A5777 is up for a vote today in the Assembly, despite strong opposition from the GOP side. The fast-tracked bill was introduced, heard and released on Tuesday with lightning speed, which is never a good thing when it comes to transparency in government. The bill would lift most of the Executive Orders issued by Governor Murphy during the pandemic, but at the same time, would allow over a dozen mandates to remain in place at the will of the Governor until January 1, 2022–even if the public health emergency that sparked the orders is no longer in place. Those who have already criticized the Governor for his “over-reach” in keeping mask mandates and social distancing rules in place despite new CDC guidelines, widespread vaccinations in NJ, and other states’ lifting such measures are strongly opposed to the bill. The debate on the floor should be interesting.
For additional details, see the write-up posted on New Jersey Globe after the bill was released from the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
