Robert Menendez

Senator Menendez is working to ensure that federal investments are made in worthwhile projects and programs that make a difference in the lives of New Jersey families.

Federal investment in worthwhile projects can create jobs, spur economic activity, improve education, keep communities safe, and expand access to quality and affordable health care. Throughout his time in Congress, he has worked hard to secure these types of investments, which can make a real difference in our lives.  Funding has modernized schools, upgraded transportation, improved health care facilities and delivery, safeguarded property from flooding, increased public safety and protected our natural treasures, among other accomplishments.

Highlights:

• COPS Funding & Firefighters.  Led the fight to increase federal funding for our first responders. Police and firefighters in New Jersey have suffered devastating layoffs, and Senator Menendez is working to make sure they have the resources that they need to keep our communities secure. He is leading the effort to fund the COPS Hiring and Byrne JAG programs, which provide federal funds to local law enforcement. His efforts helped to secure $166 million for the COPS Hiring Program for fiscal year 2012. Under this program, New Jersey police departments received $20.8 million which they used to hire 78 police officers in 2011. In 2012, the COPS Hiring Program provided $9.4 million to New Jersey to help hire another 60 police officers. Since 2009, New Jersey has received $65.4 million in COPS Hiring funding to hire a total of 298 officers. He also led the fight to secure additional funding for the Byrne JAG Program, securing $470 million for the program for fiscal year 2012. In 2012, Senator Menendez and 28 fellow Senators requested $257.1 million for the COPS Hiring Program and $430 million for Byrne JAG Program. The Assistance to Fire Fighters Grant program has provided more than $133 million for New Jersey’s fire departments and since 2005, $74 million has been used to hire or retain frontline firefighters in New Jersey through the Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response grant program.

• Keeping Teachers in the Classroom.  Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and the Education Jobs Fund, which together have kept thousands of New Jersey teachers in the classrooms and off the unemployment lines. In addition, the Senator introduced the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act, which would have provided $35 billion to create or protect nearly 400,000 additional education jobs and thousands of first responders’ jobs. Particularly, this would give $831 million in funds to New Jersey to support up to 9,300 educator, police, and fire fighter jobs. 
  

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  Supported the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that provided $297 billion in tax cuts for working families, $233 billion to support entitlement programs such as the extension of unemployment benefits and invested $241 billion for federal grants, contracts and loans.   In New Jersey, more than $5.5 billion in grants, contracts and loans were awarded to communities, non-profit organizations and businesses throughout the state within seven months of the passage of the Recovery Act leading to 24,000 jobs created or saved immediately. Click Here for more information on the Recovery Act’s Federal Investment in New Jersey.

•  Creation of the Liberty Corridor.  Secured $88 million dollars in federal investment since 2005 as the creator of the Liberty Corridor.  This critical investment funded ten individual projects designed to move freight more efficiently, clear chokepoints, and help connect innovative job creators to markets around the world.
  

• Gateway Tunnel.  When Governor Christie cancelled the $8.7 billion ARC Tunnel project and returned the $3 billion federal investment, Senator Menendez and Senator Lautenberg went back to the drawing board and began working with Amtrak on the Gateway Project. Increased traffic and congestion across the Hudson River threatens the economy of the entire region.  The existing 100-year old rail tunnels into midtown Manhattan are already operating at capacity during rush hour and ridership is expected to double in the next two decades.  The Gateway Project is expected to increase NJ Transit commuter rail capacity into New York by 65 percent and also expand intercity and high-speed rail access, providing world-class, high-speed rail service on the Northeast Corridor.  So far, Senators Menendez and Lautenberg have secure $35 million in funding to begin design and engineering work on the Gateway Tunnel project.  
  

• New Jersey Hospitals.  Has been a longtime advocate for New Jersey hospitals, major employers and providers of critical health services in our local communities.  In the House, led the charge to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding that New Jersey hospitals should have been paid in Medicare payments.  Most recently, successfully led a delegation-wide effort to ensure New Jersey hospitals are provided fair and equitable Medicare reimbursements.  Thanks to his efforts, New Jersey hospitals will be reimbursed at a rate that more accurately reflects their unique labor costs, allowing our hospitals to support high-skill jobs and provide high-quality, affordable and accessible health care.  This achievement translates into a $54.2 million increase in Medicare payments.
  

• Community Development.  Secured $15.6 million in federal disaster funding through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program.
  

