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(upbeat music) - From NJ PBS Studios, this is NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi.

- Hello and thanks for joining us.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

We're bringing you a special NJ Spotlight News edition of Reporters Roundtable with Joanna Gagis, who has a roundup of the top political stories of the week with the help of a panel of local journalists.

But first, a few of the top headlines.

Hundreds of people took to the streets of Newark Thursday night protesting the presence of ICE in communities across the country following the fatal shooting of 37-year-old Minneapolis resident Renee Nicole Good.

A few hundred immigrant rights advocates from various groups gathered downtown at Military Park carrying signs that read things like "Stop ICE Terror Now" as they marched through the streets to the Federal Building chanting in defiance of the Trump Administration demanding justice for Rene Good.

It was organized by the Party for Socialism and Liberation with support from Resistencia in Accion, a grassroots volunteer-led organization.

Elsewhere in Newark, a smaller group gathered for a prayer vigil outside Delaney Hall, that's the controversial, privately operated immigration detention center that's been the scene of several high-profile events in the wake of the immigration crackdown under President Trump, including the death of John Wilson Brutus on December 12th, who was being detained there.

Members at that vigil held candles and honored the life of Good, a mother of three who advocates say was murdered on Wednesday during the incident with federal agents.

The Trump administration maintains that the officer was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot Good through her car window.

In Trenton on Thursday, advocates cheered as a legislative committee approved a trio of bills targeting local cooperation with ICE and extra protections for immigrants.

Those will go for a full vote on Monday, though Senate President Nick Scuteri reportedly expressed concern that it could make New Jersey a target of the Trump administration.

Also tonight, as part of our Under the Dome coverage, those measures were just some of a raft of bills lawmakers voted on Thursday, as the clock is running out to get those bills onto Governor Murphy's desk before he leaves office.

Among the other high-profile legislation, lawmakers advanced the Climate Superfund Act.

It's a bill to hold oil companies liable for damages caused by climate change.

They target certain companies that sell fossil fuels in New Jersey, collecting fines from those companies to pay for projects that'll protect communities from further damage.

Environmental groups argue New Jersey residents shouldn't be on the hook to pay for climate damage, but business groups say the bill would increase fuel prices and put jobs at risk.

Another bill would allow the state to charge data centers new tariffs to prevent passing on their electricity costs to rate payers.

The tariff rates would apply to large load energy users like those data centers.

Other bills included extending the state takeover of Atlantic City for another six years, giving the state broad powers over decision-making in the city.

And yet another would shorten timelines for special elections to fill House vacancies.

That's an issue that's been coming up more frequently in recent years.

The bills now head to the full Senate and Assembly on Monday, where they'll face final votes before heading for the governor's signature.

Under the Dome is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.

Health officials have confirmed the state's first pediatric flu death of the season.

According to the Department of Health, the child was under the age of five and lives in quote, the northern region of the state.

Hospital officials and health officials say the 2025-26 flu season is already more active than in recent years, with both cases and hospital visits remaining elevated statewide.

The health department is urging residents aged six months or older to get vaccinated against not just the flu, but COVID-19 and RSV, especially those with underlying medical conditions and the elderly.

They're also, of course, reminding folks to take the normal precautions like frequent hand washing, staying home when you're sick, and getting care for severe symptoms.

And those are our top headlines.

Reporters Roundtable begins right now.

Major funding for Reporters Roundtable is provided by RWJBarnabas Health.

Let's be healthy together.

It's a new year.

It's a new jersey.

It's about to be anyway.

Next week, we'll hear Governor Murphy's last state of the state address.

And the following week, we'll have a new governor.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Joanna Gagis, and this is Reporters Roundtable, the show where we round up a panel of journalists to talk all about the latest week of New Jersey news.

Let's meet our panel.

We have with us today Daniel Han, reporter for Politico NJ, Brent Johnson, politics reporter at NJ Advanced Media, and our own John Reitmeyer, budget and finance writer for NJ Spotlight News.

