Ridgewood NJ, Citing the need to protect the health of New Jersey’s 1.6 million public and private school students as well as thousands of educators and support staff, Governor Phil Murphy today announced that statewide school closures will be extended through the end of the 2019-2020 academic year. Private schools with longer academic years will remain closed until at least June 30.
Trenton NJ, Governor Phil Murphy today signed Executive Order No. 135, suspending in-person requirements for receipt of a marriage license and marriage ceremonies, and for the receipt of working papers for minors.
“Our current public health emergency requires us to adjust our processes to protect public health and safety,” said Governor Murphy. “Even in uncertain times, we must allow important milestones, like marriages or youth seeking their first job, to move forward in a safe, efficient manner.”
Trenton NJ, With business closed across the state and families struggling to get by financially, Senator Michael Doherty proposed a solution to help all of the nearly one million out-of-work New Jerseyans to receive the unemployment benefits they deserve. He called for inactive State government workers to be reassigned to the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) to help process a massive backlog of unemployment claims.
Trenton NJ, Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-26) along with many other New Jersey taxpayers objected to signs appearing on state highways with the words “Don’t be a Knucklehead” posted on them.
The signs reference repeated entreaties Murphy made in his daily COVID-19 briefings, and Pennacchio was unamused.
Trenton NJ, Assemblyman Brian Bergen is introducing legislation to put a layer of checks and balances on the governor’s ability to enact emergency executive orders.
“The governor’s ability to unilaterally impose restrictions on the freedoms of our citizens cannot go unchecked,” said Bergen (R-Morris). “One person with near absolute power is dangerous. Governor Murphy doesn’t even have a problem admitting that he doesn’t consider the Bill of Rights. My legislation will ensure that the governor has the ability to take emergency action, but that action must be reviewed and approved by the legislature within 14 days or it will expire.”
In his April 21 op-ed, published in Spotlight NJ, Jack Ciattarelli aptly points out that after the health crisis is defeated, New Jersey will be left with an economic crisis unless a non-partisan approach to rebuilding the New Jersey state economy is adopted. The status quo proposal coming out of the Trenton goof troop – State Senate leader Sweeney and his super partisans, as well as failed Governor Phil Murphy, offer the already economically suffering residents of our state higher increased cost of living and greater unaffordability. This leads New Jersey residents to ask, why is there no non or bi-partisan commission to identify cuts to state spending when all across the state New Jerseyans are in danger of a depression? Why has none in Trenton proposed a pay cut for politicians and the politically connected when the regular Jane and Joe who support them are facing a potentially tough economic time? Why is the lessening of the tax burden on working and middle-class families not on the agenda for after the health crisis ends but before the financial one ramps up?
Trenton NJ, Governor Phil Murphy today signed Executive Order No. 132, allowing county and municipal clerks to accept initiative and referendum petitions electronically, and allowing signatures for these petitions to be collected electronically.
Trenton NJ, Governor Phil Murphy signed an executive order on Wednesday reversing his previous orders that closed state and county parks and golf courses, which can reopen at sunrise on Saturday. But the governor said that social distancing requirements would continue to be in effect.
Trenton NJ, “Constitution Isn’t Suspended” for COVID-19, Attorney General Barr Warns Public Officials. According to US Attorney General Bill Barr, some states might be in for more than just a slap on the wrist for their over-reaching policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. US Attorney General Bill Barr on Monday issued a 2-page memo ordering US Attorneys to be on the ‘lookout’ for state and local directives that could be violating the constitutional rights and civil liberties of individual citizens amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
LINWOOD NJ, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Hirsh Singh called for the calibrated reopening of the New Jersey economy and ending the lockdown of the state. While speaking to his supporters, Singh presented his plan that would not only open up the economy, but also help contain the spread of COVID-19.
According to Singh’s plan, we should continue all efforts to contain and control the virus in the areas that have been hit the hardest, but in areas where we have healthy low-risk individuals able to work and which have not been as seriously hit as the areas adjoining New York City, we must immediately start reopening for humanitarian, constitutional, and economic reasons even as we put social distancing norms into place and maintain such norms.
Trenton NJ,President Donald Trump, who announced guidelines Thursday for states to start opening their economies, cited a handful of states taking steps toward a “safe, gradual and phased opening,” including Texas, Vermont and Ohio. He is pushing to relax the U.S. lockdown by May 1, a plan that hinges partly on more coronavirus testing. Governors in Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina have announced plans to ease their coronavirus lockdowns.
Wyckoff NJ, according to Assemblyman Christopher DePhillips ,”As we begin to look forward to the reopening of New Jersey, I will be sharing daily ideas and proposals on how to restart the economy safely and responsibly. Unfortunately, Gov. Murphy has refused to lift the “stay at home” order at all.”
Trenton NJ, Governor Phil Murphy and Superintendent of the State Police Colonel Patrick Callahan today announced an Administrative Order clarifying which businesses are permitted to operate and ways in which certain businesses may operate in accordance with Executive Order 107. The Administrative Order states the following:
Trenton NJ, NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt released the following statement in response to Governor Murphy pointing fingers at the federal government for New Jersey’s poor economic outlook:
Ridgewood NJ , The American Lung Association’s 2020 “State of the Air” report found that air quality in New Jersey generally improved, even as the state’s major metro areas continued to rank among the worst in the nation for ozone smog. Fine particle pollution levels usually continued their steady improvement, although rankings for the year-round levels of this pollutant remain poor.