Governor Murphy will end his regular Covid-19 briefings on Friday, Save Jerseyans, marking the end of a two-year marathon of daily and then, later, less frequent press conferences. There have been 250 in all since early 2020.
Meanwhile, Murphy is still keeping his recently re-declared health “emergency” in place.
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One Bergen County legislator wants to know why the emergency remains if there’s no longer a need for regular briefings from the guy who declared it.
“Instead of ending transparency by ceasing the public Covid briefings, he should end the public health emergency,” Assemblyman Chris DePhillips (R-40) said on Wednesday. “If he truly wanted to return to normal as he says he would stop his rule by executive order. His Covid briefings gave press the opportunity to question his mandates and motives. I don’t think anyone can point to any positives that come from continuing the public health emergency. It’s over.”
The health emergency will automatically end on March 12th, but Murphy can renew it pursuant to the Emergency Health Powers Act for another month without legislative approval.
A GOP bill with some Democrat support has been introduced to limit Murphy’s authority to declare indefinite emergencies.
