- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

The Burke Foundation EJI, Excellence in Medicine.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

NJM Insurance Group.

Serving New Jersey’s drivers, homeowners and business owners for more than 100 years.

PSEG Foundation.

Valley Bank.

United Airlines.

And by Stockton University.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

Keeping communities informed and connected.

And by BestofNJ.com.

All New Jersey in one place.

[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato here.

We kick off the program with Dr.

Raynard Washington, who's the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health.

Dr.

Washington, great to have you with us.

- Great to be here.

- Where are you from originally?

- I was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia.

- And how did we get you in New Jersey?

- Well, for the last decade, I've spent working on the front lines of local public health in big cities across the country, most recently in the city of Charlotte and before that, just next door in Philadelphia.

So it's great to be back here in the Northeast and a part of the Sherrill administration.

- How concerned are you, Dr.

Washington, about the fact that there are a significant number of New Jerseyans and Americans who mistrust the public health system?

- Well, I think it's incredibly concerning, particularly as it relates to our residents having good information to make good decisions to keep themselves and their families safe.

And so as we're seeing the resurgence of illnesses like measles across the country, it's really important that we continue to not just ensure folks have good information, but to make it as easy as possible for our families to access those healthcare resources they need.

- Can you understand, or to what degree can you understand, Doctor, how confusing and scary it is for millions of parents as it relates to, let's just talk about the MMR vaccine, right.

They're hearing one thing from the White House, from the federal government, from RFK Junior, who is the leading healthcare executive in the administration, federal administration, and another thing on the state level.

When they're hearing conflicting, competing messages about vaccines and vaccine safety and what you should and shouldn't do, you might want to do it, you may not want to do it.

You want to spread out the MMR vaccine, do it in a bunch of different injections or shots so it could be bad for your kid.

That's confusing and scary.

Is it not, doctor?

- It is.

I'll tell you, I think what I'll say first is that the evidence is clear that the MMR vaccine is effective and it works and it protects against measles infections in our families and kids across the state.

What's also clear is that that's a longstanding fact and that our evidence has not changed in that regard.

And so it is really important that we are clear and that we're consistent in that message to folks across the state.

It's not just elected officials and appointed officials.

It's also the wealth of information that people are able to consume on social media and other places that we're contending against right now.

And that's why we're emphasizing our messages so hard.

- And that's why we are doing these series, this series, particularly on vaccines.

Let me follow up on this.

We're doing this going to the fall of 2026.

It'll be seen later at mid-September, we're taping this.

Flu, COVID season.

What the heck does that mean and what does it mean about our vaccines?

- Yeah, it's just another infectious illness that we have to be worried about.

It's the time of year we're starting to see COVID activity uptick already, and we know that the flu and RSV are going to come right behind that.

And so we're working right now to make sure that as well, those vaccines are available to all of our families across the state, particularly those who are more vulnerable to severe illness from respiratory illness like young children and older adults and pregnant women.

And so just that continues to be an area of focus for us.

It's an annual activity that we engage in to make sure we make vaccines available and that we raise awareness about it.

- One of the other initiatives, the Stay Well, Learn Well initiative.

What is that doctor?

- Yeah, it's really an effort for us to ensure our kids are kept safe.

As the governor has said, top priority for the administration is ensuring that we protect our most vulnerable, our kids among us.

And so it's our effort to work with our partners to make those childhood vaccines available, to make school health assessments and physicals available, not just at doctor's offices, but onsite in communities, at schools and other locations that are convenient and easy for families to access.

There's also a calendar on our website where families can find additional events that are still coming up later this month.

- I'm going to follow up on this.

The Department of Health is partnering with four of the state's healthcare system, Atlantic Health, Cooper, HMH, excuse me, Hackensack Meridian Health and RWJ Barnabas Health on this stay well, learn well initiative.

What's the connection with these healthcare systems?

- Well, we've actually asked our healthcare partners to step up their activities and help us make sure that the healthcare is as accessible as possible and it's easy for families to be able to access those resources that they need to keep their kids safe.

We know when kids they're up to date on their vaccines, they've had their physicals, that helps keep them healthy.

And if they're healthy, they can learn better, they can stay in school.

And so we just ask our healthcare partners to partner with us to make it as easy as possible for families to access those resources.

And so in addition to the health systems, our local health departments are also supporting as well as our fairly qualified health centers.

- Real quick on this, is there a blood shortage in our state?

- Yeah, we've had several periods throughout the summer where we've had shortages in our blood supply.

And so we've been emphasizing the importance of donation across the state.

