New Jersey Senator Robert Singer, Senate Republican Caucus Leader, called on Governor Corzine and United State Senators Menendez and Lautenberg and an investigation and reconsideration of $1 billion of federal economic stimulus grants awarded to police departments throughout the country. On July 28, Vice President Joe Biden announced grant recipients and indicated that only 18 of approximately 300 local governments in New Jersey that spent time and money applying for grants received any funding.
The $1 billion was provided by federal taxpayers through the federal stimulus appropriation (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, P.L.111-5). The funding was to be provided directly to law enforcement agencies to hire and/or rehire career law enforcement officers in an effort to create and preserve jobs and increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.
According to the IRS data, New Jersey taxpayers pay about 4.5% of all federal tax revenue, so New Jersey taxpayers had to pay about $45 million towards the $1 billion in grants. However, New Jersey only received $26 million of its taxpayers' money back.
In comparison, Ohio taxpayers pay less than 4% of all federal tax revenue, so their taxpayers had to pay less than $40 million towards the $1 billion in grants. However, Ohio received almost twice what it sent to Washington.
In other words, the program took money out of New Jersey and sent it to other States, thereby further weakening our economy.
In Senator Singer's District, 8 towns applied for grants and received no money (Allentown, Bordentown, Fieldsboro, Howell, Jackson, Lakewood, Plumstead, and Robbinsville).
"Our United States Senators need to speak up, and forcefully, about how poorly New Jersey is being treated by our federal government when it comes to stimulus funding out of Washington."
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