Congressman Kim Secures Major Funding to Support Projects in Burlington and Ocean Counties, Families, Servicemembers, Veterans, Small Businesses, and to Protect our Democracy Through Government Funding Bill

WASHINGTON D.C. – Today, Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-03) voted to pass a package of Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 government funding bills for government agencies, which includes provisions championed by the Congressman.

“I promised my constituents that I would fight to bring the support we need for our communities. In this bill I see critical investments across the country for our veterans, servicemembers, small business owners, as well as game changing investments coming back to Burlington and Ocean Counties,” said Congressman Kim. “From expanding childcare services for military families and investing in veterans’ mental health programs, to the investments we’re making in community projects throughout our district that will secure clean water, support our local police and emergency responders, help veterans with their transportation needs, feed the hungry, house the homeless, fight against the opioid crisis, and unlock the economic potential of our Joint Base – these investments will have tangible impacts in our community. I’m proud to have passed this bill in a bipartisan way and to have upheld our duty in Congress to fund our government.”

This FY2023 government funding package includes the following provisions secured by Congressman Kim:

Community Project Funding Requested by Congressman Kim

For FY2023, Congressman Kim submitted 15 community project funding requests. In order to be eligible, projects were required to fill a clear and present need in the community, be administered by a state and/or local government or eligible nonprofit, and enjoy significant support from the community. All projects submitted were publicly disclosed online and Congressman Kim certified that he, his spouse, and his immediate family have no financial interest in any of the projects requested. Through working with local stakeholders and with members on all relevant committees, Congressman Kim delivered federal funding for all 15 projects. Each project is detailed below:

• $7 million to Ocean County, NJ to construct an overpass on County Route 539 that will unlock huge potential for Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and help secure this base’s security for decades to come

• $1,200,000 to Burlington County, NJ to completely overhaul and upgrade the county-wide 911 emergency communications system. This project will enhance in-building coverage for schools and police stations to achieve nearly total coverage of over 820 square miles throughout the county.
  • This program is one of the county’s highest priorities and would ensure effective communication between first responders when they are providing emergency response services.

• $55,000 to Ocean Inc. to provide transportation to the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Brick, NJ for 100 Ocean County veterans through an EZ Ride system. The ride program offers a solution to the many difficulties elderly and disabled veterans have when traveling to and from medical appointments.
  • The Brick CBOC currently serves more than double its capacity and fails to offer adequate parking, putting veterans at risk of injury by parking along a highway or walking long distances to the clinic. In addition, due to age or other medical issues, many veterans needing medical attention no longer drive and find it difficult to get the care they need.
  • Expanding these services to older and disabled veterans honors their service and ensures they will be able to access the medical care they need without putting their own health and safety at risk due to inadequate parking and transportation options.

• $3.45 million to Willingboro Municipal Utilities Authority to provide needed upgrades to a Willingboro water treatment plant to remove PFAS/PFOA from the Well 5A raw water. The PFAS concentration of the groundwater pumped from Well 5A currently exceeds NJDEP requirements and has become a vital public health concern for the community.

• $300,000 to the Office of the Ocean County Prosecutor to provide a Comprehensive Officer Assistance Program (COAP) that includes peer support training, family resources, suicide prevention, and other practices that support officer wellness. Additionally, the COAP will include substance use disorder training, a retirement transition program, and expanded resiliency training and resources. All of the services would be reinforced by the creation of an in-person and online “Officer Wellness Library,” that would serve as a clearinghouse for critical resource information for members of law enforcement.
  • Ensuring the well-being and on-going education of Ocean County’s law enforcement officers will benefit the officers and their families and extend outward to positively impact the entirety of Ocean County.

• $4.4 million to construct a new Edgewater Park Township Public Safety building to house the police department, emergency medical services, municipal court, and municipal court offices. The Edgewater Park Township Police Department is currently located in the basement of the existing municipal building, which is not ADA-compliant and is not up-to-code or current law enforcement standards.

• $270,475 to Community Services Inc. of Ocean County purchase five new Meals on Wheels vehicles to deliver hot, nutritious meals and provide all-important wellness checks on Ocean County seniors. The demand for home delivered meals and balanced nutrition is an area of concern that only grows with the increasing aging population in Ocean County.
  • 63 percent of Ocean County seniors are considered at a high nutritional risk, 85 percent are frail, and 66 percent live alone. In 2021, Meals on Wheels of Ocean County delivered 240,000 hot, nutritious meals six days a week to more than 1,400 frail and homebound participants.
  • The fleet of vehicles is aging at a rate faster than can be replaced and trucks are breaking down. With new vehicles, this program will better meet the health and nutritional needs of a vulnerable population in our community.

• $2.24 million to Moorestown Township to install a new water main and ensure any other existing service line that provides drinking water to a residential or commercial user that contains lead be replaced.

