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MTNJAGMBBlock0722_2025-07-22-16-22-33

Welcome back to Ask Governor Murphy here on News 12 New Jersey. Governor, uh, I want to talk about some news that came out today. A federal panel, uh, a judge, uh, of judges rather in New Jersey is blocked. Interim US Attorney Lena Habba, uh, voting against extending her time as the interim, uh, attorney. They've appointed Desiree Lee. Grace to the job, she actually was tapped by Haba as her first assistant. um Habba, as you well know, had said when she first took the job, said that she would look into UN AG Matt Platin for at the time what she said was, uh, failing to assist immigration enforcement in the state. So I, I, I, I just wanna ask you first and foremost your thoughts on the news, uh, and, and what do you know about Desiree Lee Grace? Um, our team, uh, knows, uh, she goes by Desi, our team knows Desi, um, over the years, um, I do not know her. I've heard good things about her, uh, and obviously wish her well. um, I don't know that today's step by the judges was a surprise that sort of had been telegraphed. And the, and to be an interim in that interim role you get 120 days correct and that's basically now yeah and you, you need your US senators to support your going to the floor of the Senate for a nomination. I mean, Alina's got, I, I mentioned this when she was first appointed, putting politics aside, she's a Jersey gal, um, through and through, and secondly, she's got, she comes from a family with a really. Absolutely prototypical American dream story of immigrants coming into the country, uh, but you know we respect federal laws, we respect the US Attorney's office we cooperate wherever, uh, we're asked and wherever it's possible and we did that with Alina and we'll do it, uh, with Desi or whoever else is in that seat, uh, in the future. Governor, I want to continue on along the lines of immigration enforcement because today also the Third Circuit invalidated New Jersey's law barring private prison companies from operating federal immigration detention centers. Uh, the case centered on Core Civic, which runs the facility in Elizabeth, but it also has relevance obviously to GEO Group and Delaney Hall. Um, is the state gonna challenge us? Too early to tell. Um, we're still considering our legal options. We had a discussion, um, about this earlier today, uh, so no news to break there disappointed in the decision, um, I, I think I can say with great respect, I don't agree with it, uh, but where we go from here, uh, too early to tell, but we're reviewing all of our options. Delaney Hall, as you know, is currently also housing some of the employees who were rounded up in an ICE raid at the Albeine and Spirits in Eelson. 20 people were taken in. DHS referred to as illegal aliens. Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Trisha McLaughlin said that there will be no safe spaces for industries to harbor violent criminals or purposely try to undermine law enforcement efforts. She went on to say workside enforcement remains a cornerstone of our efforts to safeguard public safety, national security, and economic stability. What what do you know about the individuals who were taken into custody? Uh, in this particular case I don't know. I, I, I have no more insight than than you have. This has been entirely a federal matter and we weren't involved. I'm curious on on her comments about workplace because the president himself a couple of weeks ago, I think you probably recall, did a U-turn on restaurants, farms, maybe hotels. I forget the third category, uh, that's a curious. Statement in the context of the employment realities that a lot of sectors and industries uh uh face with immigration or or without. if you're a criminal, uh, you've got no and you've if you've committed a serious crime, we're we in New Jersey are gonna come after you whether regardless of what your immigration status is, um, that's the first port of call for us. It's the immigration trust directive has been very helpful to us since 2018. Um, it's held up under judicial review, including by, uh, President Trump appoint at least one appointee. Uh, and it, it's a, it's not the only reason we're the safest state in America, but it's one of the key ones, uh, and it basically says we're in the business of fighting crime. We're not in the in the business first and foremost of immigration enforcement, so. Regardless of your status, you commit a crime in New Jersey we're, we're gonna come after you. Uh, I don't know the status of the folks. The reason I say that is I don't know the status of the folks that they got in that workplace right, correct. So it could well be that they're criminals. I don't know that, um, but, uh, our, our job first and foremost is not immigration enforcement. We cooperate clearly and we have from moment one. Uh, where, where, where there's a confluence of interests, particularly if we're going after somebody who's committed a serious crime, but beyond that I don't have any more insights on that one. Governor, let's get to the phones right now. We have a call from John and Elizabeth. Uh, John, thanks for calling in. What's your question? Hello, John. How you doing, Governor? Nice to talk with you again. Likewise, um, I want to ask about the anchor benefit registration now. I, my aunt just went through the whole process because now they changed it where you have to use ID me in order to put your application through, um. My question is, what are you going to do about, what can seniors do that don't have someone assisting them or don't know how to use a computer in order to get their anchor benefit, especially with the letter deadline coming up in August? Yeah, good question, John. Um, I'm gonna Stella Porter on my team. is with me. I'm gonna ask her to uh get Dennis Zeveoff, our chief policy, uh, person to personally reach out to you, John, within the next 24 hours. Uh, not an uncommon question for us, um, and Dennis can walk you through exactly. How you, how you track it down. I'm forgetting the phone number. uh, Stella can help me track that, uh, remind me, uh, but we can very for folks watching out there who aren't gonna get a call from Dennis, uh, like John will, uh, there's a phone number out there that you can call and, and they'll they'll walk you through how you deal with this if you don't have access to a computer. The anchor program continues to be wildly successful. It's got a particular, which is why John's question is also. Particularly relevant because it's got a uh a super sized element for seniors, both renters and homeowners, um, and it has, it's the most historic property tax relief program in the history of the state. So John, thanks for weighing in and we'll get you, we'll get you what you need in the next 24 hours. We had another caller a moment ago, Governor who wanted to know uh what the timeline is for payments for senior freeze and anchor and anchor payments. Beginning in the fall, um, uh, which is the cycle we've been on, um, over the past couple of years, so look out for that, uh, when we're back to school, right, we're gonna take another quick break we'll be right back with more. Ask Governor Murphy when we come back.

