NJ's Share of Federal Economic Stimulus Plan

New Jersey will receive $5 billion from the federal stimulus package when the money gets dispersed to the states. The following is a list of how we will benefit from the spending plan:

General allocation of New Jersey's share:

• $5 billion overall goes to the state
• $1.33 billion - education funding and the state budget
• $1.33 billion - infrastructure such as roads and bridges and water projects
  
• $2.2 billion - Medicaid support
  
• The rest will go towards such as areas as special education, support for low-income students, and programs such as food stamps, child care and preventing homelessness
  

Residents will benefit from the following:

• More than half of our residents will see a $400-per-worker credit; couples would receive $800. The credit applies to those with incomes under $75,000, and the median income in New Jersey is $68,000. Officials estimate it would mean about $13 a week more in people's paychecks this year. Next year, the measure could yield workers about $8 a week
• $100 a month in unemployment insurance for 731,000 out-of-work New Jersayans; 148,000 laid-off workers will also qualify for extended unemployment benefits
  
• 77,000 families will become eligible for a tax credit for college-saving plans. The plan creates a partially refundable $2,500 tax credit for those saving for up to four years of college
• 1.7 million middle-class New Jersey workers will get a one-year reprieve from the Alternative Minimum Tax