New Jersey is Bracing for Icy Temperatures and Wind Chills Below Zero
January 10, 2022The Toms River Police Foundation is Raising Money for a New Courtyard
January 11, 2022
Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday that students and teachers will have to wear masks in school for the "foreseeable future," even as lawmakers intended to allow his authority to implement the order expire.
Murphy did not specify how he planned to enforce the mandate, but his announcement prompted Senate President Stephen Sweeney to withdraw a resolution that would have restored some of the governor's COVID powers, primarily in hospitals and administrative matters, but not the ability to impose a statewide mask mandate.
Should the Legislature allow his powers to expire on Jan. 11, Murphy may have additional options to reinstate his masking authority, including as declaring another public health emergency.
Murphy's statement was "disrespectful" to lawmakers, Sweeney claimed, and it was "aggravating as hell" that he wasn't consulted. Sweeney presided over his final voting session Monday after losing his reelection bid.
"We have to find a way to live with this," Sweeney remarked after nearly two years of COVID-19 restrictions.
When Murphy reported the most hospitalizations since the initial wave in April 2020 on Monday afternoon, he took the opposite stance.
During his regular COVID-19 briefing in Trenton, he remarked, "Unequivocally, the mask mandate in schools will continue for the foreseeable future." "We cannot change gears appropriately in the face of this tsunami."
At the time, lawmakers were still planning to vote on resolutions that did not involve renewing the governor's authority to enforce masks in schools, potentially leaving the issue to the state's 600-plus school districts.
Local masking decisions, according to Sweeney, would be more consistent with what the governor has done for months.
"You can tell the school districts whether you're Zoom or in person," he continued, "but I'm going to tell you what you do inside the facility - it's just not consistent."
Sweeney's statements were met with silence from Murphy's office.
Last May, the governor agreed to lift the public health emergency that he declared at the start of the pandemic in 2020. He gave up many rights in exchange, but he kept some, such as the capacity to tighten social restrictions.
Murphy requested the Legislature last week to extend his authority for another 90 days, which was supposed to expire at midnight Tuesday. However, the resolution up for final voting on Monday only extends his authority for 45 days and does not contain his executive order on school masks.
Before the final vote, the state's largest teachers' union said it was "appalled" that any legislator would vote against allowing the governor to extend the mask mandate, especially at a time when schools are trying to stay open due to a surge in new cases.
"Failure to incorporate this fundamental measure to protect children would be dangerous, irresponsible, and display a callous disrespect for the health of New Jersey's students and employees," stated the New Jersey Education Association in a statement.
The development of the omicron strain has pushed New Jersey into terrain it hasn't seen since the pandemic's first wave. According to Murphy, there were 6,075 COVID patients at the hospital on Sunday, the most since April 29, 2020.
However, according to Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli, 2,963 of those patients were admitted primarily because of their COVID diagnosis, while the rest were admitted for other reasons and ultimately tested positive for COVID while in the hospital.
