RELEASE: Gottheimer Announces How Federal Investment from Bipartisan Annual Appropriations will Help North Jersey

GLEN ROCK, NJ — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) today announced how federal investment from the bipartisan Fiscal Year 2021 omnibus appropriations bill, which was recently passed by both the House and Senate and signed into law, will help North Jersey.

“This bipartisan federal investment includes a multitude of key priorities to help North Jersey, and will help ensure our tax dollars start working for us,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “The bipartisan bill will help the Fifth District claw back federal investment to help fix our roads and infrastructure, protect our schools and houses of worship from threats, support our law enforcement, firefighters, and veterans, and keep our air and water clean.”

The bipartisan bill provides full investment for the federal government through September 2021, and includes the following key priorities for North Jersey:

• A 3% pay raise for active duty service members.

• Investment for nutrition programs, including increased investment for SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) the supplemental food program WIC (Women Infants and Children), and school meals programs.

• Investment for Nonprofit Security Grant Program, to protect Fifth District houses of worship, schools, and local community organizations.

• Investment for rural broadband expansion efforts.

• Increased investment to support farmers and protect food supply chains.

• Investment to support local law enforcement and criminal justice programs, including the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) and COPS grant programs. 

• Investment in firefighter assistance, including for the Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant programs.

• Investment to protect students and faculty in schools, through the Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Grant Program.

• Invests in comprehensive responses to domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking, through the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

• Helps local communities respond to disasters, with investment for disaster relief from FEMA.

• Investment for the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) to work at the federal, state and local to protect land in national parks and other public lands, and to improve outdoor recreation opportunities. 

• Investment to help ensure safe drinking water for families and children, through the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds.

• Investment to help clean up forever chemicals PFAS, and to establish a drinking water standard and cleanup standards.

• Investment for the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum for Holocaust education and genocide prevention.

• Increased investment for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

• Investment for veterans health care — enough to treat more than 7 million patients through VA Medical Care in Fiscal Year 2021.

• Investment for federal grants to improve the Northeast Corridor, as well as investment for Transit Infrastructure Grants.

• Investment to improve telehealth options during the COVID-19 pandemic, through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

• To help residents stay in their homes, investment for rural housing, rental assistance, and HUD tenant-based rental assistance.

• To help provide housing and support for homeless veterans, investment for the HUD/VA Supportive Housing for Homeless Veterans program.

• Investment for the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts to support education and research.

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