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MTNJAGMCBlock0722_2025-07-22-16-30-20

Welcome back to Ask Governor Ry. Governor, before we get to the next topic, I know you wanted to just circle back on something. Anchor the number you could call folks 888-238-1233. 888-238-1233. If you have any questions at all about your anchor property tax relief benefits. Alright, thank you, no problem, Governor. All right, uh, let's, let's move on and talk about a topic that's on, uh, many in mind right now, especially. With the, the intense heat that we've seen over the summers, air conditioning, cranking, Ali Khan asked this question, wants to know, are there any plans to do something about the ridiculous increase in our utility bills? And, and, and I'll follow that up, Governor, just by, um, talking about, uh, your letter you, uh, I believe you, along with a group of bipartisan governors sent a letter to PJM, correct, uh, Alion, is that the name? Yeah, that's the handle, OK, uh, oh, I see. OK, um. Stella, let's get, um, uh, Christine Gul Sidovi, the, uh, president of the board of Public Utilities to follow up with Ali Khan. So Ali Khan, yeah, the, the, the dead of winter and the dead of summer is where we, the rubber hits the road in terms of. Uh, energy usage of all the affordability issues, etc. So several things. Number one, we put out an announcement in June, I think of over $430 million of rate relief that's gonna start coming at folks in September, October, November, uh, even more money within that bucket for folks, uh, who are in, uh, more economically challenged circumstances. That's number one. Number 2, we've worked with all the big public utilities in the state. To basically spread out the summer bills over a a period of months that are less problematic, uh, usually the fall and the spring or the blocks that are less problematic. So that's not necessarily that that's not money back, but it is taking the pressure off of the high peak months of payment for energy, particularly given the heat. Thirdly, as you rightfully point out, we're New Jersey's a member of a multi-state cooperative that's been around for over 100 years, uh, makes complete sense. It's about 13 states in the District of Columbia. Uh, you know, you're in Pennsylvania. We wake up one day, you need, uh, power. I've got it in New Jersey or vice versa. I need it. You've got it and it works pretty well until lately, uh, and it's stopped working at the level it needs to work. It has 1600. Back projects energy projects that it has not yet approved. So, so what are you calling for in this letter? Calling for, uh, uh, two things, uh, in particular in this letter calling for for governance, a shift in governance. It's a bipartisan letter. We have an incredibly, uh, to call it a bank shot would be overstating it by multiples, but the, the gap between the states. And the actual actions at PJM is unacceptable, so we're asking literally for for board seats, uh, and more broadly we're asking for them to push that pipeline of approval through 1600 projects, by the way, 79 of which are in New Jersey. Uh, we, we've got a big supply demand imbalance, uh, part of that is because of good news we're a hot state. We've got more people living here than ever, more businesses in operation than ever. But let's, let's amp up the supply side. That's why the offshore wind decision by the Trump administration, I don't agree with, uh, that, that would be a huge 11.5 gigawatts of supply that's sitting there. Let's get PJM to accelerate their queue of in backlog. And let's get more supply and power built, um, you know, we are head over heels, uh, already we're a big nuclear state. We're now becoming one of the big solar states, which is a great thing. Let's keep that trend going. I'm gonna sign a bill that's going to accelerate the solar promulgation. We need more supply. Um, and we'll keep at it until we get it, by the way, New Jersey policy perspective also slammed PJM as a barrier to affordable, reliable. I think that's a fair, I mean, I, we met with them, by the way, we had a civil meeting. I don't think they're in this for the wrong reasons, but they're just not getting, getting like what what does Chris Berman say? they gotta get off the schneide uh, that's the diplomatic phrase. We're gonna take another quick break. We'll be right back with more of that Governor Murray.