• Economic Development Assistance.  Secured $200 million in federal disaster funding through the Economic Development Administration.  From 2006 to 2010, EDA has provided more than $18 million in funding for projects that are expected to create or retain 7,247 jobs.  Some of those projects include construction of a well in Paulsboro, a Food Innovation Center at Rutgers and the Campbell’s Gateway Park in Camden.

• Community Health Centers.  Worked to ensure that New Jersey’s community health centers have the resources necessary to continue providing care to our state’s most vulnerable populations. Thanks to his efforts, the health reform law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) ensures that community health centers will receive adequate payments from insurance plans obtained on the Health Insurance Exchange.   
  

• Children’s Health Insurance Program.  Led the 2008 and 2009 Senate efforts to protect and expand federal investment in New Jersey's FamilyCare children's health insurance program.  New Jersey's strong program was targeted repeatedly by amendments to reduce its federal support, but Senator Menendez led the effort that overcame each of them. This program helps ensure that children from families that fall in the health coverage abyss between Medicaid and private insurance have access to quality and affordable health care. In 2009, a strong children's health insurance reauthorization was enacted into law.
  

• Energy Efficiency.  Created the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) program as part of the 2007 energy bill. This program provided $3.2 billion to build new green energy projects, create jobs, and lower municipal energy bills. Senator Menendez understands that transforming our energy industry needs to start with local leaders.  His EECBG program is providing New Jersey communities over $70 million in grants to invest in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. 
  

• Protecting New Jersey’s Beaches and Flood-Prone Communities.   Secured $145 million in beach replenishment and $59.5 million in flood control programs.

Beaches:

• $29 million for Barnegat Inlet to Little Egg Inlet (Long Beach Island)
• $15 million for Great Egg Harbor Inlet and Peck Beach (Ocean City)
• $5 million for Raritan Bay and Sandy Hook Bay – Port Monmouth
• $7 million for Townsends Inlet to Cape May Inlet

Flood Control:

• $33 million for Raritan River Basin, Green Brook Sub-basin
• $20 million for Passaic River Basin projects
• $1 million for Lower Saddle River
• $1 million for Delaware River Comprehensive (General Investigations)

•  Biotech Research Tax Credits.  Created a new $1 billion dollar investment in tax credits for research done at nearly 3,000 small, innovative biotech companies.  That provision alone resulted in the investment of $52 million in over 230 innovative projects in New Jersey that has kept life-saving research going during the economic downturn, maintained high-skilled jobs in New Jersey, and one day may help find a cure for cancer in our lifetime – or a new treatment for the devastating effects of Alzheimer’s.  New Jersey was one of the top 3 recipients of any state in the country.
  

• Health Care Reform.  Supported the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act which has already started providing much needed investment in New Jersey’s health care infrastructure.  Key investments include $20.6 million in funding from the Prevention Fund to help improve the overall wellness and health of our state, $8.6 million in grants to the state to help develop and implement a state Health Insurance Exchange, $31.4 million in funding to our state’s Community Health Centers so they may continue providing care in our lower-income communities, and $14 million in funding to provide improved early childhood supports though the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Program.  
  

• Tax Relief
  • Senator Menendez supported the compromise tax package which provides significant tax relief to New Jersey families.  This tax package also protected 1.6 million middle class New Jerseyans from a surprise Alternative Minimum Tax hike, a fight Sen. Menendez has led in the Senate.  All told, the average middle class household in New Jersey paid $3,555 less in taxes last year under the bill than they would have without it. 
  • Senator Menendez fought to extend the payroll tax cut for more than 160 million workers through 2012.  The typical New Jersey family will save more than $1,300 this year as a result of the extension.
    

• Renewable Energy Financing.  Another incredibly important part of the Recovery Act Senator Menendez championed was the 1603 Treasury Grant Program to help finance renewable energy projects.  The program led to 982 grants worth nearly $491.5 million, helping to leverage over $1 billion in private investment in the state’s economy.

• Keeping New Jerseyans in Their Homes.  Senator Menendez has secured $300 million from the federal government through the Hardest Hit Fund for programs such as the NJ HomeKeeper Program that will help families who have temporarily lost their jobs and are in danger of foreclosure; at least $1.1 billion in federal funding to expand access and improve the quality of homes that middle class people can afford throughout the state; and $70 million in federal funding as part of the 2009 economic recovery package for a program to help schoolchildren uprooted by foreclosures remain in their schools and receive educational assistance. The nationwide foreclosure crisis has affected potentially millions of students, including 50,000 in New Jersey, who could find themselves floating from school to school when their family loses their home.

For more information on Federal investments in New Jersey please Click Here   

For more information on Federal Grant opportunities please Click Here