Bill Text: NJ A2520 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes grant program to rehabilitate veterans' organizations posts; appropriates $300,000.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-21 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee [A2520 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-A2520-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman VINCENT PRIETO
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
Assemblywoman ANGELICA M. JIMENEZ
District 32 (Bergen and Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes grant program to rehabilitate veterans' organizations posts; appropriates $300,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning posts owned by veterans' organizations and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The "Veterans' Posts Restoration Grant Fund," hereinafter referred to as the "fund," is established as a nonlapsing, revolving grant fund in the Department of the Treasury. The fund shall be administered by the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs and shall be credited with all revenues provided pursuant to section 4 of this act, all interest received from the investment of fund deposits, and any other funds made available to carry out the purposes of this act.
b. Moneys in the fund shall be used to provide grants to bona fide veterans' organizations that are affiliated in good standing with a recognized national veterans' organization, in accordance with procedures and criteria adopted in regulations by the Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs.
c. Grants shall be used for the repair, rehabilitation or restoration of the grant recipient's facility. Grants shall not exceed $10,000 per recipient. The grant applicant shall demonstrate that alternative funding is not available. Applicants shall demonstrate that their membership has stabilized or increased over the previous five years to be considered for a grant request. Organizations applying for a grant shall be the owner of the real property upon which the facility for which the funds are intended is sited. In approving grants, the department shall give priority to those projects most in need of repair or which present public safety hazards and whose sponsors are judged most in need of financial assistance. Grants shall not be awarded if the facility for which the funds are requested has a mortgage obligation. Grant funds shall not be used by recipients as collateral to obtain loans and shall not finance the rehabilitation or restoration of a facility or part of a facility, used to serve and consume alcoholic beverages.
2. The department shall conduct a public awareness campaign to inform veterans' groups concerning the availability of grants for the repair, rehabilitation and restoration of veterans' posts through the program established by this act.
3. The department shall, within 120 days of the effective date of this act and pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations governing application procedures, grant criteria, eligible recipients, eligible project costs, grant recipient accountability, and any other matters as may be necessary for the implementation of this act.
4. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs the sum of $300,000, which shall be deposited in the fund created pursuant to section 1 of this act.
5. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes a grant program to assist veterans' organizations with the costs of repair, rehabilitation and restoration of veterans' posts. Many of these posts are not in compliance with the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, for example, making it difficult for this State's aging veteran population to gain access to these sites.
This bill directs the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs to administer the grant program, in accordance with procedures and criteria adopted in regulations by the Adjutant General.
The bill establishes a nonlapsing, revolving fund, titled the "Veterans' Posts Restoration Grant Fund," as the source of the moneys for the grants. The bill provides that a grant not exceed $10,000 for any one organization. Applicants must demonstrate that alternative funding is not available, that their membership has stabilized or increased over the previous five years and that the property to which the repairs would be made does not have an outstanding mortgage. Funds are not allowed to be used by recipients as collateral to obtain a loan and are not permitted to finance the rehabilitation of posts' bars or taverns.
This bill appropriates $300,000 to the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs for deposit into the fund, to effectuate the purposes of the bill.