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MTNJAGMDBlock0722

Welcome back to Ask Governor Murphy. I'm Eric Lanzer along with Governor Phil Murphy, and we are taking your questions this afternoon, this evening. Uh, remember there's numerous ways you can get those questions to the governor. You can give us a call 888-639-7126. That's of course 888 News. 12 and jam going into first this time. Uh, you can also get to us on the news 12 New Jersey Facebook page or get to us on X. Just use the hashtag #Ask govMurphy. Governor, we have a caller right now. We have Phil from Rahway on the line. Phil, thanks for calling in. What's your question? Hey, Phil. Uh, good afternoon. My concern is a double standard that we have with regard to motor vehicle rules and regulations. As a licensed driver, I had to pass a test. I had to pay a fee, and I'm obligated to abide by rules, regulations and laws. People on these electric scooters do. Not have to abide by the same criteria. I see 12 year olds that are out on the highway. They're going as fast as automobiles. I see them on Route 27. I see them. They're on the sidewalk, then they're out in the street. Without regard for rules and regulations. Traffic lights mean nothing. Stop signs mean nothing. You, you're coming, please. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more, Phil. By the way, great name. Uh, uh, I completely agree with you. I'm gonna ask Kate McDonald, who's our chief counsel, Stella, if you could help me there to follow up with Phil. uh, but you're right, some communities have dealt with this at a local level. Uh, I'm open to Uh, fixes that we, we could come to at the state level. In fact, Phil, part of the reason I want Kate to reach out to you is get your firsthand experience on what you think we should do and, uh, what you think works or what may not work, uh, but I, I agree this is a, this is an issue. I just signed a big bill on this was the pedestrian safety on pedestrian and, uh, and, and basically pedestrian and bicyclists. Uh, which is the flip side of what Phil is saying. It's basically to make sure as you're coming through driver's education, that's a picture of the signing, in fact, um. Uh, when you're coming through the driver's education process taking your test that there's now a real intensity and focus on dealing with pedestrians and bicyclists, uh, so that, that's the other side of the coin that Phil is asking about. That's the motorists responsibility. Uh, the numbers in New Jersey are unacceptable in terms of fatalities and crashes. They're down this year. I'm happy to say. Down meaningfully in the 1st 6 months, but they're still well north of zero and, and Phil's question gets to the other side of that coin. What's the, what, what construction we have in place that we don't have in place and what's the responsibility of the person on that electric scooter? So we'll follow up with you, Phil. Governor, here's a question on X. This is from uh Texas Gang Green. Uh, he wants to know, he says other states have been utilizing red light cameras to change driver behavior and increase local state revenues. Why does New Jersey not utilize this opportunity? Also, if it was decided in the state legislature, can it be voted on to change the decision now I know a number of years ago we did have a pilot program here. We did. It's, it's got more controversy around it than I would have guessed. Um, in, in largely in the privacy, um, lane, uh, they have proven to be effective. There's no question about that, uh, and we try all sorts of different things. I'll give you one example of we announced, I announced probably 6 months ago, uh, we pinpointed literally 10 intersections in the state. That have a disproportionate, uh, causal effect on our fatalities and crashes and we committed along with our great commissioner of Transportation Fran O'Connor, that we would restructure, reimagine those 10 intersections, and we're gonna get that done, Fran and his people by October. Uh, that should be a big game changer. Open minded to the camera usage, um, open minded to anything that limits fatalities, injuries, and any crashes that we're dealing with. Governor, let's move on to a recent CNBC study ranked New Jersey 30th, uh, in their list of top states for business. This is in 2025. We, according to their, uh, survey, we dropped 5 places. New Jersey earned an F in business friendliness ranking forty-ninth, and we got a D+ in cost of living. Now there were other areas where education and quality of life where New Jersey ranked. Fairly highly NJBIA president Michelle Siekerka saying this, this reaffirms that our exceedingly high business taxes, income taxes, property taxes, and our extreme regulatory burdens do indeed have consequences both for our national business reputation and for our overall decline in Fortune 500 companies. She says she's hoping the next governor will improve our reputation. Uh, why do you think New Jersey ranked so far down on the CNBC list? Yeah, I was disappointed to see it. By the way, the next day CNBC put a different list out, which I noticed you're not asking me about. What states would you are best quality of life to raise a family. We finished in the