>> Good evening and thanks for joining us on this Tuesday.

Tonight a few stories we'll get into later in the broadcast.

One week until election day, we'll get you the latest on early voting numbers, campaign spending, and potential lawsuits in the closely watched gubernatorial race.

Then we look at how New Jersey residents are dealing with federal food assistance benefits running out on November 1st due to the government shutdown.

And later, health insurance sticker shock will tell you what you can expect under federal health programs if D.C.

lawmakers fail to pass key tax credits.

But first, a few of today's top headlines.

The federal government shutdown is triggering a new flashpoint over immigration oversight.

Federal authorities at ICE have stopped allowing on-demand access for members of Congress to make unannounced visits to detention facilities.

ICE officials say they don't have the funding or staff to support those visits during the shutdown and that the legal requirement for congressional access expired when government funding ran out.

Instead, the Trump administration argues the operations are being paid for under a separate law that doesn't include a mandate for that access.

Democrats who have used oversight visits to monitor conditions and speak directly with detainees allege the move is an excuse to shut down transparency.

They also have an active lawsuit against the administration for restricting access that began before the shutdown.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson is blaming Democrats for the impasse.

Congresswoman Lamonica McIver today denounced the move as, quote, "an attempt to operate in the dark."

McIver, of course, was charged earlier this year following a tense visit to a Newark detention center.

A federal judge is weighing whether to pause the lawmaker's lawsuit until the shutdown ends.

Also tonight, a Monmouth County community is rallying behind a local restaurant owner detained by federal immigration agents.

Supporters say Ruperto Vincenz Marquez, co-owner and head chef at Emilio's Kitchen in Atlantic Highlands, has a valid work visa and was apprehended while on his way to the restaurant October 19th.

His brother and business partner says agents were actually looking for someone else and it was a case of mistaken identity.

Advocates held a memorial Monday at Veterans Park in Atlantic Highlands with officials from both sides of the aisle making speeches in support, urging residents to contact lawmakers and write letters on his behalf.

The married father of three is being held at Delaney Hall Detention Center in Newark, where another vigil is being planned for this weekend.

The mayor has launched a GoFundMe page to help the Marquez family with legal costs, and his attorney has filed a petition in federal court challenging his detention.

And it's the first day of work with no pay for air traffic controllers.

U.S.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy highlighted their critical role in keeping the sky safe during a press conference today at LaGuardia Airport where he called for an end to the government shutdown, now in its 28th day.

Standing alongside leadership from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Duffy said controllers are working mandatory overtime six days a week on 10-hour shifts.

But some are now taking on side jobs to help make ends meet, adding to their exhaustion.

Meanwhile, yesterday, the Community Food Bank of New Jersey distributed food to more than 400 TSA workers at Newark Airport who have already been working without a paycheck during the shutdown.

The secretary and the head of the association said any job action on the part of the controllers, things like calling out sick, that's illegal.

Still, staffing remains an issue.

44% of all flight delays on Sunday were due to staffing shortages.

That number dipped to 24% on Monday.

But on average, staffing contributes to just 5% of delays.

The Trump administration maintains it is safe to fly, and Duffy today praised controllers' dedication but admitted they're under severe stress.

I've been clear to our air traffic controllers.

They need to show up for work.

They do really important work for our country and they need to show up.

But I'm not going to lie to anybody to not say that they're not feeling the stress.

The fact that they are working, and oftentimes they are head of households.

They're the only income earners in their homes and their families and the fact that they're having a hard time paying their bills.

And this is day one.

And day two gets harder.

Day three is harder after that as expenses continue to roll.

>> And coming up, the countdown is on.

One week to go until election day.

We'll get you the latest on the gubernatorial race and more.

That's next.

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>> Election day is now exactly one week away and New Jersey voters are already turning out in strong numbers.

Nearly 735,000 people have cast ballots early, signaling interest in a gubernatorial race that remains tight, according to polling.

More than half of the early votes were cast by Democrats, but both major party campaigns are pouring resources into get-out-the-vote efforts as spending hits new records.

And statewide voter turnout, of course, remains the big question.

Our senior writer Colleen O'Day joins us with the latest early voting data and what voters need to know before they head to the polls, as we always do this week before Election Day.

Colleen, great to see you.

So what does this data, the numbers that we have so far, tell us about enthusiasm and possible turnout?

So if other things, such as Election Day and the rest of this early voting period, remain constant as what we would expect from past years, certainly there will be a higher turnout.

