After state legislators balked at his proposal to extend his powers, Gov. Phil Murphy reinstated a public health emergency for COVID-19 hours before they were set to expire. The move comes a day after Murphy angered state lawmakers when he announced that a school mask mandate would remain in effect. “COVID-19 remains a significant threat to our state and we must commit every resource available to beating back the wave caused by the Omicron variant,” said Murphy. “The step I am taking today is a commonsense measure that will protect the safety and well-being of all New Jersey residents while allowing the state government to respond to the continuing threat that COVID-19 poses.” North-JerseyNews.com
Antiviral pills to help avoid COVID-19 hospitalization have arrived at more than 50 Walgreens locations in New Jersey. New Jersey is one of more than 30 states that received two recently approved antiviral pills to treat COVID-19 — Pfizer’s Paxlovid and Merck’s molnupiravir. The HHS website listed 4,0092 courses of molnupiravir available in the state out of the 6,340 that were allotted, and 830 courses of Paxlovid were available out of an allotted 1,060. NJ.com
State health officials laid out a timeline for the current COVID-19 surge that expects key health metrics not plateauing until late February. New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said based on the current data and trends, state officials believe hospitalizations will climb to about 8,000 most likely by the end of the 3rd week in January and going into the first weeks of February. “The peak actually could occur sometime in the first two weeks of February before there’s a downturn. We do believe we are going to have high levels for a couple of weeks,” said Persichilli. “We do expect cases to stay at 20,000 to 30,000 for the duration of January.” North-JerseyNews.com
After nearly a third of its 1,936 students reported absent with COVID or other causes, the K-12 Ridgefield Park school district is moving to early dismissal times for all grades through at least Jan. 20. Acting School Superintendent Barry Haines said on Jan. 11 that 400 of the 600 student absences were COVID-related. In addition, 27 of its 180 teachers and 13 of 87 non-teaching staff (15%) were also absent. The Record
The Biden administration plans to distribute five million rapid free COVID-19 tests to K-12 schools each month as part of the federal government’s effort to keep schools open amid a surge in coronavirus cases caused by the Omicron variant. The administration has previously distributed $10 billion in resources to states for testing at schools, funding included in the coronavirus response legislation signed into law last year. The Wall Street Journal
Gov. Phil Murphy’s 40 minute State of the State speech focused on the coronavirus pandemic, the economy, making New Jersey affordable and would work with all lawmakers to make that happen. Murphy committed that the state budget he will propose “in a few weeks won’t raise taxes” and pledged to continue the fight to lower property taxes for all New Jerseyans as that the state’s economy is growing again after being set back by the pandemic. “Across the nine years before I took office, New Jersey’s economic growth ranked 47th among all states. Today, we rank fourth. From 47th to fourth,” he said. “That’s real progress despite all we’ve been through and all we still face…We will continue to focus on making New Jersey more affordable for everyone.” North-JerseyNews.com
The New Jersey Legislature was sworn in Jan. 11, with a new State Senate president and several new leaders and lawmakers making history by bringing greater diversity to Trenton. In the biggest change, State Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-22), the longtime chairman of the upper chamber’s judiciary committee, was officially voted in by his fellow senators as the new State Senate president. Democratic Assembly members Sadaf Jaffer (D-16), Shama Haider (D-37), and Ellen Park (D-37) are the first Asian American to hold seats in the Legislature, with Jaffer and Haider the first Muslim women. Assemblyman Don Guardian (R-3) is the first openly gay Republican elected to the Legislature, while M. Teresa Ruiz (D-29) is the first woman of color to be sworn in as Senate Majority Leader and the highest-ranking Latina in the Legislature’s history. NJ1015.com
Gov. Phil Murphy will renominate civil rights attorney Rachel Wainer Apter to fill a vacancy on the New Jersey Supreme Court after the State Senate did not confirm the selection in the two-year legislative term that expired earlier in the day. Murphy had the choice to either renominate Englewood’s Wainer Apter or choose someone else to succeed retired Justice Jaynee LaVecchia as a new state Legislature was sworn in Tuesday. The governor said he has “only grown more confident” in Wainer Apter’s “character and the integrity she will bring as a future justice” since he first nominated her in March of last year. InsiderNJ
