>> Major funding for "NJ Spotlight News" is presented by NJM insurance group, serving the insurance needs of residents and businesses for more than 100 years.

And by the pseg foundation.

Briana: Taking on Trump again.

A day after the department of education announced more than 1000 layoffs, 20 AG's suit to stop the firings.

Not so fast says the former EPA director.

She weighs in on the Trump Administration goal to unleash American energy.

>> What is happening now is unconscionable.

Briana: Also environmental leaders took to the streets of Newark to protest plans for a fourth fossil fuel power plant.

And protecting our veterans.

The state rolls out a plan to end veteran homelessness by 2026.

>> No matter what their touch point is, they are going to be able to get to us and get the services they need.

Briana: "NJ Spotlight News" starts right now.

>> From NJM Studios, this is "NJ Spotlight News" with Briana Vannozzi.

Briana: Thanks for joining us on this Thursday night.

We begin with a few of today's top headlines.

Attorney General Matt Platkin is joining another lawsuit against the Trump Administration, in an effort to block cuts to half of the federal Department of Education's workforce.

The lawsuit with 20 other Democratic attorneys general because the dismissals reckless and illegal.

-- critics see it as the latest step toward the administration's goal of dismantling the department entirely.

The layoffs targeted workers who track student achievement and education quality and investigate civil rights complaints.

Platkin and others in the suit claimed the layoffs will have devastating effects on states.

New Jersey typically receives about $1 billion in federal education funding each year.

That's about 5% of the state budget for schools.

Experts warn special education students and those from low income families will be most affected.

Meanwhile a judge today ordered federal agencies to immediately reinstate tens of thousands of probationary workers fired amid the efforts to shrink the government.

Also tonight, a South Jersey business owner detained by ice has been reunited with her family.

She walked free from the Elizabeth detention center on Wednesday, two weeks after she and her husband were arrested I federal immigration agents.

A judge this week ruled she could be released on a $7,500 bond.

Hercog -- her husband, oldest son and friends were waiting in the parking lot when she got out with hugs and flowers.

The couple was swept up by ice while working at the restaurant they have owned for the last five years.

The husband was released that day with an ankle monitor to care for one of their children but emine was held.

The family came to the U.S. legally from Turkey in 2008 on an R1 visa.

They applied for a green card before the visa expired but their immigration status has been pending since 2018.

Their story outraged the local community.

A Gofundme was started to assist their legal fight, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Emanet told New Jersey Spotlight News they will reopen their shop after spending time with her kids and grandkids.

It's not just New Jersey that has an affordable housing problem, it is the entire country.

A new report finds the state is lacking adequate homes and for renters with extremely low incomes.

The data comes from the housing and community development project of jersey and the National low income housing coalition.

It shows New Jersey has just 31 affordable homes for every 100 households at or below the federal poverty level.

The U.S. as a whole is lacking more than 7 million units according to the research.

The report comes as state officials have been trying to tackle the problem, gearing up to start building thousands of homes across New Jersey to meet a housing obligation determined by the Supreme Court.

The state in October sent Towns calculations for how many low-priced units they would be responsible for building but some mayors challenge to the tally, saying they miscalculated the amount of land they had to develop.

The New Jersey homebuilders Association sued those towns and now a judge is considering whether to toss the lawsuit.

The head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said he wants to drive a dagger through the heart of climate change religion, and usher in America's Golden age.

By taking actions to roll back landmark environmental regulations targeting dozens of rules that apply to things like vehicle emissions, waste water from coal plants and air pollution from manufacturing.

The EPA is not providing details on what exactly it once to do with those rules, scale them back or get rid of them entirely but it has laid out a roadmap for director leading the industry.

The administrator argues the move will eliminate trillions in regulatory costs and hidden taxes.

Experts warn there is a lot at stake.

U.S. is the second-largest largest carbon polluter in the world and the largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

For more I am joined by a former governor and EPA Administrator Christie Whitman.

Governor Whitman, I am glad to get your excite -- or insight for a topic like this.

We are looking at changes and rollbacks on everything from emissions from vehicles to rules on power plants, what do you see among these proposals that most concerns you for what would be the health impacts for the American people?

Gov.

Whitman: All of them frankly.