And again, trying to raise awareness that at any moment, any of us could have a crisis or need to have a healthcare need for blood transfusion.

And so it's really important that our residents step up and make it possible that we don't have to depend on our neighboring states and other organizations to supply blood to New Jerseyans.

- I want to go back to the trust in public health issue.

How challenging is it for you, Dr.

Washington, to do what you do as a member of the governor's cabinet, member of the administration, as it relates to promoting peer reviewed scientific, credible public health information and avoid the "Politics" of public health?

- Yeah, it's tough, particularly nowadays, but I will say that it is possible.

I mean, part of what we are trying to do is to ensure that our messaging is consistent, to make sure that we're available to residents, whether it be the State Department of Health, our local health departments, and also making sure that we are providing good quality information in the same means that our residents are accessing information.

So on social media, through our website, whether it be billboards or even TV, to make sure that residents have that information available.

- Please go on the website, the Department of Health website.

We are particularly focused on the section, and again, I don't know how the backslash vaccines, it's all there.

Why?

Because we are in the business of not promoting anything, but providing credible scientific information about vaccines, what you need to know, and we cannot do that without the cooperation of the New Jersey Department of Health.

Dr.

Raynard Washington, the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health.

Dr.

Washington, thank you so much for joining us.

- Thanks for having me.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To see more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato programs, find us online and follow us on social media.

- Everything you want and need to know about the US census.

Two people who know it well.

Brandon McKoy is the President of the Fund for New Jersey, an underwriter of our programming.

And Erik Cruz Morales, Director of Democracy at the League of Women Voters in New Jersey.

Good to see you, Brandon and Erik.

- Good to see you.

- Thanks for having us.

- All right, so let's jump into this.

Both of you wrote an op-ed on the back end of June 2026.

It's about the census and people can find it on NJ Spotlight.

Here it is.

I'm going to read a section.

Brandon, I want you to respond to this.

For much of the country's history, the census was scientific and apolitical.

We counted on those living in our state and were allocated federal funds and representation.

Under the first Trump administration though, the census became politicized with unfounded claims that it was a tool of fraud and deception.

Make the case.

Go ahead, Brandon.

- Well, I mean, the census has been a cornerstone of our democracy since the beginning of the country.

It is a source of vital data and information that everybody uses even if they don't realize it.

Everybody from policymakers to businesses to journalists to universities are using data from the census to make crucial decisions about where are they going to cite their factory?

Where are they going to pursue workers?

How are they going to make decisions about markets?

All that is census data.

And it is important that it be free of politics.

It is important that it be driven by accurate scientific processes because what we're determining is, you know, what does our country look like?

What is the reality of the country that we live in?

Where are people located?

What are the needs that they have?

And we can't do a good job of understanding that and by extension, addressing the challenges that face our communities heading into the future if we don't have accurate and reliable data.

- So Erik, from your perspective, following up on Brandon's point, you wrote about this in the op-ed and people should read it.

What has become politicized or what was politicized in 2020?

What concerns do you have of being politicized in 2030, much less states trying to do reapportionment in the middle of a 10-year census in Texas or California and other places?

Go ahead, Erik.

- Yeah, that's a great question.

And in 2020, we saw the Trump administration aggressively pursue a citizenship question that would, the participation from immigrant communities and communities with mixed status households, this time around, we're seeing much more aggressive efforts by the Trump administration to get a citizenship question into the census.

So they're pursuing this through- - Hold on, let's be specific.

Is the Trump administration saying that if you are not a documented citizen, you should not be counted?

Is it as simple as that?

- Yes.

- Well what makes it complicated when you do that?

- It changes you know, the representation of many states like New Jersey.

New Jersey is a very diverse and heavily immigrant populated states, one out of four New Jerseyan is an immigrant.

So having a citizenship question on the census form would have an inaccurate count of who's living here in this state and we could potentially lose a congressional seat here in New Jersey.

So states that have big and diverse immigrant populations would be impacted by this.

And this is something that is complimenting the mid-cycle redistricting battles that we're seeing across the country.

And so they're targeting, you know, they're going through this in both ways, through the census and through redistricting process.

- Brandon, pick up that point.

Help folks understand if someone were to say, devil's advocate, "Hey, why should people who are undocumented be counted in the first place?

They're not American citizens.

And even if they live in New Jersey, they shouldn't be counted."

Help folks understand why that matters in addition to what Erik said, and also what the impact and the implications are from a practical financial representation point of view, federal funding point of view.

Please, Brandon.

- So, you know, the census count at the end of the day is about money and power, right?

And if we're going to imply that people who are not citizens don't get to get counted, what we're doing is we are both being, I would say, silly about the impact on our communities.

