10th District Legislators Call on Legislature and Governor’s Office to Create Task Force to Help Jersey Shore Businesses

The legislators of the 10th District, Senator Jim Holzapfel and Assemblymen Greg McGuckin and John Catalano are calling on the New Jersey Legislature and Governor’s Office to create a task force dedicated to assisting businesses and residents of the Jersey Shore once stay-at-home executive orders are lifted.

In an effort to begin the process of restarting the Shore economy, the bipartisan task force would work together to develop safe and effective solutions for both annual and seasonal businesses at the Jersey Shore.

The Jersey Shore Safety and Economy Task Force would consist of a bipartisan contingent of elected officials from both the Senate and General Assembly, along with health officials and business representatives from each county along the Jersey Shore from Monmouth County to Cape May. The task force would work to develop safety standards and protocols to ensure safe working and operating conditions for the thousands of small businesses that heavily rely on the summer tourism industry.

The 10th District legislators released the following statement on their proposed task force:

“As your state representatives, please know that the safety and well-being of our residents will always be our top priority. We understand the importance of restarting our economy and the urgent need for effective plans to help our families get back to work in a safe manner. We are beginning to see the positive results of home isolation and the Governor’s stay-at-home orders. We are grateful to our constituents for their compliance with these orders during this uncertain and troubling time, and we continue to urge the practice of good hygiene and social distancing.”

“We are deeply concerned by the economic harm that so many are suffering and know that many small businesses on the Jersey Shore are in jeopardy due to the prolonged closure. A strategic plan to reopen must be ready to act upon once we are given word by the Governor that his stay-at-home and retail closure orders have been lifted. Without proper guidance on reopening safely, we risk a new spike in new COVID-19 cases that could add to the substantial hardships we have already endured. That is why our delegation has asked for the creation of the Shore Safety and Economy Task Force to bring together county health officials and business representatives to discuss the right procedures to reopen the Jersey Shore.”

“There is no one-size-fits-all solution for this problem. We recognize that the towns and businesses on the Jersey Shore are unique and contribute tens of billions of dollars to the New Jersey economy each year. For this reason, we must implement a strategy for seasonal businesses that employ 1 in 10 New Jerseyans. With the summer months quickly approaching, we must address this issue quickly before residents end up sustaining even greater economic and personal harm.”