top. Uh, behind two states that are very different looks, Maine and Vermont. Uh, so let's in the interest of full disclosure, I want to get both sides of those, uh, out there. Listen, we have more people employed right now than ever before. We have more businesses in operation than ever before. The facts speak for themselves. That's those are, those are facts. And in particular we've spent an enormous amount of energy on rebooting the startup economy. We just announced our 12th strategic innovation Center today, which is in the maternal and infant health space that my wife. Emmy has led so great on over the past 7.5 years. Uh, do I care about affordability? You betcha. Do I want to make sure that we are well balanced in regulation? Absolutely. I'll give you an example. Uh, we just put out this week, um, uh, rules of the road of how do you develop responsibly in this state and getting it a balance between the, the rightful environmental concerns with the most densely populated state in America. You can't get an F on the environment. And on this side when you've got companies and families moving into the state again we have more people living here than ever before. The, the facts, I, I, I, I don't wanna let the, the pesky facts get in the way. Getting that balance, what, what do you do to accommodate those businesses and those families in a first class responsible way while not selling your soul and continuing to lead in the environment? That's a hard balance to get. I think we've largely gotten that balance right, but that's an example of regulations that. Yeah, you can't just willy-nilly say we're gonna ignore the environment. Uh, you can't maybe you could do that some places you can't do it in New Jersey. I want to talk about something that, uh, the perception is at least among some in the state, uh, your advisory council on opioids, um, the opioid settlement among them who say that you got it wrong, um, the state's new spending plan, which you signed into law on June 30th, diverted $45 million from the opioid settlement fund. To 4 hospital systems, majority of members of the state's opioid council, uh, wrote an open letter to you, to, uh, Senate President Scutari as well as Assembly Speaker Coughlin, uh, and we actually did have, uh, I'm sorry, part of the letter and said this until this past week New Jersey was a national model in how we managed our opioid settlement funds, making targeted investments in services proven to save lives. That all changed when state lawmakers suddenly and unexpectedly diverted. 45 million of opioid settlement funds to four large politically connected hospital systems with no strings attached or plan for how those funds will be funds will be spent. AG Matt Platin also really decried this move as well and promised to watch these hospital systems like a hawk. Uh, Morgan Thompson, who's on the advisory council, joined us on Power and Politics, and this is what she had to say. The settlements are only about a $50 billion.57 dollars now with the Purdue settlement for the 18 year period, so it's a drop in the bucket of what the real costs are, which means that these funds have to be invested very strategically for them to have the intended impact. So what this means practically is that. In a couple of years, the investments that we have made uh in evidence-based harm reduction centers in community recovery centers, places where people find lasting recovery, where people find safety, uh, won't be able to access those services they'll dry up. Why were the funds allowed to be diverted, Governor, and did you consider using a line item veto on this? By the way, Morgan is terrific and one of the great leaders in this space. Um, a budget of $58 billion is a compromise. Uh, this is not, was not a priority for me. I have to say that unequivocally, but it was a priority. For some of the legislature and in the bigger scheme of things this is a budget that I feel very, very good about. Not everything in the budget is perfect. Not everything in the budget is the way I would see it. Um, having said that, uh, we're gonna keep an open mind. I'm a little bit with all due respect to the criticism, uh, which I, uh, which not only do I accept but understand, um. I'm, I'm in the end both category. Uh, hospitals deal with a lot of opioid issues as well. In fact, that's the place most people are going, uh, in, in crisis. I'm not sure what politically connected hospitals there, they happen to be 4 of the best hospital chains in America. Uh, they're all nonprofits, I should also add. I think there's room for and both harm reduction centers and smart projects at hospitals. We will watch every penny like a hawk. I appreciate what the attorney General said, uh, and completely respect his position, but he, he didn't have to tell us to, to watch every penny. We're gonna, we're gonna do that, um, without question. Would I like to see some, some more money in this space plus up, uh, the harm reduction piece. Yes, we've got 6 months to go. We'll see how our revenues go and no promises, but, um, uh, would love to have an and both solution here. Governor, we're gonna take another quick break. We'll be right back with more. Ask Governor Murphy.

