Doherty: Murphy’s Flip-Flopping on Indoor Dining Killing Restaurants

Senator Michael Doherty released the following statement in response to Governor Phil Murphy’s order to postpone the opening of indoor dining:

“The July 2nd reopening date for indoor dining that Governor Murphy had announced presented a glimmer of hope for our local restaurants who have been struggling to pay bills with their dining rooms closed for more than three months. Many restaurants have barely survived to this point and they were already at great risk of going under due to the governor’s previous executive orders. By flip-flopping on his decision to allow indoor dining to resume, Governor Murphy just dashed their hopes and almost certainly ensures that many restaurants will close permanently.

“Think of all the mom-and-pop restaurants on Main Street that ordered large quantities of food to feed patrons for the July 4th holiday. We’ve heard stories about restaurant owners putting purchases on their personal credit cards because their business accounts are tapped out. Owners and operators made purchases they could barely afford in anticipation of indoor dining resuming, and now good food and money will go to waste.

“Governor Murphy’s single-minded decision with no input from the legislature will only guarantee that more of our local dining establishments go out of business. He shouldn’t punish every restaurant across the state because of a few bad actors.”

On June 29, Gov. Murphy rescinded the July 2nd opening date for indoor restaurants.