That combined with the number of employees they want to fire.

New Jersey is one of the cities -- one of the states that'll be most of virtually affected by these because we are so susceptible to air transport of smog from West Virginia and Kentucky.

If they start producing more coal, we get it.

When I was governor I could have closed down all the manufacturing in New Jersey and still would have had problems, because of transport from other states which is why the clean air act is necessary, to have national standards to protect our health and the environment.

What is happening now is to my mind unconscionable.

There is a thing called -- let me back up.

The good news is they can't just do it.

You can't wave a wand and say this regulation is gone because regulations are based on a lot of study, scientific data.

What you have to produce is the equivalent scientific data on The Other Side that says we no longer need this regulation.

We've made improvements, we found out different things.

That's a long process and it will take a while and it's going to be up to the courts to ensure that the agency goes through that process.

Briana: I'm thinking, if hundreds, thousands of workers are slashed from the agency, by defective, doesn't it make it a lot more difficult to police this and ensure that these policies are being carried out and that federal standards are being met?

Gov.

Whitman: Absolutely.

That's what is behind all of this.

You say you are going to roll back all of these regulations.

That's going to take time but what will happen is you are firing the enforcers and that is what they are doing.

So you don't have anyone policing these industries, and starting to crack down when they are increasing pollution, endangering the communities.

We all have a right to clean air and safe drinking water and that is what we are losing with this.

It was found to endanger human health and the environment which, anyone looks at what has happened with the weather recently, they will say something is happening and climate change is having an impact and it is causing -- costing us lives, livelihoods, businesses, floods, droughts, increased ferocity of storms.

They are having a huge economic impact.

We need to do something about it and the good news is from about 1967 when the agency sorted to enforce the clean air act and the safe drinking water act in 1974, the economy was booming.

The agency was enforcing environmental regulations and the economy was booming.

It is not an either or thing.

We should be taking advantage of being able to make a new -- a whole host of new jobs and continue to reduce pollution.

Briana: I wonder how we can make sense of if in fact the rulemaking process and changing those policies does take a couple of years, and litigation is involved, lawsuits will come, what does that do to moving the ball forward?

A lot of what we hear from experts is that we need to do a whole lot more from where we are at to make a dent.

So do then we -- so do we then stay stagnant?

Does this not have a reverse effect?

Gov.

Whitman: It does, it rolls the ball backward.

They are endangering all of us in the way they are dismantling the Environmental Protection Agency.

It was clear in the first Trump Administration that they didn't want it around and they did a bunch of cuts and they started strangling the agency and ignoring science.

This is just taking it to the extreme.

When you let loose -- not all businesses are bad, but there are those who could care less.

They want to make that bottom line.

They feel they have a responsibility to their shareholders or whatever the excuse is.

People are dying because of air and water pollution.

We see that, we know it to be true.

If we start stopping regulating and controlling some of these emissions, we are going to be in a much worse place.

Briana: Orman Agut -- former governor and EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, Inc. you for your time.

Air quality and public health were in focus today where elected officials joined local residents for a rally against a plan by the sake Valley sewage commission to build a natural gas power plant at its sewage treatment facility.

The plant is years in the making and slowly moving forward despite fierce pushback from neighbors.

Our Senior correspondent reports.

>> This is environmental injustice.

We want environmental justice.

We want our community to be a space that our children can thrive in.

Reporter: Community advocates, state and local leaders gathered in Newark in front of the sewage commission, pleading for a stop to the proposed fossil fuel plant planned as a backup generator for the wastewater treatment facility company, saying Newark is already overburdened with pollution.

>> There are three existing fossil fuel plants, New Jersey's largest garbage incinerator and numerous pollution producing facilities.

Reporter: The power plant was first proposed when the sewage treatment plant went down during Superstorm Sandy due to power outages and flooding spread sewage into Newark streets.

But since then, advocates argue that changes have been made to shore up the infrastructure without adding another fossil fuel plant.

>> I got flooded, where I live in my home.

They didn't.

That's because PSEG did the work they needed to do after Sandy.

We have proven there is resiliency and reliability.

>> We have endured enough.

The rancid smell, the soot, toxic emissions, the never ending truck traffic.

This is what environmental racism looks like.