Now, I'm going to give each of you a chance to offer your thoughts on this question.

But, Daniel, I'm going to kick it off with you.

What are three key accomplishments that you expect Governor Murphy to highlight in his State of the State address on Tuesday?

I think that a lot of the governor's biggest accomplishments honestly came from his first term because there's a lot of pent up energy from Democrats to move forward left leaning policies that former Governor Chris Christie didn't want to advance.

So I think something like raising the minimum wage, legalizing marijuana, and expanding family leave, I think those are some of the things that you could see the governor mention from his first term.

Yeah, definitely all checked off on my list.

Brent, let's go to you.

What do you expect?

Yeah, I expect a lot of that, too.

I'm sure he will talk a lot about he says that he inherited a state in rough shape and that wasn't trusted anymore, and he's going to say that he wanted to make it fairer and stronger and he achieved that.

Those are some big talking points you've heard from him throughout the year.

So I expect broad scope type things like that.

He's done a few exit interviews including with me.

And he said that he's proud of what he's accomplished.

And that's something I expect to hear in the speech to John.

What are you anticipating.

Yeah, along the lines of what Brent said, the governor's been making the rounds.

So we've heard a little bit of this already.

I think we've seen the previews.

But I think credit rating, New Jersey's credit rating has improved in recent years.

And Murphy's probably going to mention and take credit for that.

Property tax relief.

So affordability is a big issue across New Jersey.

The state's spending a whole lot more on direct property tax relief programs than it was eight years ago.

So I think we're also going to hear something about that.

And education funding.

Daniel ticked off a lot of the things that were accomplished during Murphy's first four years in office.

During his second term, the state has -- and it's a little bit debatable where you put the goalposts, but is fully funding the school funding law that was passed over a decade ago.

So, I'm sure we will hear some things about that as well.

Yeah.

And, of course, fully funding the pension payment as well.

It's interesting, because some of the things that I think were his big crowning achievements in that first term have become hot-button issues, like that school funding formula.

And John, let's stay with this.

Does he get to hang his hat on that?

Although he did fully fund it, it's a system right now that feels, for some districts, unfair as they've told us, and for others, you know, where do we go from here?

How do we move this forward?

It needs to be reassessed.

Everyone agrees to that.

What do you say, John?

Yeah, I mean, I think that that's going to be an issue going forward.

It's something that the new governor is going to have to take on.

The idea of first letting the formula play out in the way in which it was designed.

So for a long time, the state was sort of putting its finger on the scale in terms of giving some districts more money than they really qualified for under the four corners of the formula itself.

And they were also throttling a little bit how much extra money some other districts could get.

Without getting too into the weeds on this, we're now seeing the formula play out more in the way in which it was designed with some of these distortions now taken away.

And that's creating winners and losers in different places.

It's causing them to look again at how much they're raising locally for public schools.

So I think that's a huge issue that's being handed off to the next governor, for sure.

Yeah, she hasn't offered any real specific plan for how she would recommend adjusting that formula.

It is certainly something we'll be covering in the new year.

Brent, another thing I expect the governor to talk about is news that came out this week that New Jersey's rates of gun violence are down.

Can you speak to that and where you think he can kind of tap himself on the shoulder there?

That was one of the things in our chat that I had with him, that he gave himself a high grade on gun laws.

He signed a series of gun laws, especially in his first term, that tighten New Jersey's already significantly strict gun laws.

And he will say that they've done a lot, his administration has done a lot to try and get crime down and to fight, you know, to improve gun safety.

So I do expect that.

That's part of his -- what he calls himself a proud progressive.

And what he sees as his progressive accomplishments, he sees what they have done on guns and violence in that vein.

Daniel, a lot here that the governor has done in eight years on, I would say, women's health overall.

We can first look at, you know, codifying abortion access into law and then maternal health.

