PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As he promised, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy has declared a public health emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
By executive order, he renewed the school mask mandate, right before he wrapped up his fourth State of the State address.
The reinstatement of the public health emergency allowed Murphy to continue to require masks in schools.
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"A tremendous number of cases, even with the lower percentage change of hospitalization that comes with them, mean that we have more people in our hospitals today than at any point since the spring of 2020," said Murphy.
It extends a rule put into place at the start of the pandemic.
"It does not mean any new, universal mandates or passports," said Murphy.
"It does not mean lockdowns. It does not mean any business restrictions or gathering limits."
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Earlier this week, outgoing New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties) did not allow a vote to decide if the governor's emergency powers, set to expire, would continue.
Beyond COVID-19, Murphy went on to talk about what improvements he's seen across the state in the last year, listing examples including New Jersey being a leader in targeting national hot-button issues like gun violence, reproductive rights and climate change.
"New Jersey is ranked as the best state in which to live for our safe communities, education system, healthcare, and quality of life," he said.
"More people have insurance, and they're paying less for it."
He saids the overall economy across the state is growing alongside the population.
As for what's ahead for New Jersey, Murphy shared a few things on his agenda, including loopholes for gun buyers and banning super-high caliber weapons, a renewed focus on making New Jersey more affordable, the upcoming state budget, and addressing property taxes.
Murphy promised in his address that taxes won't be going up.
