O’Scanlon Attacks Example of Trenton’s “Outrageous, Arrogant, Anti-Science Overreach”

Introduces Bill Eliminating Certain COVID Sanitization Guidelines for Hotels

Following the implementation of a 2020 law that establishes sanitization guidelines for hotels in New Jersey, forcing them to do things such as change sheets in rooms every day, Senator Declan O’Scanlon introduced legislation that would revise certain sanitization protocols for all hotels.

“The current law requiring daily sanitization of every hotel room is so completely ludicrous and unnecessary, one has to wonder if anyone actually read the bill before they came out in support of it,” said Senator O’Scanlon (R-13). “No one will catch COVID from their own, used pillowcases or sheets. Sanitizing a room during your own, continued use of it will accomplish nothing…except to INCREASE your, and hotel staff, exposure to more potentially COVID positive people. And, what about the environmental impact? The countless gallons of water that will be needed to wash millions of sheets, pillowcases, etc. across the state every day, combined with the electricity and gas needed to dry them. My bill will undo this costly and wasteful legislation that should have never been implemented in the first place.”

Current law requires the Department of Health to establish COVID sanitization guidelines for hotels operating in the state. Among the numerous protocols required by the law, perhaps the most egregious is requiring hotels to clean and sanitize each guest room every day and make sure that towels, sheets, and pillowcases are changed every day.

Under O’Scanlon’s bill, hotels will no longer be required to clean and sanitize occupied guest rooms daily. Hotels will also no longer be required to change towels, sheets, and pillowcases every day.

“The safety and well-being of guests is a top priority for hoteliers in New Jersey. From the start of the pandemic, we worked tirelessly to not only follow but exceed the recommended health and sanitation guidelines,” said New Jersey Restaurant and Hospitality Association (NJRHA) Chairman and hotelier, Bhavesh Patel. “However, it is now clear some of these well-intentioned guidelines turned law are doing more harm than good to our industry. While hoteliers are happy to accommodate a guest’s request for daily room service, it should remain optional and not a state-mandated requirement.”

NJRHA President Dana Lancellotti agreed, noting the mandate could not come at a worse time for the industry.

“The hospitality industry is still facing a critical employment crisis that makes fulfilling this mandate nearly impossible,” Lancellotti said. “This mandate will also place a tremendous financial burden on hotels that will be forced to hire additional staff at a time when the industry is still recovering from major losses in business and leisure travel.”

“For the past two years, democrats have enacted COVID policies that have destroyed or severely hurt businesses across this state, particularly small businesses,” added O’Scanlon. “Unfortunately, it appears that they have learned nothing from their mistakes and will continue to enact bizarre, over-reaching legislation that is actually counter-productive. Luckily, we have the ability to reverse course with the legislation I introduced today.”