Appropriations includes funds for top NJ priority: fighting the Opioid crisis
Legislation. A recent bipartisan appropriations package includes funding for New Jersey Highways and Transit, manufacturing jobs in NJ-11, and fighting the opioid epidemic.
This week, U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) applauded the House passage of the two bipartisan legislative packages that included all 12 fiscal year 2020 bills, fully funding the government and preventing a shutdown.
“These bipartisan funding bills include key New Jersey priorities,” said Representative Sherrill. “New Jerseyans pay more than their fair share to the federal government. I am proud to help bring some of that money back into our state and communities to fix our highways, fund our rails, and support our local businesses.
“I worked this year to increase funding for State Opioid Response grants that help local groups like the Center for Prevention and Counseling in Sussex County fund recovery programs," said Sherrill. "For the first time in two decades, the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health will be able to study the gun violence epidemic. And I pushed for election security grants to states to strengthen our election systems. This bipartisan package will help improve the safety and well-being of residents in our community.”
On a bipartisan 297-120 vote, the House approved the Fiscal Year 2020 appropriations package that covers funding for Labor-Health and Human Services-Education, Agriculture, Energy and Water Development, Interior-Environment, Legislative Branch, Military Construction-Veterans Affairs, State-Foreign Operations, and Transportation-Housing and Urban Development.
On a bipartisan 280-138 vote, the House also approved the Fiscal Year 2020 national security minibus appropriations package, which includes four appropriations bills: Defense, Commerce-Justice-Science, Financial Services and General Government, and Homeland Security.
The following list includes provisions that Representative Sherrill advocated for on behalf of New Jersey:
Infrastructure: Strengthens America’s infrastructure by providing more than $61 billion for infrastructure investments through dedicated trust funds, which will create jobs and improve safety.
$700 million for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor
$55 million for highways and transit funding for New Jersey
Defense: Supports U.S. Navy capability improvements developed by BAE in Wayne. Supports cutting-edge naval manufacturing work performed by Marotta Controls in Montville. Funding for critical research and development projects at Picatinny Arsenal, including Long Range Precision Fires and Howitzer improvements.
Opioids: The bill includes $1.5 billion for the State Opioid Response grants, which Congresswoman Sherrill pushed to include. These grants provide funding to states to reduce overdose-related deaths through prevention, treatment, and recovery efforts.
Children and Families: The bill includes $10.6 billion for Head Start, which is $550 million over Fiscal Year 2019. It also includes $5.8 billion for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, which is $550 million above last year’s funding level.
Election Security: The bill includes $425 million for election security grants to states, another top priority for Representative Sherrill.
Gun Violence Prevention: The bill, for the first time in 20 years, includes $25 million for gun violence prevention research at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The bill also includes $78.3 million for states to upload records to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), increased from $75 million in Fiscal Year 2019. It provides $8 million for community-based violence prevention grants, which have supported cities implementing a combination of evidence-based intervention and prevention strategies that have been shown, through research and evaluation, to effectively reduce youth violence.
Medical Research: The bill includes $41.7 billion, a $2.6 billion increase, for NIH to bolster lifesaving medical research.
Environmental Protection: The bill includes $495 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is $57 million above Fiscal Year 2019. The bill also includes $9 billion, a $208 million increase, for the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure clean air and water and to hold polluters accountable.
In past years, grant funding from LWCF has helped the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge purchase property to expand its conservation efforts.
Census: The bill includes $7.6 billion to fully fund the 2020 Census which will help ensure a thorough and accurate count.