Federal Omnibus Bill Has Money For Slate Of Projects In Newark

NEWARK, NJ — President Joe Biden has signed a $1.5 trillion federal omnibus spending bill, and it contains funds to pay for several projects in Newark, officials say.

Democrats and Republicans both scored political victories in the spending bill. Democrats were able to secure an agreement to increase domestic spending by 6.7 percent to $730 billion, while Republicans prevailed in a 5.6 percent increase in defense-related spending at $782 billion.

The sprawling, 2,741-page omnibus bill — the first major federal spending package of Biden's administration — also funds the government through Sept. 30, the end of the federal fiscal year, and averted a partial government shutdown that would've occurred at midnight Friday. It sends $13.6 billion in emergency aid to Ukraine and NATO allies to bolster the nation’s defense against the Russian invasion. Read More: $1.5 Trillion Omnibus Spending Bill (5 Things To Know)

According to a joint statement from U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker, there are several big wins for New Jersey in the omnibus bill, including Newark. They include:

University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey – Trauma Operating Room at
University Hospital, $3,870,000 - "Funding will be used to build University Hospital's Trauma Operating Room and adjacent holding bays for recovery prior to transfer to the intensive care unit. The primary goal of this project is to improve health outcomes by controlling bleeding within the "golden hour" of a life threatening injury occurring - which is challenging, given the time it takes EMS to be called and arrive on scene, assess the patient and transport them to the hospital. The most skilled trauma teams struggle to get a patient to the operating room within the critical golden hour."

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, for a Center for Educational Equity,
$500,000 (Camden, Newark, New Brunswick) - "The Center for Educational Equity will foster statewide collaborations to reduce equity gaps and improve educational outcomes for underserved students. Funding is requested to expand Rutgers' ability to support the success of first-generation, low-income, and historically underrepresented students who reside in New Jersey and those that matriculate to the university. This will help prepare more students within the state to attend college and increase the university's ability to more effectively recruit, retain, and develop communities that have been traditionally underserved."

City of Newark, Water Loss Monitoring Program, $492,000 - "Newark's unaccounted for water loss is over double the industry standard and likely the result of leaks in the water distribution system which may have been exacerbated by the replacement of over 19,000 lead service lines. This funding will purchase sensors that will be installed in the system to find and identify leaks quickly so they can be repaired. The result will be conservation of water, reduction of energy costs for pumping and treatment as well as reduction in costs for chemicals resulting in more stable utility bills for customers. The City of Newark has a repair and replacement program scheduled for its water distribution infrastructure; however, it is requesting funds to purchase permanent acoustic leak detection equipment to both help guide and prioritize the replacement program as well as help City staff to find small leaks and repair them before they become large breaks. The leak monitoring will allow for efficient use of City funds and savings from water losses which currently exist."

Newark Community Street Team High Risk Intervention Expansion, $471,000 - "Funds will be used to expand NCST's existing multi-pronged public safety strategy that reduces violence in Newark through the following components: The High Risk Intervention (HRI) team intervenes in conflicts, prevents retaliation, responds to requests for assistance and provides victim services to survivors of violence. Funding will be used to support the salaries of 4 HRI. Community Outreach Work: Outreach Workers provide mentoring through a case management model to those at greatest risk of becoming a victim or perpetrator of violence. Violence intervention services: By meeting the emergency needs of people connected to violence, NCST can diffuse incidents that can escalate to violence. Cities across the country are looking to the Newark Community Street Team (NCST) for expertise on how to reduce violence without relying on arrest and incarceration. The requested funding will allow NCST to further refine its ground-breaking model and further reduce violence in the South and West Wards of Newark. NCST has been a key component of Newark's violence reduction strategy, that reversed a fifty year trend in increased violence in the City. Enhancing this work will address recent Covid-related spikes in violence and strengthen NCST's ability to guide communities nationally."

Menendez said other Newark projects that will receive funding include the Ironbound Community Health Center, which will get $550,000 for renovation and equipment.

"The funding will be used to renovate nine examination rooms/clinical support areas and purchase medical equipment to better serve and expand the needs of the medically underserved Newark community," Menendez stated.

Booker said the omnibus bill will also power the following projects in Newark:

• City of Newark, $8 million - "To create and preserve affordable housing to Newark residents with household incomes at or below 30% of area median income."
• City of Newark, $500,000 - "To rapidly rehouse individuals evicted at the end of the moratorium, to disburse rental arrears assistance, to mediate pre-eviction and to prevent eviction."
• Rutgers University-Newark, $300,000 - "To support the creation of a one-stop education and workforce development hub for opportunity youth and people re-entering communities from incarceration."
• New Jersey Institute of Technology, $154,000 - "To support a STEM boot camp for underserved, underrepresented and minority students to address gaps in pre-university preparation and make students from these communities more ready, capable and empowered to succeed in a collegiate STEM education."

This article contains reporting from Beth Dalbey, Patch staff

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