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MTNJAGMEBlock0722_2025-07-22-16-55-03

Welcome back to As Governor Murphy right here on News Cork New Jersey. I'm Eric Llan, Colonel. Let's get things back to the phones right now. We have Sal from Union City on the line. Sal, what's your question? Hello Sal. Hi, Governor. How are you doing? I'm doing great, man. How about you? I'm doing OK. So my question is in regards to affordable housing. I live in Union City, New Jersey, and all the houses going up are condos in the upwards of 800,000 plus and zero affordable housing units being built for people who can't live. It's very sad. So my question is, how can we go about building units for people to live in? I mean, my rent went from 800 and now it's $2000. I mean, not everybody makes $50 to $100 an hour, you know what I'm saying? I totally, I understand completely. First of all, Sal, let me just get off my chest how much I love Union City. Uh, you've got one of the greatest mayors in America, uh, and I'm there a lot. Uh, I've been there a lot over the years and I'll be there a lot over the next 6 months. Secondly, I'm gonna ask my colleague Rob Field to reach out to you. Uh, Rob knows Union City like the back of his hand, and again you're blessed with an extraordinary mayor. We have put an enormous amount of resources into affordable housing, not just in the in the narrow sense, Sal, of what your good question is about, which is we're short units. Uh, the experts think that we're short 200,000 units in New Jersey alone of affordable housing, um. So we put a lot of energy, effort, dollars into that piece of it, but also more broadly, um, defining affordable housing in a sort of more holistic sense we put a lot of money for instance into first time homeowner down payment assistance programs. Uh, that's had a particular positive impact in black and brown communities. Uh, so Sal, we, we get, I get you 1000%. I think Hudson County is the most densely populated county in America. We're the most densely populated state and it's getting even more so. Union City is no exception of that, getting more so, uh, but by the day. Again, largely a good thing. People want to be in Jersey. They like what they see. They wanna raise a family here. They like our values, etc. uh, but it comes with a responsibility, and that's housing seats in schools, roads that work, rail, etc. uh, and we take all of that very seriously. So Sal, I will make sure Rob Field reaches out to you within the next 24 hours and. Godspeed in the meantime, Governor, I want to turn our attention now to a letter that you just sent to the Secretary of Defense as well as Secretary for the Army, uh, regarding the Army Transformation initiative and specifically how this pertains and how this could affect the Picatinny arsenal. What's your concern here, uh, and what are you asking? So the concern is largely based on rumor, but the rumor has been pretty loud and coming from a number of different sources that they're gonna do some sort of consolidation, uh, and, uh, two things will result. Number one, job loss, uh, and these are highly technical, very sophisticated. Positions and secondly, the experts, and I'm not an expert in this respect, uh will say that we will become as a nation and certainly in this region far less prepared as a military matter. I want to give Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill and and and and Democratic nominee for governor a huge shout out here. It's in her Piccaninny is in her district. She organized a bipartisan. I think every member of our federal delegation save one. Uh, signed on to a bipartisan letter. Uh, I have then separately, as you rightfully pointed out to the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Army sent our own letter basically in both cases looking for more information, more time to study implications, etc. Um, and, and this is something we take very, very seriously. This is a, a crown jewel, uh, in New Jersey. It has been for a long time and we wanna make sure it stays that way. Well, here's a topic that folks are taking extremely seriously down in Ocean County, uh, Governor, uh, recent state Supreme Court decision which paves the way for part of Berkeley Township. We're talking about the South Seaside Park section on the barrier island to break away and join Seaside Park. That's Seaside Park wants it. Have you spoken with either mayor about this? And, and do you have a stance on this one way or the other? Yeah, this is probably one I don't want to get in the middle of, uh, but it's, it's one that I know well. I know both communities very, very well. We spend, uh, whenever we can, a good chunk of our summer in Ocean County right in and around there. We drive through, uh, South Seaside Park, uh, uh, when we're in that part of the state literally every day. Um, and it's an anomaly. It's, it's, this goes back to the 19th century, I believe where you had the, the mainland communities each sort of with a, a chunk of the barrier island, and Berkeley Township is no exception. Uh, I spoke to one of the council members in, uh, in one of those communities. I won't say which to get some, uh, insight on this. Uh, the argument for it, I think, is that it makes more geographic sense. Uh, to look at it alongside Seaside Park proper, the argument against it, I assume, would be the money, the revenue that's, I think you or someone said that 10% of their rateables are in South Seaside Park. Also history. I mean this is what it's been like for a long time, uh, so we'll see, um, but it's not unique to Berkeley Township, I have to say, and that part of the state we, we have fallen head over heels in love with, um. In South Seaside Park is no exception. It's hard not to fall in love with the beach and that said, Governor, here's a question from one of our viewers. OK. Why do we pay for beaches? Why do we pay for beaches in New Jersey? That's a, it's a good question. We, I saw, I saw the, the graphic flash up ahead of her question. I missed who she was. I missed it as well. Emily, it's Emily. Emily, OK, Hillside, um. Uh, Stella, if you could help, uh, uh, again, Dennis to maybe Dennis Eveoff to track down for Emily, uh, we sure, first of all, we sure do pay for our, our, our beaches in New Jersey, not every place does. Uh, it's a big lifeblood. Our producer Tarak, uh, she's. She's originally from Long Island and she says that we would do she said we don't pay for it there. That is correct, but this is a local thing. It's not a state thing like with the exception of something like Island Beach State Park, which is in fact a state park, um, and it's a big lifeblood, uh, economically for these communities. You know, they're basically in business from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and as they say, you gotta make hay while the sun shines, uh, and that, that's the reason for the tradition and. Uh, I think, my guess is that that's a tradition that's going to continue to go on for a long time. All right, Governor, we're going to take another quick break. We'll be back with more. Ask Governor Murphy.

