May 19, 2021
7:50 am
Lawmakers on May 18 continued to move ahead a bill that would let Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID-19 public health order expire next month, but keep in place many of the broad powers he’s employed these past 14 months to contain the pandemic.
The proposed Assembly Bill 5777 keeps in place 14 separate executive orders Murphy signed since the onset of the pandemic. It was approved by a 7-3 vote at the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, after being introduced at the very meeting.
Murphy announced May 14 that such a bill would move forward and he in turn would lift the public health emergency. The legislation and that agreement have the sign-off from Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-19th District, and Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-3rd District, both the most powerful lawmakers in their respective chambers.
How you can get $500 in New Jersey as cash rebates are on the way
Updated: May 18 2021, 15:42 ET
AMERICANS in New Jersey will soon be eligible for a $500 cash rebate.
The lump-sum is part of a compromise that Governor Phil Murphy and Democrats made when they agreed to raise taxes on millionaires.
Read our stimulus checks live blog for the latest updates on Covid-19 relief.
2
There is more than $300million put aside for the rebates in his proposed budget.
The bill has not yet been passed, however Senate President Stephen Sweeney said it s a done deal in my mind.
If the plan does go through, married couples in the Garden State with an income below $150,000 with at least one dependent child would qualify.
Murphy to let COVID public health order lapse next month May 17, 2021
7:34 am
Gov. Phil Murphy and the state’s top lawmakers said on May 14 that they intend to lift the COVID-19 public health emergency after extending it one final time.
The goal, Murphy and several top Democratic lawmakers said on Friday, is that the order would be lifted in exchange for a bill enacted in the next month that would keep in place some of the governor’s powers granted under the public health emergency.
“In order to continue on the path to normalcy, we need all available resources to continue our progress in vaccinating New Jerseyans and finally beating back this pandemic,” Murphy said in a statement.
N.J. should act to protect abortion rights with Supreme Court case looming, advocates say NJ.com 2 hrs ago Susan K. Livio, nj.com
Female lawmakers and pro-choice advocates in New Jersey have warned that abortion rights are under threat since the death of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg eight months ago and the appointment of conservative jurist Amy Coney Barrett to replace her.
On Monday, those concerns intensified after the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would review Mississippi’s ban on abortion after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The case strikes at the heart of Roe V. Wade, the landmark case that established a woman’s right to an abortion in 1973 and is the first abortion case for the nation’s highest court since former President Trump appointed three conservative justices.