Congressman Josh Gottheimer (D-CD5) stressed bipartisanship while outlining a host of spending items as part of the historic, $1.9 Trillion COVID-19 relief package Wednesday.  Gottheimer, as part of the Problem Solvers Caucus, began his discussion first by citing research polls which assert that 75% of Americans and a strong majority of Republican voters support the massive bill.

The bill will be used for a myriad of COVID-related purposes “As the House is, as we speak, on the verge of passing a new COVID relief package which is all aimed at getting vaccines into arms, dollars into the pockets of hard working families, helping our small businesses, getting our children back to school safely, providing relief to our restaurants, helping ensure our fire responders: police and firefighters remained employed, and providing resources to local communities is a big support for state and local governments that have revenue shortages.  It also includes resources that can be used for certain types of infrastructure which is an important priority for New Jersey,” Gottheimer said.

A few key features were highlighted, prefaced again by across-the-aisle support.  “As co-chair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus to me, building that bipartisanship is key, what we have heard across the country polling from POLITICO and Morning Consult today show 75% of Americans support the package and nearly 60% of Republican voters, so it has pretty broad bipartisanship support.  Pew Research found yesterday that a majority of hard-pressed Republican families favor the new COVID relief bill.”

“With the vaccine roll out underway we can all see some light at the end of the tunnel,” Gottheimer said.  “I hope we are optimistic that brighter days are ahead of us.”

The congressman said that over $60B will be used to accelerate vaccinations for critical populations, “adding new groups like educators so we can meet the president’s goal that every adult who wants a vaccine by the end of May can get one.”

Gottheimer said he understood how the pandemic had adversely affected the bottom line of municipalities and county governments.  He said that 40% of every dollar was going to be allocated to local governments, “guaranteed versus just getting to the state and not going down.”

Regarding his Fifth District specifically, he said, “Every town government in the 5th district” will get resources through this package.  Of those in CD5, Bergen County will receive $313M, adding up towns and county.  Two Passaic County towns in CD5 will get $101M, Sussex $36.5M, and Warren $26.93M.  The congressman said that once the bill is signed into law, the money will be disbursed in two waves.  The first half within 60 days of enactment and the second half a year afterward.

The money sent out to the local levels may be used in response to COVID and economic effects, aid to households, non-profits, broadband investments, water, sewers, and to make sure essential employees can continue to work.  Gottheimer, whose district spans urban and rural areas, emphasized investment in broadband infrastructure.  Broadband and high-speed internet was “not a luxury” and since so many New Jerseyans require internet access to go about critical daily business including education, telehealth and doctor visits, Gottheimer described it as “essential in the 21^st Century.”

Regarding direct stimulus money, $1400 in direct payments would be going out to individuals getting less than $75,000 and $2,800 to joint filers making less than $150,000 a year.  “This benefit fully phases out” for individuals making $80,000 a year and joint filers making $160,000.  Adult dependents also qualify for direct payments.

 Gottheimer said that approximately 7% of NJ residents were unemployed, and the new package extends federal supplemental enhancement of $300 per week to September 6.

The bill includes a key provision I helped fight for to provide tax relief for our residents.  To those who received unemployment benefits last year, they were able to waive federal income taxes on the first $10,200 of unemployment benefits received in 2020 for households less than $150,000.  This will help stop thousands of unemployed New Jersey workers from having a surprise tax bill this year.  New Jersey already waived those taxes, so now this addresses federal taxes.”

Gottheimer said that some 40% of Americans were unaware that their unemployment benefits were subject to tax.  “With this tax break in place we are helping residents pay their bills and protect their families during crisis.”

 “A lot of rural parts of my district do not have satisfactory broadband connectivity, many parts have no connectivity.  So I’m proud that this new package reflects a bipartisan effort that I led, fighting for dedicated investment to boost broadband connectivity.  The bill includes $10B to help states and localities invest in broadband infrastructure—and I’ll be getting a letter to the governor to work with me on this right away.  This is on top of the $7.2B for schools and libraries to improve broadband activity.”

The bill also includes over $20B set aside for rental assistance, homelessness, emergency housing vouchers, mortgage and utilities support, and more, “All areas that are very, very important,” Gottheimer said.

The congressman said that there was crucial legislation laid out for “strike teams” of clinical and non-clinical staff to assist nursing homes and long-term care facilities in the event of outbreaks.  Further, as over 26 million Americans face food insecurity, the bill would provide additional funding for SNAP, WIC, and summer school meal programs.  Gottheimer said that food banks and food pantries had experienced a 50% increase in demand.

“That’s something I continue to focus on to make sure our schools and communities actually provide these benefits to our children.  That’s a very big deal and I’ll be working with all the school superintendents, getting correspondence out to them to make sure they have these programs set up for the summer to help our children.”

Money is allocated for Child Care Providers to help get parents back to work.  Gottheimer said that the child tax credit is being increased.  “These new enhanced benefits are fully refundable for the first time, they are income based and phase out after individuals earning more than $75,000 a year and $150,000 filed jointly.”  He said that he believes this will help lower the national child poverty rate “by 40%.”

Gottheimer said that he had been advocating to get teachers vaccinated “immediately” and to get kids back to school as soon as safely possible.  The relief bill would set aside $130B for K-12 schools to provide them with the resources to get back on track.  Money was also available for higher education, but Gottheimer stressed that children were falling behind by not being in school and that the experience had taken a toll on their mental health.  “The bottom line is, we gotta get our kids back to school.”  The bill “provided serious resources to help our school districts provide the safety necessary, I believe, to get our kids back and need to make sure teachers are vaccinated.”

When asked how taxpayers who got unemployment last year and had already filed their taxes should take advantage of the new exemptions, Gottheimer’s office responded that the IRS and Treasury would be providing new information soon.

Gottheimer concluded saying that he was optimistic that the bill would help to revitalize the state and all aspects of New Jersey communities.