• $20,000 to repair and paint the exterior of a municipal-owned building in Westampton that houses American Legion Post 509. Repairs include upgrades to the concrete porch and needed repairs to the interior of the building.

• $3 million to Burlington County to construct a non-congregate homeless shelter. The intended project will directly benefit county residents who fall below the poverty line and provide a better alternative than emergency housing in unsupervised area motels and hotels.

• $250,000 to the Township of Brick launch a much-need dialysis transportation service for senior citizens. Since dialysis treatment schedules are multiple times throughout the week and of significant duration, the current system of transportation in the Township and County cannot accommodate rides to the dialysis treatment centers. This leaves many seniors struggling to access life-sustaining medical treatment for their chronic condition. This program will provide a reliable service to safely transport seniors in our community to and from the medical care they need.

• $593,663 to Lenape Regional High School to expand the District’s Transition to Adulthood Program (TAP), an educational option offered to special needs students between the ages of 17-21. The program is designed to teach students independent life skills they will need for success post-graduation, in an authentic, adult setting. The funding would be used to hire additional staff, cover transportation costs for enrolled students, and purchase educational equipment.

• $40,000 to Court Appointed Special Advocates of Mercer County to expand services to young people aging out of the foster care system by recruiting and training community volunteer advocates to work one-on-one with teens in Burlington County’s foster care system. These teens are unlikely to have a permanent home by the time they are no longer age-eligible for support and are at higher risk for substance abuse, incarceration, homelessness, and teen pregnancy. This program will ensure that vulnerable teens in the foster care system are supported, have someone advocating for them in court and in the community, and are provided resources to help them succeed in life.

• $175,000 to Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Ocean County to increase the number of volunteer advocates to the program, which assigns volunteers to advocate for foster children in court and the community. The funding would enable CASA of Ocean County to add approximately 80 new volunteer advocates and subsequently help a minimum of 120 additional foster children over the next year. Data shows that foster children with a CASA volunteer are more likely to stay in school and graduate and less likely to return to foster care.

• $1,000,000 to Virtua Health for the construction of a new Burlington County facility for the Virtua Children Achieving Success through Therapeutic Life Experiences (CASTLE) program. The program offers comprehensive mental health services geared towards helping children who have emotional, behavioral, or psychiatric disorders. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a significant increase in children and adolescents in need of behavioral health care. This program will expand the CASTLE Program and allow Virtua to serve an unmet need in the Burlington County region for children and adolescents while creating additional, full-time jobs.

Supporting Small Businesses and New Jersey Working Families

• $1.2 billion for the Small Business Administration, including $320 million for entrepreneurial development programs to support New Jersey entrepreneurs and small businesses, making sure they have access to the capital and resources they need.
• $455 million for the expansion of broadband service to provide economic development opportunities and improved education and healthcare services.
  • This is in addition to the $2 billion investment in broadband services provided in the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
• $324 million for community development financial institutions – an increase of $29 million above FY2022 levels.
  • Including $35 million for the Bank Enterprise Award Program that helps businesses in underserved communities get access to support.
• $299 million for the National Labor Relations board – an increase of $25 million above FY2022 levels – to protect workers rights, especially their rights to collectively bargain.
• $31.03 million for SPY radar low noise amplifier refurbishment and upgrades that will sustain dozens of good-paying jobs at the Lockheed Martin Moorestown facility.

Investing in our Servicemembers and Military Families

• A 4.6% pay raise for all military servicemembers.
• $293.3 million for increasing capacity and updating facilities for Child Development Centers that take care of more than 1.2 million children of active duty servicemembers worldwide.
  • This includes $45 million for planning and designing future facilities
• Ensuring all servicemembers have access to affordable housing and including allowances based on cost-of-living needs.
• An increase of the basic needs allowance that is designed to help military families put food on the table and live dignified lives.
  • Congressman Kim is a cosponsor of the Military Hunger Prevention Act and highlighted hunger as a critical issue among military families in an Armed Services Committee hearing.
• $2.7 billion – an increase of 25 percent above FY22 levels – to support critical services and housing assistance for veterans and their families experiencing housing insecurity.
• Authorizing a study on the benefits of offering the TRICARE dental program to members of the reserve and their families. This study would show the benefits of Congressman Kim’s Dental Care for Our Troops Act that would provide guard and reservists access to TRICARE’s dental programs.
  • Dental issues have been identified by the Reserve Organization of America as a leading medical reason guard and reservists are found unfit to deploy.
  • Dental Care for Our Troops is part of Congressman Kim’s larger Healthcare for Our Troops Act that would make no-fee healthcare available to the over 800,000 Americans serving our nation in the Reserves and National Guard. The Congressman believes that anyone who wears the uniform and defends our nation should have healthcare.
• $840.5 million for gender-specific care services for women as well as initiatives and improvements to healthcare facilities.

