New Jersey Representative Mikie Sherrill, along with New York’s Peter King, announced that they will introduce a bipartisan House companion to S.3752, Senator Menendez’s bipartisan State and Municipal Aid for Recovery and Transition (SMART) Fund bill. They will be joined by New Jersey’s Josh Gottheimer, and Tom Reed (NY), Tom O’Halleran (AZ), Fred Upton (MI), Ted Lieu (CA), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Debbie Dingell (MI), and Elise Stefanik (NY) as cosponsors.
If enacted, the SMART Fund would create a $500 billion fund to help states and all local governments respond to the current public health and economic crisis, while maintaining essential services. The funding would be divided into three pools, and distributed based on:
1) state and local population; 2) COVID-19 infection rates, as of June 1; and 3) state and local revenue losses during 2020.
Clarence Anthony, Executive Director and CEO of the National League of Cities, said, “The National League of Cities welcomes introduction of the bipartisan SMART Act, a bill that would assist all local governments with maintaining their core responsibilities, including keeping emergency responders on the job intervening in localized outbreaks of COVID-19; and restoring the economic activity of their communities long term. Providing federal relief for municipalities across the nation is critical to advancing the reopening of America and our national economic recovery, on which thousands of jobs and the livelihoods of American families depend. The SMART Act is another positive sign that Members of Congress want to help the local leaders they represent; and that momentum is growing for the next emergency response package to include fair and appropriate levels of assistance to all cities, towns, and villages.”
We thank Representatives Sherrill and Gottheimer, as well as their colleagues, for putting partisanship aside, and for working together to address the impact of the pandemic on local, and state, services and budgets.