February Wrap-up

Above: Gottheimer with doctors at the new Valley Hospital.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer announced new legislation — the Securing Access to Fertility Everywhere Act or SAFE Act — to protect access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments in New Jersey and across the nation. This follows the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos are children, forcing IVF providers across Alabama to shut their doors.

Gottheimer also called on the Speaker of the House to stand up to the band of the ultra-right in his own party and prevent a government shutdown.

A government shutdown would affect everyone from veterans looking for a job or mental health care when they come home, to our seniors who depend on Meals on Wheels, to vulnerable families who use community health centers, to children who rely on school breakfast and lunch, WIC, and Head Start. It will imperil local law enforcement and our national security, halting key defense and military projects.

Gottheimer Announcements to Protect Women’s Access to Healthcare:

• Gottheimer announced new legislation, the Securing Access to Fertility Everywhere Act, or SAFE Act, which will protect a family’s access to IVF treatments and protect IVF providers.
• Gottheimer is helping lead in the House the bicameral “Access to Family Building Act,” which will establish a right for women to access reproductive medical care, including IVF, and for health providers to provide these services. This bill is coming for a vote this week in the Senate.
• Gottheimer is also working to pass his Freedom to Decide Act, which reiterates that access to Mifepristone does not violate federal law, and that the abortion pill should be able to be prescribed and shipped to states that have outlawed reproductive freedom, even in cases of rape, incest, and the health of the mother.

Above: Gottheimer in front of the First Step Nursery School.

In front of the First Step Nursery School and Day Care Center, Congressman Gottheimer announced new action in Congress to make life more affordable for Jersey families. 

1) Gottheimer urged the Senate to immediately vote on bipartisan legislation he just helped pass out of the House to expand the Child Tax Credit, which will help pay for childcare, food, and other costs, making raising a child in Jersey more affordable. 

2) The legislation will also provide tax cuts for small businesses, like research and development, and it includes a tax credit to make housing more affordable for Jersey families. 

3) Gottheimer also highlighted an anticipated vote on a new bill to raise the State and Local Tax, or SALT, cap — helping stop double taxation, and lower taxes for millions of middle-class Jersey residents. This bipartisan legislation will double the SALT deduction for married couples in 2023 from $10,000 to $20,000. Come 2025, in less than two years, the entire SALT deduction will come back. 

New Bipartisan Legislation to Expanded Child Tax Credit

• Increases the maximum refundable portion of the Child Tax Credit from $1,600 in 2023 to $1,800 in 2023, $1,900 in 2024, and the full credit in 2025.
• Adjusts the $2,000 maximum per Child Tax Credit for inflation.
• Applies the credit’s phase-in rate on a per-child basis, helping larger families afford the higher costs.
• Offers a one-year income “lookback” provision to create flexibility for families to use either current- or prior-year income to calculate their credit.

Above: Gottheimer at the George Washington Bridge.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer announced he had filed an official Freedom of Information Law or FOIL request to the MTA to provide any emails and documents containing the data, calculations, and discussions that went into their Congestion Tax revenue projections. The MTA has 30 days left to comply and respond. 

This follows the MTA becoming incredibly defensive and refusing to make their calculations public after Gottheimer released an evidenced-based report on the Congestion Tax. This Congressional report found the MTA will raise $3.4 billion a year from the Congestion Tax — $2.4 billion more than the New York State Legislature requires them to generate. Gottheimer originally asked the MTA to confirm their calculations 78 days ago. 

TAXPAYER DOLLARS WASTED BY THE MTA: 

• $3 billion a year just to service the MTA’s enormous debt.
• $1 billion to expand the Second Avenue subway stations twice as large as experts say is needed.
• $700 million a year lost to fare skippers. 
• $200 million unnecessarily on the Long Island Rail Road expansion.
• $30 million on unnecessary Times Square staircases.
• $5 million on workers to look for fires at Brooklyn bus depot because the sprinklers don’t work.
• $700,000 on subway gates designed to keep out fare-beaters which can be defeated by a simple hack.
• And more.

Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5) honored Black History Month and joined the local community at the Bergen County NAACP fourth annual Black History Month Health Fair. The fair featured health screenings and wellness seminars on blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, mental health, women’s health, and healthy food cooking classes to help close health disparity gaps through education and prevention.

“During Black History Month — and every month — we celebrate Black history, culture, the countless contributions to New Jersey. By doing so, we remind our nation that there is still more work to be done to create a more equal and just society,” said Congressman Josh Gottheimer (NJ-5). “This year’s Fourth Annual Bergen County NAACP’s Black History Month Health Fair, is key to closing health disparity gaps with education and prevention.”

Above: Gottheimer at the Bergen County NAACP’s annual Black History Month Health Fair.

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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