Lawmakers advance bill to end public health emergency, preserve gov's powers
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...