If we could bottle what I smelled, I wish everyone could have an opportunity to smell what we do.

Reporter: The smell here is putrid and it lingers on your skin and hair and clothes for hours.

Adding any further pollution to the area would go directly against the state environmental Justice act, says the Senate majority leader.

>> Any future project would be automatically not considered because we are in a space designated that it should have been protected.

So the legislature sends a clear message.

The intent was there.

The regs rolled out later.

The application for PVC was wrapped up in that process.

Reporter: In other words, the application slipped through the cracks of the environmental Justice act but even as the community cries out against the project, departments at the state and federal level continue granting approval.

Last month the DEP, the state Department of Environmental Protection approved the start of construction and the air operating permit saying the plant will be fueled by natural gas and can only operate the station in the event of a storm that disrupts power service.

The DEP is requiring PVSC to install pollution controls on equipment and upgrades to old boilers and generators and it must add solar and battery storage on site, conditions the DEP put in place to meet the state environmental justice goals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is currently reviewing the state permit.

Now community members are hoping the PVSC board members can be the ones to stop it when they vote soon to approve the project or not.

>> I think they need to step up and support our city and make sure that they are advocating for our residents.

>> For those who are in power and still have a choice to make, especially those on the board, know this, the people of Newark will not forget where you stood.

Reporter: One other person could have significant sway in the decision as well.

>> The governor has a strong position on this and I implore him to think about the families in our ward.

Reporter: We reached out to the governor but his office declined to comment.

PVSC held a meeting today and many of the folks joined, urging them to vote no on the project but there was no vote today, perhaps signaling this board is not ready to move just yet.

Briana: A key piece of the stopgap spending bill house Republicans want to see approved this week targets big funding cuts for Medicaid.

GOP members both in Congress and New Jersey's legislature say it is a valid way to root out waste, fraud and abuse within government.

State watchdogs here have identified more than $1 billion in fraud within the program over the last decade and clawed it back.

With close to 2 million New Jerseyans and 72 million Americans who rely on the health insurance program, experts say fraud is not the biggest expense with Medicaid and there is likely not much more to find.

Our Senior writer dug into the issue and is with us now in the studio.

You spoke with the state comptroller who goes after these scammers and bad actors.

What did he tell you about why he believes there is just not that much more out there?

Colleen: They have a certain amount of staff and there is only so much work they can do and they are on it all day every day.

Briana: It is the main priority.

Colleen: Right.

He said they find fraud or overpayments every single day.

Not everything is fraud.

There can sometimes be overpayments that happen innocently because people aren't aware of all of the regulations there are a lot of rules to make sure there is not money being misspent.

So people may not have filled out the right forms or dotted all the right I's.

The comptroller's office does education to prevent that.

Briana: Compliance is one part of it.

He acknowledges obviously there are issues, as there are with any program.

Yet how do you keep it in place and ensure that the people who need it are getting that help, while also taking out the bad actors?

Is there a way to do that that doesn't have to be slashing the program entirely?

Colleen: Just the idea that all of these offices, not only in New Jersey but across the nation are charged with this, aching sure that they have the staff they need to continue to go after these overpayments and fraud.

And not getting rid of the Inspector General at the Department of Health and Human Services, who oversaw all of this effort.

That is one of the cuts that was made very early in this administration.

That Inspector General and others are suing.

Their job is to find this kind of fraud.

You don't say there is some fraud so we want to get rid of the program.

You don't throw the baby out with the bathwater.

You make sure the money gets to the people who need it.

There are almost 2 million people in New Jersey who rely on this.

The need is huge and you don't get rid of that program because what do you replace it with?

Briana: You mentioned fraud is one area, overpayments are another.

Where else did you find that there is waste?

Is there a lot of it with the regulatory process of getting the payments and applying them correctly?

Colleen: Unfortunately, as the comptroller said, he sees a lot of issues in nursing homes.

That there have been several high-profile cases in New Jersey.

In one case it was $35 million they said nursing homeowners have funneled money they've gotten from Medicaid into other companies that they own while neglecting the care of the patients, so you have two problems.

You have the money being taken from Medicaid improperly and you have people not getting the care that they should.

So certainly, tougher enforcement of Medicaid rules and looking harder at them.