Typically, we see about 40 percent turnout in a gubernatorial election year.

Right now, we're about 300,000 more people voting than four years ago.

- Early.

- Right, at this same time.

So that's quite a bit of enthusiasm.

- So we're comparing this to 2021, the last statewide gubernatorial election.

300,000, that's nothing to sneeze at, right?

- Not at all.

So that's quite an increase.

Now, what we don't know is, are these people who've decided they're gonna vote early and they don't show up on election day?

Or are these folks who are kind of supplementing that and we're still going to see the same kind of election day turnout?

What about the breakdown between Democrats and Republicans?

Who has the lead so far when it comes to those early returns?

So we're looking at roughly 56% of all of those who have voted are Democrats, 27% Republicans, the rest are unaffiliated or third party voters.

Doesn't mean they've all voted for their party's nominees, but you can probably think that the vast majority of them have.

And does it mean that there's a measurable advantage or should we not put too much stock in that when you look at those numbers?

So if you listen to the Sheryl campaign, it means it's a huge advantage.

And maybe it is.

But you know, if there were to be a surge of Republican turnout on election day, that all gets reversed.

that all flips.

So, you know, we can't say for sure, but certainly it's not bad news for them.

It's good news.

- I mean, and past data, correct me if I'm wrong, tells us that Democrats tend to take advantage of the early voting options, though we've seen Republicans make gains there, but Democrats tend to take advantage of it, and more Republicans have come out at the polls.

Is that not pretty accurate, based off of, you know, all the data from past election cycles?

Absolutely, you're 100% correct.

So that's why I say we don't know who's going to turn out on election day.

Will there be a surge of Republican voters?

You know, we saw last year for the first time this early in-person voting really picking up in terms of more than a million people.

And again, it was majority Democrats, but there were a lot of Republicans who came out.

It was fairly close, much closer than the mail-in ballot numbers.

So, you know, we're seeing the same kind of thing in terms of there are more Democrats voting early than Republicans, though the gap is a little bit closer than the mail-in ballots, where it's like almost two-thirds of those are from Democrats.

What about spending?

I mean, it's been enormous in this race, especially when you combine the primary, I mean, the whole election cycle.

How is that shaping the election when it comes to the gubernatorial race?

- So right now we're at about $90 million just for the general election.

It was $143 million plus for the primary election, so we're just in huge numbers here.

It's kind of mind-boggling.

So now we have this public matching funds, two to one.

You get $2 from the state for every $1 that you raise.

Both candidates have reached the maximum, which is $12.5 million.

And as part of that, they agree to spend no more than roughly 18.5 million.

There are some things that are not included in that cap.

But so where we're seeing a lot of other money coming in is independent spending.

You know, we've got 16 and change million so far from the Democratic Governors Association, about 12 million from the Republican Governors Association and all sorts of other groups there that are contributing to this huge level of spending.

And we continue to hear from those national groups at least and it seems like every couple of days we hear from them that they're going to put another six figures into here.

I mean, it just shows how tight this is.

I mean, if you look at the polling, it certainly shows it, but anytime we see money flooding in at the last minute, that's also a big indicator.

Absolutely.

I want to ask you about this decision that was made this week by the Election Law Enforcement Commission that ruled that Jack Cittarelli, the Republican candidate, can use personal funds in his potential defamation suit against Mikey Sherrill.

What effect might that have on votes given how close it is to election day if he does in fact follow through with it?

So if he were to file suit today or tomorrow, certainly those are huge headlines.

I think it gives Chittarelli a boost among his Republican supporters because we know that they like the idea.

I mean, when you look at what President Trump has done, they like the idea that he is tough, that he, you know, attacks.

So he doesn't let anybody walk all over him.

So that would help him with those folks.

But I think it would also help Mikey Sherrill because she has, and she's already been doing some fundraising, not saying that she's afraid of a lawsuit, but just saying that she's under attack and, you know, she is speaking truth to power.

I think it could probably help both of them.

I mean, but it's also just speaks to the increasingly personal attacks, right, that we've seen throughout this cycle.

Absolutely.

I mean, this is, you know, we had Mike Sherrill complaining about Chitarelli releasing this, you know, her Naval Academy records.

It's just we've, you know, we've gone back and forth.

We've had the debate over did Jack Chitarelli really say he was going to raise the state sales tax to 10 percent.

So it's just these two have been.

It's a lot of muck.

Very quickly in the last 10 seconds, any key deadlines people need to know with this last week?

