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Never enough time to talk about all there is to discuss with my next guest, so let's dive right in and welcome back to the show, Congressman Josh Gottheimer. Congressman, it's always great to see you. Thanks for having me, Eric. Listen, more than a half a million New Jerseyans were enrolled in the Affordable Care Act marketplace last year. Let's start there. Word came Thursday that a bipartisan compromise to extend the enhanced ACA tax credits has now stalled in the Senate. What are you hearing about the impasse from your end? Well, we've been working on this together, Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate for months now. Uh, we've hit some bumps in the Senate. I've been working closely with my colleagues there and talking to them, uh, nearly every day about what we do now. But, but here's the reality, as of January 15th, early enrollment ended, uh, and you're talking about for millions of Americans, you point out hundreds of thousands of people in New Jersey, um, their premiums shot up significantly for a family of four. Or you're talking about $20,000 and 175% increase in premiums. It's just unaffordable for people. And so many people will drop off healthcare altogether. We're already seeing that happen, or their healthcare premiums will go up massively and they'll change their plans. They'll downgrade their plans. All of that unacceptable, especially at a time when people need to do everything we can to make their lives more affordable. Um, so, We're going to keep working, Eric. We're not done. In fact, we're, we're back at it. I was on calls again today, and we're not going to stop working this until we solve the problem. But let's be, let's be realistic. Premiums and healthcare, the cost just keep going up and up and up, and people, it's just becoming unaffordable for far too many people in our state and around the country. What's the sticking point here? How does the Senate bill differ from what was passed in the House? So in the House, what we did was we passed a 3-year extension of these tax credits that bring, bring your premiums down, your health insurance premiums down. Um, in the Senate, they've said that they don't want to pass that. What we sent to them this 3-year extension of what we currently do to support people's premiums, these tax credits again to, to lower, to lower the premiums, these tax credits. And so the Senate has said, can we find a compromise. So we've been working with them on that, which would do various things including C who will be able to use these extra tax credits and other provisions to go after fraud, which I support and where we've been going, frankly, I think it would be a good place in many ways for People in Jersey, um, but we got to get there. You've got a lot of people on the, on the far right that are trying to bring, unfortunately bring other issues into this that would, would, would ruin the deal. And so I'm gonna, we're going to keep going, and I've been on the phone again with Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate. We had a big meeting yesterday and we're not stopping. Let's shift gears now to Iran, a wide range of topics today just to show some of what's been going on in the country. We've got some video here. Millions, as you know, have been taking to the streets calling for an end to the oppressive extremist regime. It's the world's leading state sponsor of terror, and they have been met with violence. The people in the streets there. Estimates range from anywhere from 2000 to 12,000 or more people killed by Iranian forces, while here at home. There has been a deafening silence. Not a single celebrity uttered a peep at the Golden Globes, and the so-called social justice warriors who claim to care about human rights while calling for murder of Jews are nowhere to be found. So where are they? I mean, by the way, I'm scratching my head about the same question. Now listen, the government there is our enemy, the enemy of the United States of America, right? They've killed our service members, attacked our bases, attacked our allies. They are, as you point out, the leading state sponsor of terror in the world. Hamas, Hezbollah, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, you name it, the Houthis, they've been involved in supporting some of our biggest enemies. They've also brought in now Iraqis. And Hezbollah to kill their own people, people who just want a better future and a better life, and they've been oppressed, economically oppressed, socially oppressed, and this is an opportunity obviously for them to speak to their government and say enough, and the government is turning around, as you said, and killing thousands of people there. Of course we're short on details right now because they shut down the internet. In the country, so we're not getting a lot of details. This is a very important moment. Americans should be speaking out against this government that is killing their own people for standing up for their own rights. Do you think the US should and will intervene? Sorry, do you think the US should and will intervene? I think the United States right now should the people are speaking up and speaking out. We know that Iran is the government of Iran is reconstituting their ballistic missiles that's been reported publicly. I believe we've got to make sure that we are vigilant and watching for an opportunity to stand up to this government and make sure that as they reconstitute again try to attack our bases and our service members and our allies, that we stop it. Obviously we had a very successful mission a couple of months ago, and I think we've got to. Be vigilant, watch it every day. But again, the people are standing up and speaking out, and I think we should support the people who are doing that. Congressman, let's bring it home here. In the past week we learned that the state legislature would once again not be advancing a bill to adopt the widely accepted IRAHA definition of anti-Semitism. Lieutenant Governor Taisha Way, who's actually also running for Mikey Sherrill's old congressional seat, showed some moral clarity, saying at a candidates forum that she takes offense that her own state did not adopt IHRA. You're dialed into this. How does a bill supported by 3 quarters of the assembly fail to move forward? I mean, that, that's the biggest question. You nearly 80% of the assembly in New Jersey supporting this bill, and yet they didn't bring it for a vote. That's the 4th 4th highest anti-Semitic incidents in population of Jews in the country in New Jersey. 35 other states have adopted this this basic outline of, of anti-Semitism so that we can stand up to it, understand where it is. And what you do about it, and the assembly and the Senate did not move forward, which, as you know, is beyond frustrating when you have nearly 80% of the legislature backing it. So I think now we have to make sure we make a go again and, and beyond that, and something I've been very focused on is where you're seeing foreign influence, an increase of foreign influence in our colleges in New Jersey and And at our K-12 schools you're seeing countries like Qatar and others putting dollars in and to influence people in our country, and I think we need to watch that carefully as we make it clear what anti-Semitism is and do everything we can to stand up to hate in all forms, whether that's anti-Semitism or Islamophobia. It should not be allowed in New Jersey. Congressman Josh Gottheimer, we have to leave it there. It's great to have you on the show as always. Great to see you, Eric. Happy New Year. Happy New Year to you too, and keep it right here on Power and Politics. We'll be right back with more right after the break.