Even if someone is not a documented resident, it does not mean that they don't have needs, that they don't contribute to our communities, that they don't have massive impact on the ability of our communities to succeed.

And so we're not going to count folks just because they are an undocumented resident.

We are basically sticking our head in the sand about what are the needs facing our communities.

And for states that are basically portals and gateways into the country like a New Jersey or a New York or a California or a Texas, you know, these are the states where when people come to America, they are first coming into these states.

We need to understand exactly what is the sort of shape and scale of the population in these places so that we can actually provide the services and programs and infrastructure necessary for folks to succeed.

And just because someone is undocumented does not mean that they are any lesser than, right?

They are contributing to this country, they're contributing to their communities, they're going through the process of immigration.

And to say that someone is undocumented, therefore they shouldn't be counted, I think is a defeatist attitude and a nihilistic one.

- Erik, let me follow up on this.

So the US Census Bureau is legally responsible for counting citizens in every state, correct?

- Yes, that's correct.

Every person under the Constitution.

- Got it.

There are 435 members of the House of Representatives.

That number doesn't change, but how each state has X number of members of the House of Representatives does change because in 2010, if I'm not mistaken, New Jersey went from 13 members of the House of Representatives of the 435, trust me on the math here, I'm right, to 12.

Are you saying, and Brandon saying that if in fact the number of New Jerseyans is under counted, however that plays out, undocumented, documented, whatever, and also the US Census Bureau is cutting back on the number of people counting people in the census, that New Jersey could actually lose another member of the House of Representatives, A and B, what would that potentially mean if that happened?

- Yeah, that would be big.

And you know, that's why New Jersey needs to be preparing for 2030 right now.

We would lose federal resources.

Members of Congress bring a lot of federal dollars to their districts.

Having one less voice in Washington would mean people in New Jersey are less represented in Congress.

And so that would have big impact on communities.

And so, you know, I think the state needs to prepare right now because regardless if this rule goes into effect or not, there's a lot of - - What rule?

What rule?

- Mistrusting, I mean... Sorry, the citizenship question.

If it ends up on the census survey, you know, regardless, there's a lot of confusion, distrust, and especially with the federal immigration enforcement that is happening under this administration, there's a lot of distrust.

So there's a lot of things that are happening already that are going to impact a town in 2030, potentially losing a lot of federal dollars and congressional representation.

And that locks us in for the next 10 years.

- Okay Brandon, let me ask you this.

I mentioned the cutting back on the number of professionals working at the US Census Bureau.

That matters, doesn't it?

A, and B, do you think that's intentional?

- Definitely matters.

You know, when you have fewer staff, makes it harder to successfully do your job.

Imagine if your staff at your studio, say you had five less people, would it be, you know... It'd be harder to do what you're doing on a daily basis.

So you don't want to see staff get cut.

Whether it's intentional or not, I think there has been a streak of, you know, a desire by this administration to cut department sizes and to sort of implement budget austerity.

And the impact of that is that we have, you know, poor public programs, more poorly performing government departments.

And so New Jersey needs to do what we can do on our own regardless of what the federal government does to make sure that we're funding our census.

Because I think a good example is in 2020 New York State actually fell 80 people short of keeping their congressional seat.

If they had just counted another 80 people, they would've not lost a congressional seat.

And so the margins really are that thin.

So that's why we want to make sure that we are funding as much as possible census work, census, you know, people to count folks, people to update maps and to understand basically what our state looks like so that we can have a full census count and not just avoid losing a congressional seat, but, you know, if you remember in 2020, the assumption was we were going to lose hundreds of thousands of people.

I don't know if you remember everyone said, everybody's fleeing New Jersey.

You know, we're having a whole lot of outflow of population.

We gained 500,000 people, right?

We increased in population.

And so if we do a good job of counting, we will actually probably, you know, see another increase given recent trends.

But if we don't do a good job of counting, all we're doing is leaving money on the table and we're not getting our fair share of federal resources.

- To find out more, check out the websites have been up for the Fund for New Jersey and the League of Women Voters.

Brandon and Erik, we appreciate you joining us.

Thank you.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To see more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato programs, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're joined once again by Jeannie Fournier, who is the chief impact officer with our partners at the Community Food Bank in New Jersey.

Jeannie, good to see you.

- Good to see you too, Steve.

- Jeannie, talk to us and we'll put up the website for the Community Food Bank in New Jersey.

Where are we in New Jersey as it relates to food insecurity?

- Currently, 1.2 million New Jersey residents are food insecure, of which 330,000 are children.

