a clinical associate professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing.

Thank you so much.

Really appreciate the conversation.

Thank you.

And as new Jersey searches for more ways to bring people into nursing, we want to end tonight with one nurse who gave South Jersey patient nearly half a century of care.

When Sharon Heath's hospital role was restructured, her coworker felt that she never really got the goodbye that she deserved, so they gave her one.

NJ PBS News South Jerse reporter Scott Shaw was there.

This is a sendoff 47 years in the making.

I just wanted to cry from all the love.

For nearly half a century.

Sharon Heath cared for patients across South Jersey.

She specialized in palliative care, helping families navigate serious illness, hospice and some of the hardest decisions of their lives.

She can do things and speak to patients and families in a way and connect with them that is truly unique to her.

Earlier this year, Heath' hospital role was restructured and she was offered a full time remote position, meaning she would no longer be able to work inside of a hospital.

Her coworkers say the change came abruptly without an opportunity to celebrate her years of bedside care.

And as well.

She basically found out that day that her position that she started as a nurse that she fought for for years.

So dozens of them, past and present, gathered in Deptford to do it themselves.

They say he didn't just care for patients.

She took care of them, too.

I can't tell you how many times, you know, I personally just had a crappy day.

And I just hope she just pops up somewhere in the hallway.

Or it's like, there's my angel.

Like oh, she'll just give you a hug.

He says that although her career didn't end exactly how she imagined, she wouldn't change a thing.

What you give out comes back.

You know, people recognize that you care, and that is somethin you can't replace with the AI or a business degree.

Scott thanks so much for that report.

And to all of New Jersey's nurses making a difference in the lives of so many.

We thank you.

That is going to do it for us tonight.

We appreciate you joining us here on NJPW news on this Friday.

Have a great weekend.

Jersey.