Trenton Democrats killed a Republican school safety bill on Thursday, Save Jerseyans, but that bill wasn’t the only casualty of the hyper-partisan, ultra-far Left majority’s pathetic pre-Memorial Day legislative session.
Democrats also killed a bill co-sponsored by their own member – State Senator Nia Gill of Essex County – to investigate the root causes of the mass causalities inside New Jersey’s nursing homes during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Majority party not only killed the bill but went about it in such a way as to prevent Gill’s co-sponsor from offering floor comment.
“I am outraged and disappointed that we were once again prevented from even discussing this effort to scrutinize the policies and factors that may have contributed to the death toll in long-term facilities,” said state Senator Joe Pennacchio (R-26), Gill’s GOP co-sponsor. “Like the voices of family members clamoring for answers, my voice, and the voices of my Senate colleagues, were silenced today. The public has a right to know what happened in the veterans’ homes and nursing homes. They want to know what’s going on here.”
The Democrat majority’s behavior “speaks volumes,” Pennacchio added. “What is this Administration hiding, and why are they being protected?”
New Jersey’s nursing home deaths have likely eclipsed 10,000 since the winter of 2020. The death toll at two of New Jersey’s three state-run veterans’ homes remain the target of an open federal probe. The deaths have also been the basis of a multi-million dollar state settlement and two new subsequently-filed lawsuits.