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Credit: (AP Photos / Seth Wenig)NJ Spotlight News wrapped up its series of online “election conversations” last week on issues important to voters and the state as a whole. We invited experts and observers for five separate hour-long discussions on specific issues: education, COVID-19 and healthcare, budget and taxes, social justice and immigration, and climate change and clean energy.
As part of the events, we asked registrants to ask questions about the issues the state faces and the questions they want answered in this election. We have received dozens of submissions, ranging from philosophical to pragmatic.
The following sample of questions from each of those conversations offers a glimpse of what’s on the public mind less than a month before voters choose New Jersey’s next governor and members of the legislature.
COVID-19 and healthcare:
Will it be safe for people to have in-person gatherings of over 40 people in the next year or so?
What have we learned about community engagement in disease prevention and embracing scientific breakthroughs? Have we learned any concrete lessons to help alleviate mistrust of the health system, and how do we keep all of our communities engaged and involved when not facing a pandemic?
How will the State of NJ investigate and resolve inequalities in healthcare and COVID-19 recovery?
Can you talk about the strategies in place in New Jersey (possibly at the county level) to counter disinformation?
Your opinion on compulsory vaccination?
The State of Education in New Jersey:
Has the political power and capital of the NJEA and other public education unions increased or decreased during the pandemic, and how is this trend likely to change in the coming years?
How can we further integrate climate change education into New Jersey schools?
How are we going to ensure that our students most academically affected by COVID-19 get the support they need? How will we know which students suffered the most?
Who will be the final mask arbiter or let the parents decide on the masks?
What will be the long-term impact of COVID-19 on public education in New Jersey?
Budget and taxes:
How to reduce reliance on local property taxes to fund public schools?
Why can the government not balance its budgets like households and businesses must?
How do you see the state’s revenue in fiscal years 2023 and 2024 after the disappearance of federal funds?
Should property taxes be tied to your ability to pay them? Should there be a formula tied to your income?
How quickly can the state implement the consolidation of schools and one school principal per county?
How will the state deal with the long-term pension obligation?
Social justice and immigration:
Why do we not yet have a lasting solution for our homeless? … If some of the homeless are mentally ill and / or addicted to drugs, could we not demand that guardians be put in place to place them in appropriate long-term facilities and provide them with the appropriate care?
How to improve the educational experience of new immigrants?
What efforts to encourage the development of low cost housing are currently underway / needed for immigrant families and middle and low income NJ residents in general?
Can the state empower an independent body to oversee law enforcement reforms?
What actionable policy is the state of NJ seeking to introduce to address the current situation of Afghan immigration and the continued lack of protection for undocumented migrants?
Considering that Congress is unable to come to a resolution on immigration reform, what can the state of NJ do?
Climate change and clean energy:
The recent storms have really highlighted the need to accelerate planning to redesign and invest in resilient communities and infrastructure. What are the roles of the federal and state government, local officials, developers and community members in this monumental task?
What is being done now to put in place a vast network of electric car charging stations as ubiquitous as current gas stations, so that we can switch more quickly to all-electric vehicles?
What concrete actions are currently in place to reduce emissions from agriculture in the state, and what more will the state do to persuade farmers to adopt emission reduction schemes?
What is the best financing mechanism to generate the investments necessary for the transition to a carbon-free economy?
What are you suggesting that we, who are ordinary citizens, can do to bring about climate change?
See the debates:
Social justice and immigration
Coming soon: the debate on climate change and clean energy
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