Good luck trying to understand this one, Save Jerseyans.
Governor Phil Murphy announced earlier Friday that he would NOT, for now, follow CDC guidance and continue to mandate masks even for fully-vaccinated residents.
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Then, later on the same day, Murphy announced that he’s consulted with Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Coughlin AND plans to FINALLY end the declared public health emergency… in thirty days. He issued another executive order (which does not require legislative review) on Friday, continuing the no-longer-existent health emergency that’s been in place since last March.
There’s another big “if” attached to this.
You aren’t necessarily going to be much freer at the end of this; the only difference might be that the legislature will, finally, do its job and serve at least symbolically as a check on the governor.
“After an extremely difficult year, we are seeing the results of our mitigation efforts and our successful vaccination program,”said Governor Murphy in a statement.“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. Our Administration is working closely with Senate President Sweeney and Speaker Coughlin on legislation that will allow the public health emergency to expire, but ensure that we have the necessary tools and flexibility to continue the fight against the pandemic, including the vaccination efforts that are our highest priority. By working together, we are confident that we can move to the next phase of our recovery effort.”
So it’s NOT safe to follow “the science” and end mask mandates despite Biden, Kamala, the CDC, Fauci, etc., saying it’s safe.
But it IS safe to end the “health emergency” in 30 days… if the Democrats can come up with legislatively-approved regulations (as opposed to ones imposed by executive order)? Riiiiiiiight.
What’s more, anyone who’s watched the Democrat governor and this Democrat legislature negotiate marijuana legalization should not expect a quick resolution (or a good one).
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