Spring & Summer Wrap-up

Above: Gottheimer at the Fort Lee Police Department announced the introduction of the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act.

Congressman Gottheimer introduced the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act which will make critical, targeted investments in small and midsize police departments for the recruitment, retention, mental health support, and training they need to protect themselves and their communities.
 
94% of U.S. police departments have fewer than 100 sworn officers and these smaller departments make up the majority of those in North Jersey.
 
The bipartisan, bicameral Invest to Protect Act of 2023 will:

• Invest in officer safety, de-escalation, and domestic violence response training, allowing officers to receive critical training that will make them even more effective at their jobs;   

• Create grants for small departments to recruit and retain new officers, to help keep their existing officers and recruit new ones;    

• Allow departments to provide mental health resources for their officers; and,    

• Authorize $50,000,000 of existing funding per year for 5 years for local police departments.

• The legislation is endorsed by the National Association of Police Organizations (NAPO), the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the New Jersey FOP, the New Jersey State Policemen’s Benevolent Association (NJSPBA), the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE), the National Troopers Coalition (NTC), the New Jersey State Troopers Fraternal Association, the Port Authority PBA, Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), the NJ State Troopers Non-Commissioned Officers Association, the National Sheriffs’ Association, the Sergeants Benevolent Association, the National Tactical Officers Coalition, and the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association.

• Congressman Gottheimer introduced the bipartisan Invest to Protect Act which will make critical, targeted investments in small and midsize police departments for the recruitment, retention, mental health support, and training they need to protect themselves and their communities.

Above: Gottheimer with Rep. Menendez, Bergen County Commissioner Zur, and Bergen County Clerk Hogan at a road salt storage facility in Paramus to introduce the SALT Deductibility Act.

Congressman Gottheimer announced the SALT Deductibility Act, a bipartisan bill to completely restore the State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction. The bipartisan legislation has more than 50 cosponsors and will allow taxpayers to fully deduct their state and local taxes on their federal income returns, stop double taxation, and cut taxes for millions of middle-class Jersey residents and families across the country.

According to public reporting, restoring the SALT deduction would lower taxes for nearly a third of New Jersey residents — almost three million people — and eighty percent of them have incomes of $216,000 or less.

Gottheimer has helped pass four bills out of the House to restore the SALT deduction, and the Senate did not act.

Above: Gottheimer with local, state, and federal law enforcement for a roundtable discussion focused on combating burglaries and auto theft.

Congressman Gottheimer convened a roundtable with local, state, and federal law enforcement officers to combat the concerning rise in burglaries and auto theft across North Jersey — specifically crime targeting Indian Americans and the greater Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community.

Gottheimer’s work to combat crime and keep North Jersey families and law enforcement officers safe includes:

• Bipartisan Invest to Protect Act: Last Congress, Gottheimer’s bipartisan, bicameral Invest to Protect Act — to make critical, targeted investments in local law enforcement — passed the House with 360 votes, including 207. Democrats and 153 Republicans. The Senate also passed a version of the legislation last year, but the final agreed upon bill was not voted on. Gottheimer is working to pass his bipartisan Invest to Protect Act to ensure that local departments have what they need to recruit and retain the finest officers, to provide necessary training, and to invest in mental health resources for officers.   

• Combating Auto Theft: Gottheimer has urged the Administration to create a new National Auto Theft Task Force to coordinate federal, state, and local law enforcement efforts focused on combating interstate and international carjacking and auto theft. Gottheimer has also urged the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to boost security at ports to intercept more stolen cars before they are loaded into containers and shipped overseas.

• Clawing Back Federal Dollars to Jersey: Since 2017, working closely with North Jersey mayors, councils, first responders, and police departments, Gottheimer has helped clawed back more than $1.5 million through federal Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants and nearly $20 million through the Law Enforcement Support Office (LESO) 1033 Program. These federal investments help ease the burden on town and county budgets, help us lower taxes for our families, and, most importantly, protect our families and first responders.

Above: Gottheimer with a North Jersey victim of “change of address” fraud outside the Paramus Post Office on East Midland Avenue.