The New Jersey Congressional Redistricting Commission’s tiebreaker, former Justice John Wallace Jr., clarified that he sided with the Democrats because their proposal was more “party-blind” and incorporated more public testimony than the Republicans’ option. “Simply put, I should have stated that the Democrats’ map better satisfied the standard for Partisan Fairness,” Wallace wrote in his response to the New Jersey Supreme Court, which asked him to elaborate on his decision. “The Democratic plan is closer to the average of the ensemble than the Republican plan, and therefore is more ‘party-blind.’” He also said he was “particularly impressed” with Democrats’ map presentation, which incorporated “various citizen recommendations,” during public hearings as compared with the GOP map. PoliticoNJ
New Jersey has made progress in administering and monitoring billions of dollars in tax incentives to businesses, but still needs to do more to make sure businesses in the Garden State do not receive tax credits they have not earned, the Office of the State Comptroller says in a new report. The comptroller’s review found full compliance with 11 of the 2019 report’s recommendations, partial compliance with seven of the recommendations, and noncompliance with three of the recommendations. “We also found that EDA has not sought to recover substantial amounts of public funds that it acknowledges should be pursued,” the report said. North-JerseyNews.com
The Consumer Price Index climbed by 7% in the year through December, and by 5.5% after stripping out volatile prices such as food and fuel. The last time the main inflation index eclipsed 7% was 1982. Jan. 12’s data showed that the cost of used cars, shelter and food are all increasing quickly. The New York Times
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that the Senate will act as soon as Jan. 12 to attempt to pass voting rights legislation. Schumer said the Senate will vote at the latest by Martin Luther King Jr. Day due to “our experts have told us moving by mid-January is the latest we can go.” The intensified drive for voting rights legislation comes after Republican controlled state legislatures have passed strict voting requirements that advocates and researchers say will make it harder for rural Americans, people of color and people with disabilities to vote. NYU’s The Brennan Center for Justice found that from Jan. 1 to Dec. 7 of 2021, at least 19 states passed 34 laws restricting voting access. New Jersey Monitor
Maywood residents will head back to the polls Feb. 15 to elect a council member after the Fall election resulted in a tie for the second of two seats. Two candidates received 1,437 votes when all the eligible votes in the Nov. 2, 2021, election were counted. According to state statute, a special election must be held to determine who gets the seat. The race is between council member Katherine Bennin, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Danyel Cicarelli. The Record
Jersey City residents living in Housing Authority buildings will be able to purchase high-speed internet access at deeply discounted prices and even get it for free. The city is partnering with Andrena, a New Jersey-based internet provider, in its latest initiative to expand broadband internet access to public housing complexes. The program has launched at the Berry Gardens senior housing development and service to Booker T. Washington, Curries Woods, and Marion Gardens communities will go live in the coming months. The Jersey Journal
Deputy Superintendent Dr. Norma Fernandez has been appointed the interim superintendent of the Jersey City Public Schools. Dr. Fernandez’s appointment to the role had been delayed after the board’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 4, where, after some concerns from a few trustees that the decision hadn’t been discussed, they tabled the motion. Following her appointment, the board approved a resolution to conduct a national search to appoint a full time superintendent for the school district when the term expires. Hudson Reporter
A former Prospect Park employee has filed a whistleblower lawsuit against the borough administrator and mayor for wrongful termination. Among the wide range of allegation made by Kairy Acevedo include she was forced to do two jobs without being fairly compensated and that she was fired after protesting the extra workload, Borough Administrator Intashan Chowdhury tried to bully her into giving money for the campaign to reelect Mayor Mohamed Khairullah and she was a frequent target of reprisals, including being ignored by her coworkers and left out of a holiday party. The Record
Republican Nick De Gregorio raised $403,000 during the first 51 days of his campaign and during a brief exploratory process to unseat three-term Rep. Josh Gottheimer in New Jersey’s 5th district. De Gregorio has $375,000 cash-on-hand. Gottheimer has not yet filed his fourth quarter fundraising numbers and had over $11 million cash-on-hand as of the end of September. New Jersey Globe
And finally…The New York Football Giants hit the reset button after firing Head Coach Joe Judge. New Jersey Herald