So this is up about 63% since 2019.

- How much of that increase or those increases has to do with SNAP benefits being cut, formerly known as food stamps?

- We know that providing food to neighbors is core to reducing food insecurity, but also wraparound services such as SNAP are so important to that.

Since the July 2025 reconciliation law, we have seen a decline in SNAP participation.

So just since April of 2026 in New Jersey, more than 35,000 people have dropped off of SNAP, of which 21,000 are children.

So very big impact.

- I'm curious about this.

That's the federal government making those decisions.

To what degree can the state or is the state trying to make up for that?

- So one of the impacts is that the state and all states are being asked to cover a portion of the administrative costs for the program- - I'm sorry for interrupting.

That's part of HR1, which is the big, beautiful bill- - Yes, yes.

So one of the impacts is that states now have to cover a portion of the administrative costs for the program.

So deep impacts at the state level for sure.

- Jeannie, what is food sourcing?

- So food sourcing.

So food banks get their food from a variety of places, and that includes the federal government, it includes donations, and then more recently an increase in the amount of food that we are purchasing to make up the difference in reduced federal food and reduced donations.

- To what degree, when you are sourcing food, does that food try to connect to different communities, ethnic and/or racial communities and what people in certain communities tend to want?

- It's a great question, so- - Based on cultural differences.

- Yeah.

We are the melting pot, right?

So we know that there are a lot of different either dietary preferences and/or, you know, cultural preferences that folks have- - And restrictions... And restrictions.

- Correct.

Yes, absolutely.

So one of the things that we work to do is to source a variety of products.

And because we do have great purchasing power and we are a large organization, we can really put out information on what type of food and foods our network is looking for to meet the needs of their communities.

- Refrigerated locker pickup program, what the heck is that?

- So that is the ability to order food online that meets the needs of your family that you are able to pick up at a time that works for you.

So if you're a working household and a pantry may only be open during the day, you have the ability to go after work or in evening hours or even very early morning hours to pick up food.

- Remind folks of this because you're a nonprofit.

We're a nonprofit.

We've been partners for several years.

We spend most of... Not most of, a lot of our time raising money.

Resources, to what degree do you believe the community food bank has the resources, the capability to meet the demand?

- We are a very large organization that has great purchasing power and a very large voice, right?

We are the lead anti-hunger, anti-poverty organization in New Jersey.

90 million meals distributed annually.

We are seeing a decline in food received from the federal government.

So in 2024, it was about 22% of what we received.

This past year it was 14% of what we received.

Donations, you know, we can work to source donations as much as possible, create great relationships.

You know, New Jersey residents donating to us, but we've also seen donations go down.

And so what we've had to do is to try to make up the difference in purchasing and we are experiencing the same challenges as everybody else.

I can tell you this year, turkeys cost us 63% more than last year.

Chicken roasters- - Sorry for interrupting, Jeannie.

Tell us what that's going to mean around the holidays.

- What it means is we're going to be able to provide about 50% fewer turkeys than we did last year.

Chicken roasters, we are providing more chicken roasters, but the cost of that went up 44% since last year as well.

So we are trying to make some shifts and, you know, working with our network and finding out what their neighbors would be looking for is something that we try to make sure we do.

But yes, we have financial constraints.

- So the website's up one more time.

If people want to be helpful, if people want to not just understand the problem, care about the problem, but rather do something about food insecurity and our friends and neighbors, many of whom are suffering right now and have a hard time putting food on the table, what can they do right now?

- So we ask for four things.

One, funds.

For every dollar donated to CFBNJ, it equals three meals.

And as a reminder, we did 90 million meals last year, but we have that with the rising need.

Give your time.

We largely rely on volunteers coming to our warehouses and helping us to sort all of the incredible donations that we receive.

Giving food, right?

So whether you're doing a personal food drive or you're working with, you know, your local... You work or your local community, really giving food to us.

And the last is really giving your voice and really raising up the issue of food insecurity as something that is affecting so many New Jersey residents and really trying to make sure that people are aware of this issue, not just around the holidays, but all year long.

- Hey Jeannie, to you and your colleagues at the Community Food Bank in New Jersey, we appreciate and recognize everything you do every day and we're proud to be your partners.

Thank you, Jeannie.

- Thank you so much.

- You got, I'm Steve Adubato.

We thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Turrell Fund, a foundation serving children.

The Burke Foundation EJI, Excellence in Medicine.

A New Jersey health foundation program.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

NJM Insurance Group.

PSEG Foundation.

Valley Bank.

United Airlines.

And by Stockton University.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by BestofNJ.com.

- Energetic music