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April 28, 2020

I. Governor’s Office Briefing Calls for Mayors
II. Update on Federal Efforts to Aid Municipalities
III. Clarification on Essential Businesses
IV. Where can I find COVID-19 related resources from the League?

I. Governor’s Office Briefing Calls for Mayors

The Governor’s office is hosting Mayor calls throughout the week. They ask Mayors especially make every effort to call in as it’s the most effective way to direct important information to Mayors and receive Mayors input directly.

If you need information about these calls contact Michael F. Cerra, Assistant Executive Director, mcerra@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x120.

II. Update on Federal Efforts to Aid Municipalities

We want to thank Congressman Andy Kim, who is the latest – but hopefully not the last – member of the New Jersey Congressional Delegation to sign-on as a cosponsor of H.R. 6467, the Coronavirus Community Relief Act (CCRA). This bill would provide federal support to every New Jersey municipality – none of which qualified for aid under any of the COVID response bills enacted, to date.

As has been reported, the rug has been pulled out from under the advocates for aid to American municipal governments. They had been told that those concerns would be addressed in ‘the next bill.’ Before the ink was dry on the Payroll Protection Plan and Health Care Enhancement Act – Congress’ most recent effort to strengthen public health and the economy – Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell voiced opposition to more state and any local aid. Suggesting they, instead, consider bankruptcy, Senator McConnell said, "We're not interested in rescuing them from bad decisions they've made in the past, we're not going to let them take advantage of this pandemic to solve a lot of problems that they created themselves and bad decisions in the past."

Yesterday, Congressman Tom Malinowski appeared with Governor Murphy, Lieutenant Governor Sheila Oliver, and a panel of other State Leaders. Congressman Malinowski, a prime sponsor of the CCRA, took the roadblock head-on, stating, "This is about the survival of small-town America. And at the end of the day, I'm not sure if Mitch McConnell wants to be the person who is responsible for telling small town America to go to hell. That's what he's doing right now."

To date, all New Jersey U.S. Representatives, except for Congressmen Frank Pallone, Bill Pascrell, Donald Payne, Chris Smith, and Donald Norcross, are enrolled as cosponsors of the bill. If you are in any of their Districts, please ask them to join their colleagues as cosponsors on H.R. 6467.

Thank you all for your efforts on this.

Contact: Jon Moran, Senior Legislative Analyst, jmoran@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x121.

III. Clarification on Essential Businesses

Yesterday State Director of Emergency Management Patrick Callahan issued Administrative Order 2020-10 providing clarification on essential businesses. The order expands essential businesses to include pet grooming, pet daycare, pet boarding, and stores that principally sell items for religious observation or worship, however they must adopt an in-person operation that includes social distancing.

In addition, car dealerships are permitted to have customers that have ordered and/or purchased vehicles online or by phone to test drive the vehicle at the time of pick-up or prior to delivery. The car dealership must adopt in- person operations that include social distancing, permit the individual to have access to the vehicle alone, and appropriately clean and sanitize the vehicles after the test drive if the customer does not purchase the vehicle.

Finally, the order clarifies that personal care service facilities ordered closed by Executive Order 107 paragraph 9(g) are not permitted to provide personal care services in their own homes, home of their clients or others. Personal care facilities include beauty salons, barber shops, hair braiding shops, nail salons, massage parlors, spas, tattoo parlors, and tanning salons. There is an exception for members of their household, immediately family, or other individuals with whom the provider has a close personal relationship. A prior business relationship does not qualify as a close personal relationship.

Contact: Lori Buckelew, Senior Legislative Analyst, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x112.

IV. Where Can I Find COVID-19 Related Resources from the League?

The League has created a COVID-19 webpage, which was created as a central source for all resources we are posting. The League is also posting updates of news and new legislation and guidance daily on the Emergency Management & Public Health News Flash. You may sign up to receive email alerts when new items are posted, or visit the League’s COVID-19 resource page to view news flash items. Many of these items are also being posted on the League’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts. There have also been several posts published on the League’s Town Crier blog that gives detailed explanations and analysis of the legislation surrounding COVID-19.

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