News Department

Gottheimer delivers “State of the District” address

HACKENSACK, NJ (Bergen County) — U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) Wednesday reported on the State of the District at the Hackensack Performing Arts Center.

Gottheimer has taken Jersey Values to Congress, which include priorities like protecting a woman’s right to choose, supporting commonsense gun and school safety laws, protecting our air and water, caring for our veterans and seniors, remembering that our diversity is our greatest strength, and getting the backs of our first responders.

Gottheimer identified high taxes, losing people and jobs to other states, crumbling infrastructure, and red tape as issues that need urgent attention. Over the last year, according to the U.S. Census, New Jersey lost more  residents to other states than any other state in the country except for California, New York, and Illinois.

In the State of the District address, Gottheimer outlined five key points for a stronger, tougher Fifth District, New Jersey, and nation:

Stop the exodus of jobs and people from Jersey, make life more affordable, and draw more good-paying jobs and businesses to Jersey.

    • Clawing more federal investment back to Jersey can help lower local property taxes, make local communities safer, and make life more affordable. Since 2017, the Fifth District is now up more than 357% in grants, resources, and federal dollars clawed back from Washington. For 2021 alone, the federal tax dollars clawed back amount to an average savings of more than $750 for each household in the Fifth District.
    • Gottheimer, as Co-Chair of the bipartisan SALT Caucus, is continuing the fight to restore the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction, after the Moocher States passed the 2017 Tax Hike Bill and put a $10,000 cap on the SALT deduction nationwide. Gottheimer has helped pass four bills out of the House to restore SALT and help cut property and state taxes.
    • To lower health care costs, Gottheimer helped get legislation signed into law last year that caps the cost of insulin under Medicare at $35-per-month, and caps annual out-of-pocket prescription costs at $2,000 for our seniors — without raising taxes on families and small businesses.
    • Gottheimer is leading the fight against New York and the MTA’s proposed $23-dollar-a-day, $5,000-a-year Congestion Tax on drivers who head south of 60th Street in Manhattan. Every nickel will go to the mismanaged MTA — nothing to PATH or NJ Transit to help New Jersey — unlike the bridge and tunnel revenue for the Port Authority, shared between New York and New Jersey.

Help residents and families stay in Jersey when they graduate high school or college, mid-career, or at retirement.

    • Gottheimer has proposed a new “Stay in Jersey” tax incentive for businesses that move jobs to Jersey, including opening up satellite offices tax credits for businesses that buy Jersey-made products. By staying and working in Jersey, empty office parks will be filled, workers can avoid commuting for hours every day and spend more time with family, local stores and restaurants will benefit, and New Jersey state and local tax revenue will increase, rather than benefiting New York.
    • Gottheimer helped get the bipartisan CHIPS and Science Act signed into law to help grow Jersey’s manufacturing jobs base, boost R&D taking place in the state, help accelerate U.S. production of semiconductor chips, and help reduce our reliance on China.
    • Gottheimer has fought for and supported legislation for universal child care and paid family leave, to help parents be able to work and support their families and to lower the barrier for making a living in New Jersey.
    • Helping Jersey’s small businesses and critical industries navigate approvals and licenses and cut through red tape helps businesses grow — whether in wind and renewable energy, health care, finance, local stores, restaurants, or labor getting shovels in the ground to build roads, bridges, and buildings.

 Invest in New Jersey’s people and infrastructure. 

    • Gottheimer — calling it “the ultimate claw back to our state” — helped negotiate, draft, and pass the once-in-a-century Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill to invest in fixing and improving the state’s roads, ports, rails, and bridges. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill will create millions of jobs over a decade and help build the Gateway Train Tunnel between New York and Jersey, invest in electric vehicle infrastructure, in climate resiliency to protect our shores, and in clean drinking water — all without increasing the tax burden on Jersey families.

 

    • Gottheimer has clawed back federal investment to help improve school safety and security, for free healthy school breakfast and lunch, and led efforts to ensure our school buses are safe. Gottheimer is making it a top priority to invest in Jersey’s human infrastructure — our people — by supporting universal pre-K and high quality K-12 education, working to ensure colleges, community colleges, and technical schools are putting the right programs in place to expand STEM education and training, fostering public-private partnerships with local businesses to fill Jersey jobs, and working to invest in programs for different trades, apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships.

 

  • Stick by our Jersey Values and use them as a competitive edge against states stealing our people and jobs.
    • Jersey Values include key priorities like supporting women’s health care, protecting a woman’s right to choose, supporting the LGBTQ community, supporting commonsense gun and school safety laws, protecting our air and water, supporting universal child care, caring for our veterans and seniors, celebrating our rich diversity, remembering that our diversity is our greatest strength, and getting the backs of those throughout our communities who keep us safe.
    • Jersey has beautiful lakes and beaches, skiing, and hiking trails, and we need to protect them. The economic opportunities, including the ecotourism in the Fifth District, are endless if we tap into these assets.
  • Build on bipartisan successes in Congress and continue to work across the aisle in New Jersey.
    • Gottheimer helped get signed into law vital bipartisan legislation including:
      • The once-in-a-generation Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill.
      • Historic bipartisan gun safety legislation.
      • The CHIPS and Science Act to stand up to China and boost domestic manufacturing.
      • The PACT Act to get the backs of our veterans.
      • The Electoral Count Reform Act to help protect our great democracy.
      • The CARES Act and COVID relief legislation to provide critical support to families and small businesses struggling during the pandemic, and to help communities rebound.
      • Criminal justice reform to strengthen communities and improve lives.
    • Gottheimer Co-Chairs the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus — a group of 66 members equally split between Democrats and Republicans who are committed to forging bipartisan cooperation on key issues facing our nation.

“Today, I’m focusing on how, working together, across party lines — lines that too often divide us — we can capitalize on our strengths to grow and succeed, to fight for more good jobs and lower taxes, to strengthen our communities, to invest in our people and our beautiful state, and to protect our Jersey Values — from caring for our veterans, to keeping guns out of the wrong hands, to protecting a woman’s right to choose, to celebrating our rich diversity, to keeping our air and water clean. For our kids and our families, and for those who’ve yet to discover all we have going for us,” Gottheimer said.

“Here’s the question: Will we build on our great history, and our strengths, from our economy to our people, and the values we celebrate, or will we let other states pass us by and steal our jobs and tax dollars? Will we make life more affordable, or will people and businesses keep packing up to study, work, and retire elsewhere?,” Gottheimer said.

Jay Edwards

Born and raised in Northwest NJ, Jay has a degree in Communications and has had a life-long interest in local radio and various styles of music. Jay has held numerous jobs over the years such as stunt car driver, bartender, voice-over artist, traffic reporter (award winning), NY Yankee maintenance crewmember and peanut farm worker. His hobbies include mountain climbing, snowmobiling, cooking, performing stand-up comedy and he is an avid squirrel watcher. Jay has been a guest on America’s Morning Headquarters,program on The Weather Channel, and was interviewed by Sam Champion.

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