And we expect him to be signing soon this bill to increase menopause funding, funding for menopause treatments.

Just broadly speaking, how would you assess the governor's focus there on female health issues?

The governor has definitely prioritized women's health, both in the governor often talking about abortion rights and first lady Tammy Murphy talking about maternal health in New Jersey really being a leader in that space.

The governor, as you had mentioned, codified abortion rights into state law.

Ever since abortion rights nationwide have been in question, New Jersey implemented some SHIELD laws around abortion.

The governor didn't quite get everything he wanted.

So, for example, for the past four years or so, Murphy has wanted to eliminate out-of-pocket costs for abortions on health plans.

That's something that the state legislature has not moved on.

But he could still, as you say, hang his hat on other things like increased funding for family planning clinics, for reproductive health centers, and helping expand the number of reproductive health providers, both through financial means and also lifting some restrictions on the providers who can actually perform abortions.

Those are some of the things the Murphy administration has done.

John, where do you see this administration having not reached its goals?

What is the governor walk away saying, man, I just didn't get that done?

I mean, if you take their list, the one thing they didn't do is establish a public bank in New Jersey, which was something that was talked about a lot.

It was an issue I wrote about a lot when Murphy was running for office and just never really came to fruition, although some things have been done in the area of, you know, using more of the state's financial resources to allow for more investment in places in New Jersey that really need it, not quite having a bank that would take, you know, deposits from all of us and then write out loans.

So, that's one area.

I mean, you know, we can nitpick different things.

You know, they're leaving a structural deficit in the budget to the next administration.

There's some questions about how they're, you know, the new stay-NJ property tax relief program is going to be able to be funded over the long term if it can be.

But you know, obviously, the governor does have a long list of accomplishments that he'll gratefully be able to talk about next week.

Daniel, that question to you.

What do you, what did you hear the governor say he wanted to accomplish before he left that he didn't?

There are a couple legislative priorities that the governor has wanted, but ultimately didn't get done.

I mentioned eliminating out-of-pocket costs for abortions and health plans.

That's been something he's talked about for the past couple of years.

In the sphere of voting rights, the governor has been talking about the same day voter registration, allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections.

Those are two things that the governor really tried to get done, but the state legislature didn't have an appetite to expand voting rights in that capacity.

And I'm just trying to think about-- oh, and in the lame duck session, there are some energy and environmental initiatives, such as trying to codify New Jersey's clean energy standards by 2035 and pushing nuclear energy.

I think those are ultimately things that had to be addressed by the incoming general administration.

Yeah, that was, if we remember, one of his big priorities when he first took office, that clean energy goal.

And it just never got across the finish line.

It doesn't look like it's going to in this last stretch that he's got.

Brent, same question to you.

Yeah, when I asked him if he had many regrets or mistakes, he didn't.

He talked a little bit about COVID and said that he wished they knew more early on, although he felt that wasn't his fault, that it was such an unusual time.

And, you know, he talked a bit about how he defended himself against some of the controversies during COVID and early on in his administration with some other things.

But he really did seem that he felt he accomplished most of what he put out there.

He said he had 50 something like things that he entered office with and got almost all of them, maybe two or a few he didn't get.

So I'm sure on Tuesday we're going to hear him do a victory lap.

I know his critics would probably disagree with a lot of the things, but he feels good about his governorship.

How about fixing New Jersey Transit if it kills me?

That was a promise he made.

Is New Jersey Transit fixed, John?

I mean, can it be fixed?

I think there are things that the governor has done that have moved the needle forward for sure.

Even just improving communication and cooperation with Amtrak, because the federal government owns a lot of the key infrastructure that New Jersey Transit uses and shares with Amtrak.

So just something that's kind of in the weeds or easy to overlook.

You know, it's still hard to see out of windows, and people complain a lot about the on-time performance still.

You know, one big issue to keep in mind is the new funding source for NJ Transit operations that was created during Murphy's tenure is due to expire under the next governor.