So early voting every day and 10 to 8, except for Sunday.

That's the last day, 10 to 6.

You got to get your mail-in ballot in by the close of polls on Tuesday, which is 8 p.m.

So as long as you postmark it by then or stick it in one of those drop boxes, it can be still counted for six days after the election.

All right.

And you can, of course, find all of that information in Colleen's reporting on our website, NJSpotlightNews.org.

Colleen, good to see you as always.

Thank you very much, Brie.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans are facing the loss of federal food assistance starting on Saturday, as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, runs out of money amid the ongoing government shutdown.

It's become a flashpoint in the standoff between Democrats and Republicans, and today, New Jersey Attorney General Matt Flatkin announced he's joining on to a multi-state lawsuit against the USDA for what he says is an unlawful suspension of funding for the SNAP program, accusing the Trump administration of using those SNAP recipients as "political pawns" while calling on the court to immediately turn benefits back on.

But as the end of the month ticks closer, the responsibility of feeding families in need is expected to fall on the state's already overwhelmed food bank network.

Raven Santana reports.

Snap this supplemental nutrition assistance program can be the difference between eating and going hungry.

But this November, that lifeline will disappear.

People who are used to getting their benefits at the beginning of the month, it's not going to happen.

And that's related to the shutdown.

The USDA says it won't tap $6 billion in contingency funds to pay for next month's benefits, blaming Democrats for the stalemate in Washington.

Today, New Jersey joined a lawsuit against the administration over that decision.

It's the first time SNAP benefits have ever been halted because of a shutdown, and the efforts will hit home.

Michael Wilson oversees New Jersey's SNAP program.

He says nearly one in nine residents, more than 800,000 people, rely on those funds each month.

If this is not an emergency, I don't know what an emergency is.

To take food and SNAP benefits away from millions of Americans who have done nothing to do this, for them it is an emergency.

Wilson says SNAP recipients who have leftover funds on their EBT cards can still use them in November.

and about 30,000 families will continue getting smaller supplemental benefits from the state.

but much of the need is expected to fall on the state's food banks.

"even if an agreement was made to fund it this week, there would likely be a delay, because it's not just an on-off switch from what we understand.

the mechanics of getting it all funded is not something that can happen in less than a couple days."

New Jersey's food banks already serve record numbers.

In Somerset County alone, the food bank network has seen demand nearly triple in just two years.

"Not to be overdramatic, but it could really be catastrophic.

And not just for places like us.

I mean, you think about, you know, there are folks that are on SNAP that don't necessarily know what's going on that are going to go to the grocery store next week.

They're going to fill up their cart.

They're going to get to the head of the line and the cards going to get rejected.

Steve Katz, executive director of Food Bank Network of Somerset County, says his organization served 32,000 clients last year, up from just 12,000 in 2021.

And he expects this year to break another record.

County has about 12,000 people that are on snap right now.

And we don't have exact numbers, but we're pretty sure that a large percentage of those folks don't come to us or any other food pantry or food bank because they don't need to snap gets them through the month.

So you're looking at a pretty high percentage of these folks on snap that are now going to be what do I do for families like Sylvia Serrano's in Camden.

The prospect of losing snap is devastating.

She receives $100 a month to help feed her four grandchildren, two of whom are autistic and are only able to eat certain foods.

And it's it's come in handy because it helps me supply because I have kids, grandkids that are autistic.

Serrano says without snap assistance, getting food for her grandchildren will be harder.

"Trying to figure out, okay, when that ends, how do I get the remaining month of things for them?

As a grandparent, it's not so easy to, with autistic children, to get to a food bank, to get to a pantry, to get anywhere.

So it's going to affect, it's going to affect really, really hard for everybody, especially in my situation.

The USDA has placed blame on Democrats for failing to approve spending measures, while Senator Cory Booker called it quote, a new and disgusting low.

We provide over 100 million meals a year.

And then we're just we cover 11 counties.

But for every meal that the food banks cover, SNAP covers about nine.

So like when you think about that proportion, the amount of you know, deficit that there will be is really pretty overwhelming.

Governor Phil Murphy's office says SNAP benefits in New Jersey are secure through October 31st and WIC benefits for women, infants and children will continue through November 10th.

After that, everything depends on Congress.

For NJ Spotlight News, I'm Raven Santana.

Well open enrollment for New Jersey's health insurance marketplace begins this week, but hundreds of thousands of residents could face staggering sticker shock as federal subsidies for the health plans, which are the state version of the Affordable Care Act, hang in the balance.

