Amid uncertainty that the state would see any additional federal aid to help float its finances, wrecked by a global pandemic, New Jersey has to work with just shy of $2.4 billion in relief while a third iteration of the bill, known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Recovery Act, has been held up amid tense negotiations between Congress and the White House.
The Democrat-backed HEROES Act, which passed the House of Representatives, includes $1 trillion for states and local governments. Meanwhile, the Republican-backed HEALS Act, which passed the U.S. Senate, does not include any state aid.
According to Gov. Phil Murphy, most of the $2.4 billion has either been spent or earmarked, but Republican lawmakers have been critical of the governor for not spending the rest of it, or at least disclosing where that money would go.
“While Gov. Murphy is sitting on more than $2 billion of federal relief funds, we have businesses across New Jersey that still haven’t gotten a penny of aid to help them survive the many impacts of COVID-19,” Sen. Michael Doherty, R-23rd District, said in a July statement.
A wish list of bills that lawmakers, both Democrats and Republicans, are pushing through the statehouse relying on federal relief might ultimately never see the light of day.
One bill that passed out of committee in both chambers on Monday would set aside $30 million to compensate restaurant owners who suffered financial losses in preparation for the July 2 restart to indoor dining , which Murphy halted days before the plan was set to go into effect.
By the end of the 2021 fiscal year, which runs Oct. 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, the state will have spent $106 million of CARES Act money on so-called “economic development and re-employment programs.” That includes $51 million in small business grants, and another $15 million in small business grant money for 12 separate counties.
Another $15 million will have been allocated to an NJEDA program meant to subsidize purchases for small businesses of personal protective equipment – like gloves, masks, face shields, hand sanitizer and coveralls – and to prop up New Jersey manufacturers of that equipment.
New Jersey’s labor department is getting $3.8 million for workforce training.
Meanwhile, $10 million will have been set aside for a program to cover rent costs for small businesses located in dozens of New Jersey’s poorest cities. Known as the “Small Business Lease – Emergency Assistance Grant Program,” the grants are capped at $10,000 for businesses in New Jersey’s 64 most at-need towns and cities.
On the landlord side, $25 million will be allocated toward a program run by the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency meant to help property owners recoup losses from tenants unable to pay rent because of the pandemic. Another $65 million is going toward and emergency rental assistance program run by the Department of Community Affairs.
The state will set aside $300 million for its higher education fund, and $175 million to the Department of Health for COVID-19 testing, and locations where potential COVID-positive patients could self-isolate.
Another $125 million is going toward expanded testing capacity, while $25 million is going toward the Department of Human Services and the Department of Children and Families to pay for reimbursements for health providers and PPE support.
The Department of Human Services will have gotten $50 million in federal relief for substance abuse treatment and mental health support.
The largest chunk of federal relief is going toward payroll and health benefits. The largest single allocation is $450 million for salaries and administrative leave.
Another $100 million is going toward health benefits, and another $50 million toward reimbursement for individual departments, and $30 million toward New Jersey Transit reimbursements.
