Following a successful vote on Assembly bill 5820, Assemblyman Nicholas A. Chiaravalloti (D-Hudson) released the following statement:

“Over the past year, our state and the entire world has dealt with an unprecedented pandemic. In New Jersey, Governor Phil Murphy declared a public health emergency as per his statutory authority. It was through this mechanism that New Jersey was able to manage the day-to-day decisions necessary to deal with COVID-19; including implementing CDC guidelines, free testing, and administering our successful vaccination program.”

“The science and data show us that it is time to end the public health emergency. Under this bill, all existing executive orders issued by the Governor under the public health emergency – Executive Order 103 – will expire 30 days following the effective date of this bill, with the exception of specific enumerated executive orders that will remain in effect until January 1, 2022. This bill ends 108 of the 120 Executive Orders. This bill requires any rules related to masks, social distancing and gathering be no stronger than CDC guidance.”

“New Jersey has successfully responded to the threat of COVID-19. Our success in fighting this virus was the result of working together – the Governor, the Legislature (Democrats and Republican) and most importantly all the residents of our great state. However, as we move to a new norm it is important to make sure we remember just how challenging the past year has been. This bill offers a reasonable and pragmatic approach to ending the health emergency.”