Premiums on the marketplace are expected to jump nearly 175% next year, according to state data, putting coverage at risk.

State regulators warn many families may be forced to downgrade plans or go without insurance altogether.

The expected loss of the federal subsidies is tied to the ongoing budget standoff in Washington and the Murphy administration says it can't fill the gap if Congress fails to act.

For more, we're joined by Brittany Holum-Trundy, Research Director with New Jersey Policy Perspective.

Brittany, thanks for coming on the show.

I want to ask you first about the key factors contributing to these premium increases.

Why are they going up so much?

Excellent question.

Thank you.

So what we have here are enhanced premium tax credits that were introduced during the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic that are now expiring.

So these credits helped people by improving affordability on the health insurance marketplace here in New Jersey.

It's called Get Covered NJ.

And they increase the amount of federal assistance that people with lower incomes received and provided assistance for people who were previously ineligible for federal assistance on the marketplace.

So that is where we are seeing the big jumps because there are people who are losing some federal assistance and others who are completely losing federal assistance and will no longer be eligible.

But premiums, right, they were set to go up because of, you know, increased costs, inflation, right, increased drug price costs, including for some of the weight loss drugs that have become more commonplace.

It seems, though, like these subsidies make up a big share of that.

Just how much is the scale?

So yes, there were increases for health coverage rates anyway.

We have seen health care costs increasing over the last several years.

That has made affordability really difficult for many.

But these enhanced premium tax credits again they scaled assistance on the marketplace in such a way that there wasn't a subsidy cliff cliff for people.

So that is where we are seeing the big jump in there again tens of thousands of people who are losing federal assistance altogether on the marketplace.

And so if you could give us an example of what say an individual might see their premium increase for your regular health insurance plan.

So it depends on your county.

It depends on your income.

But for example, an individual who is older may see a couple of thousand in an increase.

But they may also, if they are just over that eligibility level for these enhanced premium tax credits and so are no longer eligible for any federal assistance, they may see a jump of $20,000 per year if they are a couple.

It may be $10,000 per person.

So it really depends on the individual and their income and the plan and everything.

But it's going to be thousands of dollars for most people.

And so then what's your chief concern, Brittany, for the, as I mentioned, about half a million people in New Jersey who are on the marketplace, for the folks who do rely on this to get health insurance?

My chief concern is that, as you've already pointed out, affordability of health care coverage is key.

And we've seen how important that has been from the protections that were introduced during the pandemic.

So these tax credits, the lowering of red tape barriers for Medicaid enrollees, we saw our uninsured rate go down during the pandemic.

We saw improvements.

And since those have started to roll back, we have seen more and more people becoming uninsured because they are just facing a terrible choice.

The coverage is becoming unaffordable.

And if they're having to spend 30 percent of their income on health care coverage, and then they spend over 30 percent on rent, they spend another chunk of it on utility bills, eventually, they've spent all of their income, and they haven't even paid for food yet.

And so that means they're going to end up having to make a choice about which bills to pay.

And oftentimes, people will choose, unless they have a current medical emergency, they will choose to forego health insurance.

And then they face a greater risk of just insurmountable medical debt if they do face a crisis and or emergency going forward.

How might this then affect enrollment numbers.

We've seen enrollment on the marketplace decline gradually.

How might this further affect that.

And then more broadly just the overall stability of the market.

So we have seen enrollment improve where there have been affordability improvements.

And so as these protections are lost as the coverage becomes unaffordable we will definitely see fewer people enrolling through the marketplace.

And again many people will just go uninsured even if they are eligible because they cannot afford it.

And as we see numbers decreasing for the marketplace we see more and more problems with health care prices going forward because the health care system is a complicated and yet delicately balanced system that really relies on people remaining insured and following up having medical care in order to really keep everything affordable for everyone.

Brittany Holum-Trundy with New Jersey Policy Perspective, thanks so much for your time and your perspective.

Thank you.

That's going to do it for us tonight.

But a reminder, you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us anytime by subscribing to the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel.

Plus, you can always follow us on Instagram and Blue Sky to stay up to date on all the state's big headlines.

And with Election Day just around the corner, check out our voter guide to get up to speed on the candidates and races on the ballot this year.

>> Head to the NJ Decides 2025 tab on our homepage.

I'm Brianna Vannozzi.

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

We'll see you right back here tomorrow.

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