Keeping our promise to New Jersey Veterans

• $13.9 billion for Mental Healthcare, including $498 million for suicide prevention outreach.
  • Congressman Kim led a bipartisan letter signed by 113 Members of Congress to secure this investment.
• $5 billion in new, mandatory funds for the implementation of the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring Our (PACT) Act that was signed into law earlier this year.
  • The PACT Act also creates a presumption of service connection for 23 respiratory illnesses and cancers related to toxic exposure. By making this change, veterans exposed to toxic substances – including veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who served near burn pits and were exposed to other airborne hazards – will no longer be subject to a cumbersome disability benefit claims process that places the burden of proof on veterans themselves.
• $2.7 billion for Homeless Assistance Programs that will increase the VA’s abilities to reach homeless veterans across the country.
• $183.3 million for Substance Use Disorder programs that support over 540,000 veterans who had a substance use disorder diagnosis in 2021.

Investing in our Healthcare and Serving New Jersey Families 

• Included in this bill is Congressman Kim’s Synthetic Opioid Danger Awareness Act that directs Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to implement a public education campaign.
  • The campaign would:
    • Promote awareness about potency and dangers of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.
    • Explain services provided by SAMHSA, CDC, other entities contracted to provide services through those agencies, and emerging drug threats.
  • Additionally the HHS Secretary would be responsible for submitting two reports to Congress. The first report would be sent two years after the date of enactment, and the second report would be submitted two years after the first to provide an update on the effectiveness of the campaign.
• $28.5 billion for child nutrition programs – an increase of $1.66 billion above FY2022 levels. As kids return to the classroom, this funding will support more than 5.2 billion school lunches and snacks.
  • This funding includes $40 million for the Summer EBT program
    • Summer EBT complements the Summer Food Service Program, which Congressman Kim has proposed to expand and improve through his Summer Meals REACH Act.
• $12.6 billion for new affordable housing units
• $1.61 billion for Impact Aid school districts like Northern Burlington Regional and Pemberton
  • This funding helps school districts that lose tax revenue because their boundaries include federal property, such as Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.
• $6.29 billion for ensuring permanent and continuous healthcare coverage for over 9 million children enrolled in CHIP.
• $111 million for mainstream addiction treatment programs through SAMHSA grant funding, peer recovery specialists, and mutual aid recovery programs.
  • Congressman Kim is a cosponsor of the Mainstreaming Addiction Treatment (MAT) Act, which would eliminate red tape for health care providers to prescribe buprenorphine, a proven treatment that has saved countless Americans struggling with substance use disorder but remains inaccessible for many.
• $10.7 million for general opioid treatment programs that help people struggling with substance use disorder.
• $501 million – an increase of $390 million above FY2022 levels – for the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline.

Investing in our National Security, Protecting Democracy, and Strengthening American Global Leadership

• $430.4 million for various cyber and artificial intelligence initiatives, including implementation of recommendations by the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.
• $177.5 million for the KC-46A Pegasus program, including at JBMDL, along with a provision to allow the NJ Guard and Air Force at JBMDL to fully transition their KC-135 mission to the new, higher-tech KC-46 aircraft.
• $45 billion in emergency funding to support the Ukrainian people and defend global democracy in the wake of Putin’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine’s sovereign democracy.
• $41.8 million for implementation of the Civilian Harm Mitigation and Response Action Plan. that will work towards preventing, mitigating, investigating, and responding to civilian harm in U.S. military operations. Funding will go to training and technological equipment specifically meant to reduce civilian harm.
  • Congressman Kim signed onto a letter to the House Appropriations Committee asking for full funding ($42 million) that would ensure adequate resourcing and staffing implementation for the civilian harm mitigation plan.
  • Congressman Kim is a co-chair of the Protection of Civilians in Conflict Zones Caucus, which seeks to remedy the current trend of civilian harm, normally treated as an “unavoidable” consequence of conflict and the growing number of internally displaced people, refugees, and wounded or killed civilians.
• Reforming the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which will help thwart future attempts to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power like we saw on January 6th, 2021.
• $75 million for Election Security Grants to reinforce State efforts to improve the security and integrity of elections.
• $1.3 billion for the Corporation for National and Community Service – an increase of $162 million above FY2022 levels.
• $430.5 million for Peace Corps – an increase of $20 million above FY2022 levels.
• $20 million for AmeriCorps’ Learn and Serve America program to provide technical skills training for K-12, and post-secondary educators so they can incorporate teaching and involving elements of service into lessons and classrooms.
  • Congressman Kim introduced the Learn and Serve America Act which would have authorized $40 million in service learning funding which, over the past 10 years, has received $0 for the initiative.

Congressman Kim is a member of the House Armed Services Committee, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the House Committee on Small Business. More information about Congressman Kim can be found on his website.

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