N.J. Admin. Code § Executive Order No. 267 (2021)
Governor Philip D. Murphy
Executive Order No. 267 (2021)
An Order Addressing Duplications of Benefits in Expenditures of American Rescue Plan State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds
Issued: October 8, 2021.
Effective: October 8, 2021.
WHEREAS, in light of the dangers posed by Coronavirus disease 2019 ("COVID-19"), I issued Executive Order No. 103 on March 9, 2020, the facts and circumstances of which all are adopted by reference herein, which declared both a Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency; and
WHEREAS, to further protect the health, safety, and welfare of New Jersey residents by, among other things, reducing the rate of community spread of COVID-19, I issued Executive Order No. 104 on March 16, 2020, the facts and circumstances of which are also adopted by reference herein, which established statewide social mitigation strategies for combatting COVID-19, which have been strengthened and expanded upon in subsequent Executive Orders, including Executive Order Nos. 105-133, Nos. 135-138, Nos. 140-166, Nos. 168-173, No. 175, Nos. 177-181, No. 183, Nos. 186-187, Nos. 189-198, No. 200, Nos. 203-204, No. 207, and Nos. 210-211 (2020), and Nos. 214-216, Nos. 219-220, Nos. 222-223, No. 225, Nos. 228-235, Nos. 237244, No. 246, Nos. 251-253, Nos. 263-264, and No. 266 (2021), the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein; and
WHEREAS, on March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a national emergency pursuant to his constitutional and statutory powers, including those granted by Sections 201 and 301 of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. Ã,§ 1601, et seq., and consistent with Section 1135 of the Social Security Act, as amended, 42 U.S.C. Ã,§ 1320b-5; and
WHEREAS, also on March 13, 2020, the President determined that the COVID-19 pandemic was of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant a nationwide emergency declaration under Section 501 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act ("Stafford Act"), 42 U.S.C. Ã,§ 5121-5207, which remains in effect today; and
WHEREAS, on March 25, 2020, the President determined that the COVID-19 pandemic in New Jersey was of sufficient severity and magnitude to warrant a major disaster declaration under Section 401 of the Stafford Act, 42 U.S.C. Ã,§ 5121-5207, which remains in effect today; and
WHEREAS, on July 17, 2020, I issued Executive Order No. 166, the facts and circumstances of which are adopted by reference herein, which set forth a compliance framework to ensure that the State expended and distributed COVID-19 emergency and relief funds in accordance with federal and State rules and regulations and in a way that guarded against fraud, waste, and abuse; and
WHEREAS, the distribution of emergency and relief funds to local government units, businesses, non-profit organizations, and the general public is a priority of my Administration, and the waste, fraud, or abuse of those funds would frustrate that purpose; and
WHEREAS, the federal government has created and continues to create numerous sources of federal funding for state and local governments, businesses, non-profit organizations, and members of the public to support pandemic response and economic recovery, including but not limited to the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ("American Rescue Plan"), with state and local governments serving as intermediaries for the distribution of significant portions of those funds; and
WHEREAS, the American Rescue Plan includes approximately $ 10 billion in "COVID-19 State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds" ("SLFRF") that are available from the United States Department of the Treasury ("United States Treasury") to the State and to each of its twenty-one (21) counties and five hundred and sixty-five (565) municipalities; and
WHEREAS, the SLFRF have the same eligibility criteria and potential uses for State and local governments, thereby requiring unprecedented cooperation and coordination among State and local governments to avoid creating duplicative programs and projects across State-funded and local government-funded programs; and
WHEREAS, the United States Treasury requires state, county and municipal recipients of the SLFRF to report program, subrecipient, obligation, and expenditure details into a system designated and managed by the United States Treasury as stated in United States Treasury SLFRF Compliance and Reporting Guidance dated June 17, 2021; and
WHEREAS, the reports submitted to the United States Treasury on the uses of SLFRF should contain details on which State, county, and municipal programs may potentially provide duplicate benefits across each level of government; and
WHEREAS, to ensure the proper expenditure of funds, the recipients of federal funding are required to institute procedures to guard against the duplication of benefits across programs and across entities within the same jurisdiction that would violate provisions of the Stafford Act; and
WHEREAS, the State, in order to maximize the impact of federal COVID-19 federal funding, and in compliance with Executive Order No. 166 (2020) and its federal obligations, seeks to minimize the risk of creating improper duplicate benefits by fostering cooperation and coordination across State, county, and municipal COVID-19 relief programs; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Community Affairs ("DCA"), Division of Disaster Recovery & Mitigation ("DDRM") has been designated as the grant manager responsible for the oversight and proper expenditure of the SLFRF; and
WHEREAS, the DCA, Division of Local Government Services ("DLGS") is the State's primary point of coordination with all county and local governments within the State; and
WHEREAS, the Constitution and statutes of the State of New Jersey, particularly the provisions of N.J.S.A. 26:13-1et seq., N.J.S.A. App. A: 9-33 et seq., N.J.S.A. 38A:3-6.1, and N.J.S.A. 38A:2-4 and all amendments and supplements thereto, confer upon the Governor of the State of New Jersey certain emergency powers, which I have invoked;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PHILIP D. MURPHY, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
N.J. Admin. Code Executive Order No. 267 (2021)