Congressman Gottheimer announced new action to combat the shocking surge in “change of address” fraud — when a criminal fraudulently changes a victim’s address with the Postal Service, redirecting the victim’s mail to a new location without their knowledge or consent.

Action Gottheimer announced to combat “change of address” fraud:

• Bipartisan push for answers and stronger address change authentication processes from U.S. Postmaster General DeJoy: Gottheimer sent a bipartisan letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy demanding answers on how DeJoy is planning to strengthen authentication processes, increase public awareness, and implement systems to protect Americans, prevent “change of address” fraud, and uphold the integrity of the USPS.

  • Gottheimer called for additional “change of address” verification systems, including a government ID requirement, a two-factor authentication, and the ability to freeze any address change requests through the Postal Service.

• Urged the U.S. Postal Service Inspector General to investigate and provide answers: Gottheimer called on the Inspector General to move into hyper drive on investigating “change of address” fraud and identity theft, to prevent this from happening to anyone else.

• Pushed the ​​Postal Inspection Service to solve current fraud cases: Gottheimer called on the Postal Inspection Service — the law enforcement arm of USPS — to redouble their efforts to get to the bottom of the many open cases of “change of address” and mail fraud. Families deserve to know that the Postal Service is doing everything they can to ensure their mail, checks, bank info, veterans benefits, tax returns, Social Security checks, and life-saving medications are safe from thieves. 

Recent data shows that there has been a 167% increase in the number of fraudulent changes of address performed. Cases of “change of address” fraud and attempted identity theft jumped from 8,857 cases in 2020 to 23,606 cases in 2021.

Gottheimer joined with the North Jersey community and the family of Darren Drake to commemorate his life and highlight Gottheimer's bipartisan Darren Drake Act that was recently signed into law to help combat lone-wolf terror. Darren was tragically killed in the 2017 NYC West Side Highway terrorist truck attack.

The Darren Drake Act will help stop ISIS-inspired, lone-wolf, and other domestic terrorists from easily acquiring trucks and other vehicles used as weapons of war to wreak havoc and cause mass destruction and death. Working closely with vehicle rental companies, and in consultation with federal, state, and local law enforcement, the bipartisan legislation requires the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to develop a strategy and take concrete steps to stop vehicular terrorist attacks and save lives.

The community also came together to honor the work of the Darren Drake Foundation, which has helped award scholarships to deserving high school students interested in pursuing vocational education.

Above: Gottheimer hosting a Taxpayer Resource Seminar.

Congressman Gottheimer hosted a Taxpayer Resource Seminar with the IRS Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) to directly answer tax filing questions from North Jersey residents ahead of Tax Day.

Watch Gottheimer’s Taxpayer Resource Seminar here.

Over the past two years alone, Gottheimer and his constituent services team have helped more than 500 constituents fight the IRS, helped more than 300 veterans get access to their VA benefits, helped more than 780 Fifth District seniors access their Social Security checks, helped get 60 constituents back home from being stranded overseas, and helped more than 4,100 constituents get their unemployment benefits.

If you need assistance with the IRS or have any other questions, reach out to Gottheimer’s office in Fair Lawn at 201-389-1100, in Newton at 973-940-1117, and visit the website for more information and resources: Gottheimer.house.gov.

On Memorial Day and Independence Day, Gottheimer joined North Jersey families, first responders, veterans, and local elected officials in honoring America and all those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our great country.

On Memorial Day, Gottheimer attended the Wyckoff Memorial Day Flag Raising, Fort Lee Memorial Day Parade, and Loenia Memorial Day Parade. On Independence Day, Gottheimer joined the Paramus Independence Day Parade and the Ridgefield Park Independence Day Parade.

As always, if you’re experiencing an issue with a federal agency, Congressman Gottheimer's Constituent Service team is here to listen & help with VA benefits, Social Security, Medicare, & much more.

Call at 201-389-1100 or email [email protected].

You can also follow Congressman Gottheimer's Twitter here, Facebook here, and Instagram here.

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