It’s a bit harder to get some folks to use a virus mask
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Rejoice, fellow procrastinators: Looks like NJ will be delaying state income tax filing to July 15.
JOHN REITMEYER reports for NJ Spotlight
Legislation that would officially move New Jersey’s income tax-filing deadline to July 15 and lengthen the state’s fiscal year by three months has been formally introduced by lawmakers and is on course to make it to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk on Monday.
Both fiscal policy changes have bipartisan support and are seen as crucial to helping the state and its residents navigate the severe economic fallout from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
While some other states have begun to disclose estimates of potential revenue losses caused by the pandemic, New Jersey’s Department of Treasury has yet to do so. But Gov. Phil Murphy said during a media briefing on Thursday that the state budget is getting “crushed” by dropping revenues and rising expenses related to the pandemic.
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“The impact on the state budget is significant,” Murphy said. “There’s no other way to put it.”
In all, more than two dozen bills related to the coronavirus response were introduced during Assembly and Senate quorums that were held on Thursday.
Among the new measures is the legislation that will move the state’s April 15 tax deadline to July 15, and extend the close of the fiscal year 2020 from June 30 to Sept. 30. The same bill will also require Murphy to put forward a budget proposal by late August for a planned truncated fiscal “year” that would run from Oct. 1, 2020 until June 30, 2021.
Murphy had proposed a $40.85 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2021 in late February, but the pandemic has essentially rendered it obsolete within a matter of weeks.
More than 51,000 New Jersey residents have been reported as testing positive for COVID-19, Murphy said during Thursday’s media briefing. There has also been a total of 1,700 deaths caused by COVID-19 in New Jersey, the governor said.
Unemployment claims still on the rise
The filing of new claims for unemployment benefits also increased again last week, according to new figures released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, bringing New Jersey’s three-week total for new claims up to 576,904. That comes as the governor has shuttered many businesses across the state to help slow the spread of the disease.
New Jersey has already frozen nearly $1 billion in FY2020 spending in response to the pandemic.
NJ lawmakers will be voting from home on bills to help residents and businesses cope with Covid-19
By Frank Brill, EnviroPolitics Editor
On Monday, April 13, 2020, members of the New Jersey Senate and Assembly will meet online to vote on scores off bills all focusing on the coronavirus pandemic. The Senate session will open at 10 a.m. and the Assembly will get to sleep in, starting their session at 3:30 p.m. Following are the bills lists for each house.
Senate
| A3901 | Prof. & occupational license boards-reactivate licensure during state of emerg. | ||||
| A3903 | Notarial acts, remote-allows during Public Health Emergency & State of Emergency | ||||
| A3904 | Flexible instruction days-permits virtual/remote instruction to meet 180-day req | ||||
| S2329 | Work First program-revises requirements for cash assistance benefits;$25M | ||||
| S2330 | COVID-19 Financial Security for Consumers Act | ||||
| S2331 | Inmate reentry-assists in obtaining necessary reentry benefits | ||||
| S2332 | 2020 NJ Emergency Rental Assistance Program-establishes;$100M | ||||
| S2333 | Civil & criminal immunity during st of emergency-provide cert. health care prof. | ||||
| S2334 | Prof. & occupational license boards-reactivate licensure during state of emerg. | ||||
| S2336 | Remote notarial acts-allows during public health emergency & state of emergency | ||||
| S2337 | Flexible instruction days-permits virtual/remote instruction to meet 180-day req | ||||
| S2338 | COVID-19 Fiscal Mitigation Act-clarify filing & payment deadline for CBT/GIT | ||||
| S2339 | Workers benefits and leave-enhances certain rights | ||||
| S2340 | Resid prop owner/tenant prot, emerg impact-mortgage forbearance & rent reduction | ||||
| S2341 | Tenants, commercial & residential-concerns protections; restrict rent increases | ||||
| S2342 | Nonprofit corp-allow members to participate in meetings by remote communication | ||||
| S2344 | Prescr. drug refills during state of emerg.-req Medicaid & health insur coverage | ||||
| S2345 | Transient space reservations-req. refund/credit during pub health or st of emerg | ||||
| S2346 | Permits, certain-extends during COVID-19 emergency | ||||
| S2347 | Employment & Business-Related Tax Deferral Assistance Program-establishes | ||||
| S2348 | Taxpayers that retain employees during COVID-19-allows CBT & GIT tax credits | ||||
| S2351 | Employment protection-affords to certain emergency medical responders | ||||
| S2352 | Counterfeit drugs & medical devices-enhanced penalty during state of emergency | ||||
| S2353 | Mass layoff due to coronavirus 2019 pandemic-exclude from severance requirements | ||||
| S2354 | Insurance policy cancellation-prohibits for at least 60 days, cert circumstances | ||||
| S2355 | Mandatory retirement in SPRS-delays when it occurs during state of emergency | ||||
| S2356 | Student financial aid-provide relief due to 2020 public health state emergency | ||||
| S2357 | COVID-19 demographic data-require hospitals to report | ||||
| SR64 | Finan. instit. fees & payments-urge to waive/suspend during coronavirus pandemic | ||||
| SR65 | COVID-19 Business & Employee Continuity & Recovery Fund-urges federal creation |
Assembly
| A3901 | Prof. & occupational license boards-reactivate licensure during state of emerg. | ||||
| A3903 | Notarial acts, remote-allows during Public Health Emergency & State of Emergency | ||||
| A3904 | Flexible instruction days-permits virtual/remote instruction to meet 180-day req | ||||
| A3906 | Hotel facilities-require state lease as isolation centers for COVID-19 emergency | ||||
| A3908 | COVID-19 Financial Security for Consumers Act | ||||
| A3912 | Inmate reentry-assists in obtaining necessary reentry benefits | ||||
| A3915 | Nonprofit corp-allow members to participate in meetings by remote communication | ||||
| A3919 | Permits, certain-extends during COVID-19 emergency | ||||
| A3920 | Insurance policy cancellation-prohibits for at least 60 days, cert circumstances | ||||
| A3921 | Small business tenant, cert-Gov permit emergency rent suspension during COVID-19 | ||||
| A3938 | Mass layoff due to coronavirus 2019 pandemic-exclude from severance requirements |
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Gov. Murphy’s new executive order halts non-essential construction projects in New Jersey
By Cameron W. MacLeod, Gibbons law firm
4/09/2020
On April 8, 2020, Governor Murphy issued Executive Order 122 (EO 122), which further limited non-essential business operations throughout the state during the COVID-19 pandemic. This Executive Order halts all non-essential construction as of 8:00 PM on Friday, April 10, 2020.
