Gottheimer: Bergen County Received Over $2 Billion From CARES Act

BERGEN COUNTY, NJ — From his office in Washington D.C., Congressman Josh Gottheimer put into perspective just what his home in north Jersey is facing.

Gottheimer said the region is facing two major battles: economic rehabilitation, and the continued fight against the coronavirus.

"As we all know from early on, North Jersey was in the eye of the COVID storm with both a health crisis and an economic crisis," said Gottheimer during a Tuesday Zoom call.

"We must remain vigilant, we see what’s happening in other parts of the country and what can happen if we take our eye off the ball."

The call was scheduled in part to recap where the state was at in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, but also to unpack the distribution of CARES Act money through the Fifth Congressional District.

According to Gottheimer, all 79 municipalities in his district received over $100 million in CARES Act money, and Bergen County, the hardest hit in the state, received $2.38 billion.

These numbers, Gottheimer explained, are estimates based on recent public data. That data includes:

• Paycheck Protection Program loans
• Economic Impact Payments
• Federal unemployment support
• Grants to individual counties for hospitals, non-profits, food banks, colleges and technical schools

According to these estimates, "high impact" hospitals in Bergen County received $234 million, higher education institutions received over $37 million and the Bergen County Office of Emergency Management received a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for over $1.2 million.

The estimates also indicate that Bergen County received a total of $2.56 billion in PPP loans, $681 million in EIPs and $517 million in federal unemployment payments.

Though the loans, grants and other avenues of securing funds have helped, Gottheimer was only cautiously optimistic.

"Far too many of our businesses and jobs continue to struggle," he said, adding that medical professionals and scientists still predict that a second wave of the virus is on the horizon. (Yes, that means we're still in the first wave.)

Gottheimer said that more personal protective equipment, as well as money and testing resources will likely be needed if and when that second wave hits the state.

As has been widely reported, Senate Republicans released their proposal for a second round of stimulus checks and other COVID-19 relief, packaged as the Health, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection, and Schools Act (HEALS).

Forbes reports that the HEALS Act is similar to the CARES Act, and a provision introduced by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio would continue the PPP, something Gottheimer said was "essential."

In stating his support for another CARES package, Gottheimer added that he'd "vote for anything" that puts money back into his district.

"We need to come up with a deal that actually helps Jersey," he said.

Recent Patch reports give a deeper look into what businesses received PPP loans in Mahwah, Ridgewood, Glen Rock and Wyckoff.