On Friday night, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 6800–the HEROES Act. The vote, largely along party lines, was 203-199. Though declared ‘dead on arrival’ in the Senate by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, this action should serve as a basis for further negotiations toward a bipartisan consensus on the next COVID response action in Washington.
This bill would create a $375 Billion ‘Coronavirus Local Fiscal Relief Fund.’ Two-thirds of the funding would be appropriated within 30 days of the bill’s enactment. The final third would need to be delivered during the Federal government’s next Fiscal Year, between April 15 and May 3, 2021.
According to the bill, municipalities and counties could use Local Relief Funding ‘… to respond to, mitigate, cover costs or replace foregone revenues not projected on January 1, 2020, stemming from the public health emergency, or its negative economic impact …’
With this funding, all New Jersey municipalities, the level of government closest to the people and closest to their problems, will be able to continue to deliver quality services to local citizens and our Main Street businesses. Without those services, Hometown New Jersey will not be able to rebound from the crisis, and our economy, and our business community will continue to suffer.
We thank New Jersey Congressman Frank Pallone, who is an original sponsor of this legislation. We also thank New Jersey Representatives Josh Gottheimer, Andy Kim, Tom Malinowski, Donald Norcross, Bill Pascrell, Donald Payne, Mikie Sherrill, Albio Sires, and Bonnie Watson Coleman, who voted in favor of the bill.
Contact: Jon Moran, Senior Legislative Analyst, jmoran@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x121.