Senator Cory Booker is allying with Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-Westfield) on the issue of Secret Service reimbursement, introducing a Senate version of Kean’s bill that would authorize the Secret Service to pay back local governments for the resources they use when presidents and presidential candidates visit the area.
The issue is one especially pertinent to New Jerseyans, given that former President Donald Trump frequently visits his golf club in Bedminster and is entitled to Secret Service protection while he’s there. Kean, whose congressional district includes Bedminster, introduced the bill in August as a way of making sure that the local governing bodies in Bedminster and Somerset County don’t have to shoulder the costs themselves.
Booker said that the bill, which he plans on formally introducing when the Senate returns to session in November, is an important part of improving presidential security – especially after two recent attempts on Trump’s life (neither of which occurred at his New Jersey club).
“Local law enforcement and first responders are critical partners to the Secret Service, but their support places a significant financial burden on municipalities such as Bedminster, New Jersey,” Booker said in a statement. “We must ensure the Secret Service’s partners can continue to perform these vital functions by authorizing federal reimbursement of their costs.”
Booker’s support for the bill gives it bipartisan buy-in in a divided Congress, though it may be tough to get both the House and Senate to pass the bill in the few short months remaining of this legislative session.
The bill also has bipartisan support at a local level; Shanel Robinson, the Democratic director of the county commissioner board in Somerset County, and Larry Jacobs, the Republican mayor of Bedminster, both say it would go a long way towards easing the burden on their taxpayers.
“When the Department of Homeland Security and the Secret Service request resources from Bedminster to bolster the security at the Trump National Golf Club, we do our best to step up and fulfill those requests,” Jacobs said. “ However, we are a small town and the ability to deploy our police, fire and first aid resources is limited and does come with great expense. Senator Booker understands the predicament that we are in.”