“It was completely shocking to discover at the beginning of the pandemic — when New Jersey was hit so hard and our hospitals were in desperate need of masks and ventilators — that we had no way of knowing the quantity, location, or production of these supplies,” the bill’s main sponsor, U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, said in a prepared statement.

The PPE Manufacturing Tax Credit will run over three years and allocates $10 million for 2020, 2021 and 2022. It’s part of the broader $14.5 billion New Jersey Economic Recovery Act of 2020, meant to help fuel the state’s rebound from the COVID-19 recession.

New Jersey communities have received thousands of pieces of personal protection equipment to provide to those in need in their local neighborhoods.