Sponsored by:
Senator NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
SYNOPSIS
Appropriates $300,000 from General Fund to New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers University.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Supplement to "An Act making appropriations for the support of the State Government and the several public purposes for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018 and regulating the disbursement thereof," approved July 4, 2017 (P.L.2017, c.99).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. In addition to the amounts appropriated under P.L.2017, c.99, there is appropriated out of the General Fund the following sum for the purpose specified:
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74 DEPARTMENT OF STATE 30 Educational, Cultural, and Intellectual Development 36 Higher Educational Services GRANTS-IN-AID |
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82-2415 New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station - Rutgers University......................................................................................... |
$300,000 |
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Total Grants-in-Aid Appropriation, |
$300,000 |
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Higher Educational Services ........................................... |
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Grants-in-Aid: |
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82 New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station - Rutgers University........................................ |
($300,000) |
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Of the amount hereinabove appropriated for the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station - Rutgers University, $300,000 shall be allotted to continue and expand the Rutgers Veterans Environmental Technology and Solutions program.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill provides a supplemental appropriation of $300,000 from the General Fund to the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers University for the Veterans Environmental Technology and Solutions (VETS) program.
The VETS program is an initiative that seeks to empower local unemployed veterans with environmental job skills. Local veterans receive an educational stipend while undergoing certified training programs in a range of sustainable landscaping, environmental, and business skills. New trainees learn through a combination of in-class lectures, site visits, and hands-on engagement within the community. The VETS program also provides resources to help participating veterans readjust to civilian life, become self-sufficient, and re-engage in their community through environmental improvement initiatives.
The Essex County VETS program was established in 2014, as a collaborative effort between the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Cooperative Extension, the Metropolitan Resurrection Community Development Corporation, and the Lower Passaic River Study Area Cooperating Parties Group.
The funds appropriated under this bill would be allotted to the VETS program for the continuation and expansion of the program now that program funding has ended.