Phil Murphy remarked that it was “still snowing” when he arrived for his briefing today at the Trenton War Memorial, but that didn’t alter the governor’s upbeat mood – the pandemic and the record storm notwithstanding.

He had a bit of good news for restaurants, saying that beginning Friday, the indoor dining capacity limit will increase from 25 to 35 percent. That’s not a major jump, but it is a step in the right direction.

Moreover, the state will lift the 10 p.m. curfew for dining, although towns and counties will retain the power to impose restrictions if they like.

The governor crowed that New Jersey is the “only state in America” that hasn’t adjusted dining hours up and down as the pandemic’s impact varied.

In other words, once outdoor dining began in mid-June and limited indoor dining in early September, the state has not had to shut it down again. Murphy said the state has avoided the “rollercoaster” we’ve seen elsewhere.

He takes pride in the state’s steady approach, contending that it shows decisions are made on scientific data and not on a whim.

At the same time he announced increased indoor dining, Murphy also said that the ban on bar seating will remain and offered no information on whether restaurant employees will be eligible for the vaccine.

As for the weather, “We have gotten largely through this storm,” he said.

This is no small thing, given the fury of the storm.

The governor talked about a “remarkable effort” of thousands of people – DOT workers, the police and other first responders.

The stats are significant – 4,000 DOT trucks were on the road, 2,600 service calls answered by State Police and snow accumulations rivaling a historic blizzard dating back to 1888.

Amid all that, the governor said that as of today, there are very few power outages and major roads are showing “blacktop.”

This seems routine, but it really isn’t.

The list of elected officials who were embarrassed and pilloried after a poor response to a weather event is long. Murphy discovered that early on when a freak ice and snow storm in November, 2018, caused gridlock all over the northern part of the state. One of those taking a swipe at Murphy at that time was his predecessor, Chris Christie.

So, it’s no surprise that when the state’s storm response seems pretty good, Murphy’s going to take a bow.

Back to the pandemic, the governor has long talked about the need for federal aid to offset state and local expenses.

The Biden Administration seems headed in that direction with a proposed $1.9 trillion package that Murphy said includes $350 billion for state and local governments.

Senate Republicans have offered a $600 billion plan that doesn’t include local aid. Naturally, this gave the governor a chance to take a swipe at congressional Republicans, a common occurrence at these briefings.

“I don’t know what movie they’re watching,” he said.