S2983

An Act directing DCA to establish grant program for suburban and rural small businesses to respond to COVID-19 pandemic and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The “Suburban and Rural Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program” is hereby established in the Department of Community Affairs to assist eligible suburban and rural small businesses with rent payments during the COVID-19 pandemic.

b. To the greatest extent possible, the department shall model this program after the “Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program,” administered by the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority.

c. Small businesses that were eligible to apply under the “Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program” shall not be eligible under the “Suburban and Rural Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program.” All small businesses located in the remaining municipalities in the State, unless otherwise determined by the department, shall be eligible to apply for the “Suburban and Rural Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program.”

d. To be eligible for a grant under the program, a small business shall:

(1) occupy a leased premises less than 5,000 square feet of leasable space. Multiple locations leased by the same business shall be aggregated;

(2) lease commercial space in a mixed-use or commercial building, or occupy a storefront business;

(3) be in operation prior to March 1, 2020; and

(4) be in accordance with other requirements promulgated by the department.

e. To effectuate the provisions of this section, the department shall:

(1) accept applications for program assistance from suburban and rural small businesses no later than 30 days after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill); and

(2) disburse assistance on a first come, first served basis, not to exceed $10,000 per grant, to eligible suburban and rural small businesses no later than 60 days after the effective date of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

2. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Community Affairs the sum of $6,000,000 from a portion of those federal funds allocated to the State pursuant to the federal “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act,” Pub.L.116-136, for use by the department to provide support for suburban and rural small businesses suffering from adverse financial impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

3. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire 180 days after enactment.

STATEMENT

The bill directs the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to establish a temporary “Suburban and Rural Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program” to assist eligible suburban and rural small businesses with rent payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bill appropriates $6 million from the State’s share of the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding to finance the program.

To the greatest extent possible, the DCA would model this program after the “Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program,” administered by the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority (NJRA). Several requirements for the “Suburban and Rural Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program,” to be established by the bill, are requirements modeled off the existing program administered by the NJRA.

On July 23, 2020, Governor Murphy announced $6 million in CARES Act funding to be allocated to the “Small Business Lease - Emergency Assistance Grant Program” to assist small businesses with rent payments to property owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, only small businesses located in 64 urban municipalities were eligible for grants under that program. This bill would make small businesses in those municipalities ineligible under the new program and would permit small businesses in all remaining municipalities, primarily suburban and rural areas of the State, the same opportunity for essential small business relief from the CARES Act.

Under the bill, the DCA would be required to: (1) accept applications for program assistance from suburban and rural small businesses no later than 30 days after the bill’s enactment; and (2) disburse assistance on a first come, first served basis, not to exceed $10,000 per grant to eligible suburban and rural small businesses no later than 60 days after the bill’s enactment.