The Executive Order expressly identifies those limited projects that may continue construction during the state of emergency. Of note, these include:
- Projects necessary for the delivery of healthcare services, including, but not limited to, hospitals, other healthcare facilities, and pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities
- Transportation projects, including roads, bridges, and mass transit facilities or physical infrastructure, including work done at airports/seaports
- Utility projects, including those necessary for energy and electricity production and transmission, and any decommissioning of facilities used for electricity generation
- Residential projects that are exclusively designated as affordable housing
- Schools projects
- Projects involving single-family homes that are under contract, or a project underway on a single-family home or single apartment where an individual already resides
- Projects involving facilities for the manufacture, distribution, storage, or servicing of goods sold by online retailers or essential retailers
- Projects involving data centers or facilities that are “critical” to a business’s ability to function
- Projects necessary for the delivery of essential social services, including homeless shelters
- Projects necessary to support law enforcement agencies or first responder units in response to…
Trump administration has expelled 10,000 migrants at the border during coronavirus outbreak, just 100 in custody at the border
By Nick Miroff, Washington Post
April 9, 2020 at 1:06 p.m. EDT
The Trump administration has carried out nearly 10,000 summary deportations or “expulsions” since March 21, using emergency public health measures that have given U.S. Customs and Border Protection broad authority to bypass immigration laws, CBP officials said Thursday.
The measures have allowed the agency to quickly turn away most unauthorized migrants — sending them back across the Mexican border. The moves have dramatically slashed the number of detainees held in border stations, where they fear the coronavirus could spread, the officials said. CBP currently has fewer than 100 detainees in custody, down from nearly 20,000 at this time last year during last year’s border crisis, officials said.
Since the implementation of the rapid expulsions, unlawful border crossings have dropped 56 percent, said acting CBP commissioner Mark Morgan. Morgan also acknowledged that the United States has all but closed its borders to asylum seekers who are fleeing persecution, including those who attempt to enter legally at U.S. ports of entry.
“Those who are undocumented or don’t have documents or authorization are turned away,” Morgan said.
Democratic lawmakers have accused the administration of defying U.S. laws and exceeding the authority of the coronavirus public health order, but Morgan defended the emergency measures as a necessary step to stop the spread of the disease.AD
“This is not about immigration,” Morgan said. “This is about public health. This is about putting forth aggressive mitigation and containment strategies.”
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New Jersey extends enhanced water-quality protection to 600 miles of rivers and streams
By designating them as Category One, agency safeguards waterways of exceptional ecological importance
TOM JOHNSON reports for NJ Spotlight APRIL 8, 2020
New Jersey has designated 600 miles of rivers and streams for higher protection to keep their water quality from degrading, an action taken to safeguard these waterways from pollutants, sewage and harmful bacteria.
The rule adopted Monday by the state Department of Environmental Protection is not as expansive as the agency’s original proposal more than a year ago, which sought to designate 749 miles of waterways as Category One (C1) streams.
Even so, environmental groups applauded the step, saying it marks the first time in more than a decade the state has reclassified streams and rivers for higher level of protection, a designation earned for waterways of exceptional ecological importance, whose loss could mean threats to certain endangered species.
Only 5% of New Jersey’s streams meet federal clean-water standards for fishing and swimming. The vast majority of waterways, more than 22,000 streams and rivers, are designated as not meeting federal water-quality standards.
Safeguarding ecologically sensitive waterways
The new classifications afford increased protections for some of the most ecologically sensitive waterways — from the Maurice River in Cumberland County to a stretch of the south branch of the Raritan River in the Highlands to segments of the Ramapo River in north Jersey. The upgrades also include a two-mile stretch of the Cooper River in Camden County, the first urban waterway to be protected.
“The C1 designation puts in place protections from direct and indirect pollution,’’ said Michael Pisauro, policy director of the Watershed Institute. “It is vital that we continue to upgrade waterways before pollution and development degrade them.’’
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Indeed, of the approximately 150 miles of streams that were eliminated from consideration for the C1 designation in the proposed draft, 34 miles were removed because of deteriorating water quality, according to the DEP. The rest of the streams were delisted because they failed to meet other criteria necessary for C1 designation.
“We need to protect more waterways with recreational value, drinking water and Highlands waters,’’ said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey. “Protecting waterways before they become polluted is more cost-effective.’’
Opposing cleaner water
While comments on the proposal were overwhelmingly supportive, there was opposition from local communities who argued the new designations would hinder development and from operators of sewage treatment plants who said the new surface-water quality standards could force expensive upgrades of their facilities.
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