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Welcome back. Putting a stop to pop-up parties. The governor is signing a bill this week sponsored by Republican state senator Declan O'Scanlon to help police deal with large, chaotic crowds. It'll provide officers with training to respond more quickly and bring crowds under control. Last August in Secaucus, police dealt with a street takeover around 2:30 in the morning. Police vehicles damaged when they arrived as people involved in the protests jumped on them. We've seen numerous other pop-up parties in shore towns also. Eight months after breaking ground, another milestone this past week for the billion dollar Netflix campus at Fort Monmouth. Major win for Governor Murphy and a major step towards making New Jersey the Hollywood of the East Coast. Tonight we are celebrating the best of both TV and film right here in the heart of Los Angeles, where no TV or film has been made for the past 6 years. Nikki Glazer kicking off Sunday night's Golden Globes with a truth bomb, highlighting how studios have been leaving Tinseltown for places like New Jersey. The Netflix team actually has been here so often that Governor Murphy may actually let us say we're from Jersey, baby. This week at the old Fort Monmouth site of the future mega Netflix campus, Netflix and state and local leaders celebrated the studio officially taking ownership of the old army base, a project that'll include 12 sound stages totaling a half a million square feet. Together we'll transform this site into a hub for creative excellence and also become a vibrant part of the community. And they're not waiting for the new studio space to get rolling as we speak. Netflix is shooting two films in the Garden State that are employing over 500 people. We've just wrapped several others. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos talking about the production renaissance in New Jersey while offering special thanks to Governor Murphy. We would not be here today if not for Governor Murphy. This is far and away the most complex project. Uh, we have done in our 8 years in office. As complicated as it was, it was a joy because we were all locked in. And if all of that weren't enough, the fact that it's actually taking place in a fort that had been shunned and shuttered, that was once the thriving heartbeat of this great county, and thanks to Netflix, it will be once again. But there's a simple reason we keep coming back here. Fort Monmouth is now home. The first sound stages are slated to open in about a year and a half. Netflix won't be the only game in town either. Paramount 1888 Studios is opening in Bayonne and Lionsgate opening up shop in Newark. And that'll do it for this week's show. I'm Eric Landskronner, as always, we thank you so much for watching New Jersey Power and Politics. We'll see you again next time.

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Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill is set to the take the oath of office and take the reins from Gov. Phil Murphy, who delivered his eighth and final State of the State address. It was a victory lap for Murphy tempered by the death of former Gov. Dick Codey.

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