NEWARK – Get the governor, two U.S. senators and majority of the state’s incoming Congressional delegation in a room at the same time and you might expect big things to happen. Then again, maybe not.

Officials said little of substance after a joint meeting Monday morning among Gov. Phil Murphy, Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez and eight members of the state’s 2019 congressional delegation. Of course, that doesn’t mean “big” things weren’t discussed, just that no one would talk about them publicly.

Murphy called it a “very productive” discussion on important issues.

Booker called the group “Team New Jersey.”

The team roster of incoming congressional representatives was minus four of 12 members. Absent were Democrats Bonnie Watson Coleman, Jeff Van Drew and Andy Kim and Republican Chris Smith. The absence of Smith was noted. because come January, he will be the only Republican House member from New Jersey. Smith was invited, officials said. So in all, eight of the state’s 12 congressional representatives come January were on hand for the meeting with Murphy, Booker and Menendez in a conference room at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.

Officials said issues discussed included a new Hudson River tunnel, health care, water contaminated with lead, the $10,000 income tax deduction cap on state and local taxes and the administration’s plan for offshore drilling, which in the past has drawn bipartisan opposition.

Menendez interjected the most partisan politics into the day, noting that the state’s current governor, unlike the last one, supports a new tunnel. The obvious reference was to the move by former Governor Chris Christie to kill what was then called the Access to the Region’s Core, or ARC, tunnel.

The senator also reached back into the early days of the Christie administration to remind all that the governor’s team had messed up a state application for a $400,000 education grant. The apparent point of the history lesson was that mistakes like that won’t happen with the governor and the state’s congressional delegation all on the same team.

If there was one substantive point out of the morning exercise, it was that those interested in seeking health insurance for 2019 through the Affordable Care Act must sign up by Saturday. A spokesperson for Rep. Frank Pallone, long an advocate for the ACA, said enrollment in New Jersey is so far down about 13 percent from last year. The Trump Administration, which has sought more than once to repeal the law, does not publicize the law as much as President Obama did. So, officials urged those who need health insurance for next year to sign-up.

Speaking of President Trump, in a brief one-on-one with reporters after the meeting, incoming Congressman Tom Malinowski was asked if “impeachment” was discussed.

He gave a one-word reply, “No.”

Rep. Donald Norcross was also asked about impeachment.

“We have to follow the truth,” he said, referring to the ongoing Mueller investigation.

Editor’s Note: U.S. Rep. Chris Smith wanted to attend the meeting but as Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Global Human Rights, he had to chair a Subcommittee hearing today on “Reviewing International Child Abduction.”