And so it will be important to watch whether New Jersey Transit can begin raising enough revenue on its own to be able to be weaned off dedicated revenues that it's receiving right now through a surcharge on some of New Jersey's highest earning businesses.

Yeah.

And I just want to just say that we do see that Chris Calori will be staying on.

He's the head of NJ Transit right now.

He will be staying on through the Sherrill administration.

That's some news for us.

John, we do see a gas tax increasing this year.

Just tell us what's happening there.

So the gas tax did go up on January 1st.

It's the result of a law that's on the books in New Jersey that ties how much we pay in gas taxes to how much is planned to be spent annually on road, bridge and rail infrastructure improvements throughout the state.

And so this sort of takes it out of the political environment and puts it in sort of the number crunching environment for better or for worse.

There are those who vehemently oppose this type of a process and others who say it's creates sound planning and investment.

But a little bit more money.

You probably didn't notice it because gas prices have been pretty flat and even going down a little bit in recent weeks.

So that money is -- if it's any solace to those who don't like taxes, that money is constitutionally dedicated to funding the investments that improve the infrastructure that we use to get around New Jersey every day.

Yeah, absolutely.

I'm going to switch gears for a minute.

We're going to look at what's happening in Minneapolis.

People around the country here in New Jersey are reacting.

There were protests in Newark last night.

The Trump administration says this was a case of domestic terrorism.

Others say that ICE officers violated their own guidelines.

I did have a chance to ask Governor Murphy about it yesterday.

Here's a bit of what he had to say in reaction to that shooting in Minneapolis.

Horrifying, deplorable, despicable.

If the if the video is consistent with the facts and the video is horrific, it is it was an appalling that that woman, I don't care what the circumstances, nothing, none of what I've seen remotely merited this woman losing her life without knowing any more facts.

It's just awful.

Now, while that plays out on the national stage here in New Jersey, we've seen that a package of bills is moving forward in the legislature.

Daniel, what can you tell us about it?

And do you think that we will see the immigrant trust directive signed into law here in New Jersey?

So just in broad strokes, the state legislature is moving a suite of bills that are generally pro-immigrant, anti-ICE.

And to zoom in on it a little bit more, the centerpiece of that would codify into law what is known as the Immigrant Trust Directive, not verbatim, but almost identically.

And what the Immigrant Trust Directive does is that it basically limits state and local police from cooperating with federal immigration authorities in many, many instances.

So this ensures that local police can't be essentially deputized for immigration enforcement.

So this is actually the current posture of the state, but it only exists via executive, by the Attorney General's directive.

What the state legislature is trying to do is write this into law, along with some other pro-immigrant measures.

And what I'm very curious to see is, one, does this actually come up for a full vote in the Senate and Assembly on Monday, and two, on Monday, and does it ultimately get to the governor's desk?

Yeah, and it's a really interesting point in the timing of it, too, because Governor-elect Sherrill has not been supportive of codifying this into law.

She says that the guidance from the attorney general has held muster in the courts, and she thinks that we could open ourselves up to legal challenges if it's passed into law.

But this is a timing issue here, right?

If the legislature is able to get this through, where do you think this leaves the governor-elect, Daniel?

Well, if the legislature is ultimately able to get this through, it will be up to Governor Phil Murphy to sign it.

I do think that the recent events in Minnesota have changed the politics of this a little bit.

And you saw that Thursday in Trenton when a lot of lawmakers did mention the fact that there was a 37-year-old woman who was fatally shot by ICE.

And they used that as an example of why legislation like this could be needed.

So I think that changes the conversation around bills like this.

The governor has weighed in on the Minnesota shooting, but not these bills that are moving forward in Trenton specifically.

Yeah.

I want to switch gears.

Let's get a little bit lighter here.

Brent, I know you're looking at there's going to be a ball in the mall.

