JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Last night, Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) held his second town hall with thousands of New Jersey residents who dialed in for the hour-long event. During the call, Senator Kim discussed the realities of what Trump imposed tariffs mean for New Jersey, Medicaid cuts, and the upcoming vote on the Republican proposed continuing resolution (CR) where the Senator confirmed he would be voting ‘no’ on both vote for cloture and for the CR itself.

Senator Kim was joined by special guest Dr. Arturo Osorio, Associate Professor of Practice and Entrepreneurship at Rutgers Business School. During the call, Dr. Osorio explained the far-reaching impact that Trump’s tariffs would have on New Jersey businesses and consumers, and the effects that would be felt by communities across the state. 

“Tariffs will have a one-two punch. The first one will be of an economic nature as they will increase the prices of everyday goods. The second one will be about quality of life as households will have to make tradeoff decisions on what and when to buy given price increases,” said Dr. Osorio. “Middle and low-income families may get into unnecessary risks as the tariff-related [price] increase may push households to postpone the purchase of new cars and defer car maintenance services … tariffs may force [families] to postpone home maintenance expenses like roof repairs and appliance updates.”

During this town hall, Senator Kim heard from constituents about their fear of what would happen if the Republican-proposed CR passes and concern of what that would mean for New Jersey, the problems caregivers are experiencing in terms of affordability during this period of uncertainty with Medicare and other federal programs that are in danger of being cut, and how Medicaid and other program cuts would impact families across the state. In addition, Senator Kim answered questions about affordability, the importance of staying engaged and informed as an everyday American during this chaotic time, and about recently detained green card holder Mahmoud Khalil.

Link to full town hall audio can be found HERE  

Highlights of the town hall include: 

On President Trump’s proposed $880 billion dollar cuts to Medicaid, which will impact almost 2 million New Jersey residents including 1 in 3 of New Jersey’s kids:  

“Speaker Johnson has been saying this is about trying for efficiency and getting rid of waste, and also about targeting people who are lazy and choosing not to work, and who are leeching off our government…taking handouts. And it’s not true. Of course, there are ways in which we can make government more effective and efficient, and I’m all for that, and I’m all for trying to find places to get rid of waste…But when it comes to Medicaid, you cannot cast that type of umbrella across it all and and ’cause such disdain for it. In our state of nine million people, there are two million people that use Medicaid for their health care. One in three kids- one out of every three kids in New Jersey gets health care through Medicaid. So many people in the disability community use Medicaid for so much of what it takes for them to be able to live a life of dignity and decency…with our seniors that are in long term care, nursing homes. A lot of them Use Medicaid to be able to afford it.”

“Medicaid in New Jersey cannot survive if the federal government backs away from its share and what it is that is going to be needed. In fact, not only has this just been not enough on Medicaid, you know a lot of what we need is to be to move resources so that Medicare can actually appeal to provide long term care capabilities to be able to support caregivers and other types of support that it just needed more broadly in this country something I support and pushing for.”

On the continuing resolution proposal by Republicans which would harm families and communities across the state, and which Senator Kim will be voting ‘no’ on:

“What Speaker Johnson has done has really put our country in a no-win situation – a real lose-lose situation here. And I for one, really believe that we have to stand up and not allow this type of lawlessness to continue.”

“We were very close to actually getting a fuller deal on a budget…then all of a sudden, speaker Johnson just last week decided to go a different route…a lot of my Republican colleagues in the Senate are very opposed to this approach that is happening it. But because [the CR] has the blessing of Donald Trump and Elon Musk, it’s something that the House of Representatives moved forward. And the Senate Republicans, despite their objections, are continuing to support.”

“…so instead of working to pass that bipartisan budget, we see [Republicans] holding, frankly, our government and the American people hostage with this deadline approaching [on March14th] and trying to pass a very hyper partisan bill…[The CR] is something that’s gonna cut funding when it comes to our kids and our health care, and it’s something that’s gonna do really lasting damage on a number of different fronts. And we see this on top of what is already happening. We already saw just the other day an effort to slash the Department of Education staff in half, and we see what happened with USAID.They’re already effectively shutting down the government and that’s something that right in front of us. And they say it out loud. And so for me, my vote when it comes to this continuing resolution, when it comes to proceeding in the Senate is a vote of no.” 

On proposed tariffs by President Trump:   

“To have all these tariffs come up right now that are really getting at the heart of things that people were hoping the government would actually take on – they wanted a government that was gonna try to address the cost of living; try to lower the costs that have gotten too high. And then now what do we see? We see a president that is not engaged on those issues and instead taking a lot of actions that are actually going to exacerbate [the things people were hoping the government would take on] and make it all the more difficult to be able to handle.”

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HERE

Senator Kim works to expand access to opportunity through education as a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Kim also sits on the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation; Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs; and the Special Committee on Aging. Learn more about Senator Kim’s service on behalf of New Jersey HERE.

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