Labs is another big place they have seen problems, where a lab will bill a few Bucks to a private insurance but then they will bill Medicaid hundreds of dollars for the same test.

That is where you need people combing databases and looking at and that is where you find it, but you need the people to be doing that.

Otherwise it is not going to get found.

Briana: What is at risk for New Jersey if these cuts were to go through?

Colleen: If the cuts go through according to the Department of human services, depending on what cut it would be, you are looking at tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people losing coverage or the state having to pony up millions and millions of dollars.

And again, these are disabled people, elderly people, children, families that cannot make ends meet.

Briana: You can find Colleen O'dea's full report on our website, njspotlightnews.org.

Thanks for coming in.

Finally tonight, New Jersey has a plan to house all homeless veterans by July 1 of next year.

Military and veteran officials began a two day training session teaching workers from veterans groups how to find those in need and connect them with the right help.

Advocates tell Raymond Santana the problem has only worsened in recent years and now it is time to serve those who have served for us.

>> If not for veterans Haven North, I probably would not have made it.

They saved my life.

Reporter: A formerly homeless veteran credits the bringing veterans home initiative for his second chance at life.

The state announced it would begin an initiative to end veteran homelessness within two years providing more than $30 million in state and federal money to fund services and interventions over two years to help place thousands of homeless veterans in stable housing.

>> We will be able to serve thousands, bring the services back up to capacity and that means anyone who is newly homeless as a veteran will be able to be serviced within 30 days.

That is the goal of functional zero.

We have thousands of homeless veterans in the state of New Jersey.

Our goal is that by 2026, July 1, we will be able to service all of those veterans currently experiencing homelessness.

Reporter: The Commissioner of the Department of community -- co-lead a two day training session at the National Guard training center in Sea Girt with the New Jersey Department of military and Veterans Affairs to highlight the initiative objectives.

>> From our experience with those veterans who utilize our facilities at veterans Haven South and North, they come from a diverse set of circumstances, and the only thing -- many things that are common between all of them is their service.

From having a hard time after they leave service, and then life events that exacerbate that.

May be mental health issues that were not addressed because services were not available during the period they served.

Every situation is different so having this kind of targeted individualized care, it is unprecedented and I think it is why we will be successful.

Reporter: The Brigadier General says she is confident the program will work based on its tailored approach.

>> Where DCAA has the lead on this, we will take those programs and services and enhance the good work of DCA.

In terms of having access to veterans communities, Munich eating services, coordinating with veteran service officers, information and pointing them back to the experts that do this work.

>> What we are particularly funding with the millennial generation of veterans and Gen X and post 9/11 and that cohort is that the leading cause of homelessness is eviction, being asked to leave a shared residence, a loss of benefits or a catastrophic event where not getting a paycheck for two weeks or being laid off is a precipitating factor.

Reporter: Director of the office of homeless prevention -- says the program provides early in -- early intervention, in turn saving long-term cost.

>> Just one touch of a weeklong rapid case management and some direct client assistance and expenditures, we can often resolve a risk of homelessness for less than $1200.

This is versus a long-term cost of having to shelter that Emily or having to go and have that veteran household be re-housed using a voucher which can be in the tens of thousands of dollars for cost.

>> I think this is finally the state putting its money where its mouth is, that these folks have served us and it is our turn to serve them.

We are going to capitalize all of our resources as well as our human capital to make sure we can achieve this mission.

Reporter: In addition to the hotline and part enters, outreach teams will engage directly with veterans in encampments or shelters who lack access to resources, transportation or other means and facilitate emergency and permanent housing.

Briana: That is going to do it for us tonight, but before we go, a reminder you can download our podcast wherever you listen and watch us any time by subscribing to the "NJ Spotlight News" YouTube channel.

You can follow us on Instagram and blue sky to stay up-to-date on all of the state's big headlines.

I am Briana Vannozzi.

Thanks for being with us.

Have a great night and we will see you back here tomorrow.

>> New Jersey education Association making public , schools great for every child.

RWJBarnabas Health, let's be healthy together.

New Jersey realtors, the voice for real estate in New Jersey.

More information is online at NJrealtor.com.

And Orsted, committed to the creation of a new long-term, sustainable, clean energy future