At the end of January, New Jersey’s Third Legislative District launched “State House Minute,” a brand new podcast highlighting the most pressing issues within South Jersey.

“State House Minute” is the brainchild of New Jersey State Senator John Burzichelli, Assemblywoman Heather Simmons, and Assemblyman Dave Bailey Jr., all members of New Jersey’s Third Legislative District. The first episode was released on Feb. 4.

“With the disappearance of traditional media, especially local media, it’s getting increasingly difficult for people to access good information about state and local issues,” Burzichelli said. “This podcast will help bridge that gap and deliver information directly from us as legislators as we work on behalf of South Jersey in the State House.”

Unlike most current podcasts, “State House Minute” is a more short-form product, with each episode ranging from three to five minutes long. The reasoning behind this choice is due to the podcast hosts wanting to keep their listeners informed in a quick and accessible way.

“We know people don’t always have time to read through long press releases or watch full legislative hearings, so we wanted to create something short, informative, and easy to listen to,” Simmons said. “We designed State House Minute to be short because we know people are busy. This format allows listeners to quickly get the most important updates without a big time commitment. Could we do longer episodes in the future? Possibly, if there’s a topic that really warrants a deeper dive. But for now, we want to keep it punchy and to the point.”

Rowan Radio has played a partnership role in the development of the podcast, hosting Assemblywoman Simmons and Assemblyman Bailey for the recordings of the first batch of episodes, providing a professional space for them to create their podcast while also handling the production side of things.

So far, “State House Minute” has released three different episodes, covering topics such as New Jersey’s energy landscape and skyrocketing electric bills and the New Jersey Menopause Coverage Act. In future episodes, “State House Minute” is looking to cover topics such as higher education, small business support, job creation, infrastructure improvements, property tax relief, senior and veteran issues, as well as any other issues that come up in real-time.

Much like other podcasts tend to do, “State House Minute” is looking to bring in guests such as local leaders, small business owners, educators, and other subject-matter experts who can provide insight into the key issues that the podcast brings to the table.

“If you care about how laws and policies affect your daily life, the cost of your Rowan education, your electric bill, your healthcare, your taxes, this podcast gives you a quick, no-nonsense update on what’s happening in Trenton and how it impacts South Jersey. It’s an easy way to stay informed without having to sift through a bunch of news articles or government reports,” said Simmons.

The first few episodes of the “State House Minute” are available now on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

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