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MTNJAGMFBlock0722_2025-07-22-16-59-01

All right, welcome back, Governor. Uh, kind of a very quick lightning round here. First, uh, you had a pretty big groundbreaking over in Newark. Uh, this was for the Greenway project. Very quickly talk about that. Really cool. It'll be a 9 mile stretch that will connect 8 communities. It's former Norfolk Southern rail track. It'll take a bunch of years. This is the. First mile that we kicked off, it'll make the high line in New York City look like minor leagues. This is from Jersey City to Montclair, correct? And we were in Newark for that particular stretch. All right, let's talk about FIFA Club World Cup. Uh, how did it go? Went really well. Um, 9 matches. 1st 5 we averaged 35 to 40,000. Last 4, including the final, we averaged. Upper 70,000s packed houses, great soccer, um, can't say enough good things and it's a great appetizer for the if somebody called it the granddaddy of them all next year, the World Cup will have the final next year in New Jersey and actually we've got something coming up this weekend in MetLife. Yeah, we got the Premier League doubleheader on Saturday night at MetLife. Uh, they've sold that probably 40 or 45,000 for that, and I think there are tickets still available. You got Manchester United, among others. Uh, we, we're soccer central right now globally, not just in America. Couldn't be happier about that. Rest in peace, uh, Malcolm Jamal Warner and Connie Francis, two New Jersey legends. Governor, thank you, uh. Final words very quickly, uh, have everyone have a great summer and please when you get warned on the weather, particularly this weekend, please take it seriously. Use your head, common sense, stay safe. Governor, it's good to see you as always. Thanks for coming to the studio and thank you for watching this episode of Ask Governor Murphy. I'm Eric Lazer. You're watching News 12 New Jersey. News continues in a few moments.

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Gov. Phil Murphy answered viewers' questions on News 12 New Jersey's “Ask Gov. Murphy” program.

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