Tell us what's happening in a week, a little more than a week from now.

Yeah, Mikey Sherrill, the incoming governor, is doing a few things differently.

She's not having her inauguration in Trenton.

She's having it at the NJPAC in Newark.

And she's having her inaugural ball at the American Dream Mega Mall, although I've had people from American Dream tell me it's technically not a mall.

It's a retail and entertainment complex, but you know, you get the idea.

It's also my daughter's favorite place on earth.

She thinks it's amazing to have an amusement park in the mall.

But yeah, they're going to cover the ice rink there and have a black tie ball at American Dream, which is kind of a symbol for New Jersey, I guess you could say.

Yeah, it is a symbol, but she's also really showing that she wants to do things her way and do it differently.

She's certainly making her mark, at least, in these early kind of symbolic events.

John, she's got-- you talked about the school funding formula, but she's got a whole lot that she's going to step into in terms of the fiscal reality.

Where do you think her biggest challenges are going to be right off the bat?

Probably seeing what comes down from the federal government in terms of proposed and policy changes that are already passed but not yet going into effect.

So, again, it's kind of in the weeds, but things like Medicaid, which is typically a cost share between the federal government and the states, the changes that have been passed but not yet implemented have the potential to shift billions of dollars in cost down to a governor who just by many analysts' conclusions won on affordability issues.

And so there's pressure already.

She's inheriting a structural budget gap.

There's this popular property tax relief program that's just beginning to roll out big checks to senior homeowners.

That's unfunded going forward.

And at the same time, you know, some of those homegrown issues will have to be confronted.

There's the big challenges that could we could see from federal policy changes, not to mention what things like deportations and tariffs are doing to the state economy right now and small businesses.

So definitely she's coming into office at a difficult time.

How about affordable housing as one of her big tasks that she's going to have to take on?

Daniel, switching gears again, we haven't talked too much about the GOP, but they did just elect a new chair, and it's Christine Hanlon from Monmouth County.

What do you make, Daniel, of that selection and what she will do for the party, especially coming off a really painful election?

I think the context in all this is really important.

Christine Hanlon, the Monmouth County clerk, is entering, is becoming the leader of the NJGOP as it is at a historic low point.

They're going to have a super minority in the state assembly.

They're, their most, one of their most prominent elected officials in New Jersey, Republican Congressman Tom Kane Jr.

is up for a really tough re-election in what is looking like what will be an unfavorable environment for Republicans.

So there's definitely a lot of work to be done there.

And she still needs to unify what appears to be a divided party.

The race to be state GOP chair was contested between her and Rosemary Beckey, who was closely allied with Ocean County Chairman George Gilmore.

Although she did win in a landslide.

She did, she did, but it's still, there's still a not insignificant number of votes for the the Beckey faction of the party, let's call it.

Yeah, well, we've got to leave it there.

But before we do, I'm sorry, Daniel, we are out of time.

But I just want to give our audience a quick programming note.

Next Tuesday, January 13th, we're going to bring you live coverage from Governor Murphy's final state of the state address that begins at 3 p.m.

I will be there on the ground at the Statehouse in Trenton.

Briana Vannozzi will be here in the studio with analysis as the outgoing governor reflects on his eight years in office and what he still hopes to accomplish in these final days.

You can watch us right here on NJPBS or on our NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

And that's all we've got for this week's Reporters Roundtable.

Thank you to our panel for being with us today.

You can follow me on Instagram @joannagagisNJ, and go ahead and scan that QR code on your screen to see more episodes of Roundtable.

For all the crew here at Gateway Center in downtown Newark, I'm Joanna Gagis, thanks for being with us, and have a great weekend.

- Major funding for Reporters Roundtable is provided by RWJBarnabas Health.

Let's be healthy together.

- And that's gonna do it for us.

I'm Briana Vannozzi.

For the entire team at NJ Spotlight News, thanks for being with us.

We'll see you right back here on Monday.

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