MAHWAH, NJ (Bergen County) — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) Monday launched a new Affordability Agenda for Jersey, to cut costs, tackle supply chain issues, lower prescription drug costs, restore the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, and make life more affordable for families and small businesses in North Jersey.
As a part of the new Affordability Agenda, Gottheimer announced new legislation, the COVID-19 Supply Chain Relief Act, and a new effort for the President to activate the National Guard and the United States Transportation Command fleet to help move critical supplies.
The new Affordability Agenda for Jersey announced today includes the following steps:
Tackling the Supply Chain Crisis:
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- Activating the National Guard & Non-Combat Armed Forces Fleet to Move Critical Supplies: Gottheimer will be requesting that the President activate the National Guard to help offload and truck critical supplies at our ports, and utilize the United States Transportation Command fleet to help move critical supplies across the ocean.
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- The COVID-19 Supply Chain Relief Act: Gottheimer will be introducing new legislation that will (1) institute a federal Supply Chain Czar and establish individual regional supply chain leaders to help coordinate interstate response to supply chain disruptions, shortages, and increased prices; (2) allow states to deploy unused COVID-19 relief funds to help address supply chain bottlenecks in their states; and (3) begin a thirty-day countdown clock on the U.S. Departments of Commerce and Transportation to report to Congress and the public on the major current chokepoints in our nation’s supply chain.
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- Cutting Taxes for Jersey Families by Reinstating the SALT Deduction: Gottheimer recently helped pass legislation out of the House that reinstates the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction to help cut taxes for North Jersey families.
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- Lowering the Prescription Drug Costs & Making Childcare More Affordable: By capping seniors’ out-of-pocket prescription drug costs, capping the price of insulin at $35-a-month, and ensuring families do not pay more than seven percent of their annual income on childcare each year — all included in the reconciliation package that Gottheimer recently helped pass out of the House.
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- Lowering Gas and Energy Prices: With an all-of-the-above approach to energy, including utilizing our vast supply of natural gas, as well as the President and the Administration continuing work with domestic producers to increase production and processing.
“My new Affordability Agenda for Jersey is action we can take right now to help our families and small businesses with the COVID-driven impact on our economy — to get more money back into Jersey families’ pockets,” Gottheimer said. “My Affordability Agenda includes aggressively addressing our COVID-driven supply chain crisis, including with new supply chain legislation I’ll be introducing, combatting our dependence on foreign manufacturing, working to get fuel and energy prices down, cutting day-to-day costs like prescription drug and childcare costs, and lowering taxes for hard-working families, including reinstating SALT. The bottom line is: as I’ve said, we must do everything we can to get more money into the pockets of our families, so they can afford to work, live, and stay here in Jersey.”
Gottheimer made Monday’s announcement at the Mahwah warehouse and distribution center for Snow Joe, one of North Jersey’s many locally-owned businesses, alongside Snow Joe Chief Operating Officer Paul Riley, Bergen County Commissioner Mary Amoroso, Executive Vice President of Communications and Government Affairs for the Commerce and industry Association of NJ (CIANJ) Tracy Schoenberg, Executive Director of the Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce Maureen Huggins, and distribution center workers.
“We welcome Congressman Gottheimer here today to discuss his efforts to alleviate the supply chain pressures impacting so many businesses across the state of New Jersey and the country. Snow Joe has not been immune to these challenges and our teams have been working diligently on a daily basis to limit the impact. Shipping delays, sky-high container costs, and rising costs have all resulted in us being forced to pass along price increases to our customers,” said Snow Joe Chief Operating Officer Paul Riley. “The situation needs to improve and this must happen quickly.”
