Following the money: Nursing home PAC continued giving to key NJ lawmakers in second quarter

Recipients included legislative leaders and lawmakers who oversee health care and state spending as the industry sought an additional $100 million in Medicaid funding.

Editor’s note: This story is part of The Jersey Vindicator’s ongoing reporting on the nursing home industry’s political spending and influence in New Jersey.

New Jersey’s nursing home industry continued directing political contributions to state lawmakers during the second quarter of the year, including legislative leaders and lawmakers who oversee healthcare and state spending, public records show.

The New Jersey Health Care Political Action Committee, the political arm of the Health Care Association of New Jersey, gave $13,000 to legislative candidates and committees between April and June, according to its latest campaign finance report filed with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

That was slightly more than the $9,300 the PAC gave to legislative candidates and committees during the first three months of the year.

The second-quarter contributions went to lawmakers across the state and included several of the Legislature’s key decision-makers on health care and spending.

Assemblywoman Shanique Speight received the largest individual contribution during the quarter, $3,000. Speight chairs the Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee and serves as vice chair of the Assembly Health Infrastructure Committee. She also received $500 from the PAC during the first quarter, bringing her total for the first six months of the year to $3,500.

Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, who runs the healthcare consulting firm Transformative Solutions, received $1,500 during the quarter, while Assembly members Roy Freiman, Carol Murphy and Gary Schaer each received $1,000. Sen. Paul Sarlo and Sen. Troy Singleton each received $750.

Murphy chairs the Assembly Health Committee, while Sarlo chairs the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. Schaer and Freiman serve on the Assembly Budget Committee.

The PAC also gave $500 each during the quarter to Assembly members Erik Peterson, Heather Simmons, Brian Rumpf, Eliana Pintor Marin, Ellen Park and Avi Schnall. Pintor Marin chairs the Assembly Budget Committee, while several other recipients serve on committees overseeing health care or state spending.

Altogether, the PAC gave $22,300 to legislative candidates and committees during the first six months of 2026.

Industry sought $100 million during budget negotiations

The second-quarter contributions came as the Health Care Association of New Jersey was seeking a major increase in Medicaid funding for nursing homes.

During negotiations over the fiscal year 2027 state budget, the association urged lawmakers to take $100 million from a proposed Medicaid funding increase for home- and community-based services and use it to increase Medicaid payments to nursing homes. The proposal would have reduced a planned 18.4% increase for home- and community-based services to 12.6% and shifted the difference to long-term care facilities.

Home- and community-based services help older adults and people with disabilities remain in their homes or other community settings rather than move into nursing homes. The programs include personal care aides, adult day programs, transportation and other support.

The nursing home association’s request drew opposition from longterm care reform advocates and New Jersey Long-Term Care Ombudsman Laurie Brewer, who argued that additional nursing home funding should be tied to greater financial transparency and better performance.

The industry’s effort to secure the additional $100 million was unsuccessful. The proposal was dropped in the days leading up to adoption of the state budget.

Who funds the nursing home PAC?

The PAC itself is funded by nursing home owners, executives and companies, with a relatively small number of contributors accounting for much of the money it raised during the first half of the year.

The PAC raised $48,156.91 during the second quarter, compared with $108,244.69 during the firs quarter. Eight people associated with Cinnaminson Nursing LLC and Hales Corner Propco LLC each gave $12,500, for a combined $100,000. Those eight contributions accounted for more than 90% of the PAC’s first-quarter receipts.

In the second quarter, Charles Gros, who is associated with Catholic Health Group, contributed $11,973.75, while Eliyahu Frankel, who is associated with Exelcare Health Management, gave $11,650. Together, they accounted for nearly half of the PAC’s second-quarter receipts.

Giving to both parties

Most of the PAC’s contributions during the first half of the year went to Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature and the governor’s office. But the PAC also contributed to Republicans.

Republican Assembly members Peterson and Rumpf each received $500 during the second quarter.

The PAC also gave to legislative campaign committees operated by both parties. It contributed $1,500 to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee in the first quarter and $1,000 to Assembly Republican Victory Campaign Committee in the second quarter.

Those contributions are included in the $22,300 the PAC gave to legislative candidates and committees during the first six months of the year.

A $100,000 contribution in the first quarter

The PAC’s legislative giving was relatively similar in the first two quarters, but its overall political spending was much higher during the first quarter because of one large contribution.

In February, the nursing home PAC gave $100,000 to Mission to Deliver, a national PAC tied to Gov. Mikie Sherrill. The contribution dwarfed the PAC’s giving to individual lawmakers and legislative committees during either quarter. In late 2025, the nursing home PAC also gave $100,000 to the One Giant Leap PAC, the super PAC run by Sherrill’s political allies that boosted her bid for New Jersey governor.

The Jersey Vindicator previously reported that the New Jersey nursing home industry PAC and individual nursing home owners had contributed more than $2.4 million to candidates and political organizations over a five year period. The industry group also spent $1.9 million lobbying New Jersey lawmakers over five years, according to ELEC records.