Gov. Murphy Signs 4 NJ Coronavirus Bills, Allows More Reopenings

NEW JERSEY – Gov. Phil Murphy, speaking during a news conference on Saturday, announced that he's signed four bills into law to deal with the coronavirus crisis and he's allowing more New Jersey businesses to reopen. He took these steps as he announced 1,239 new coronavirus cases and 115 more deaths (you can watch it here, below).

The update comes as the number of cases has risen to 145,089 statewide, and 10,249 people have died. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

Murphy said he's allowing fishing charters and watercraft rentals to reopen at 6 a.m on Sunday. He also signed legislation that authorizes the sale and delivery of mixed drinks.

Murphy allowed charter boats and watercraft rentals to resume operations as long as social distancing is observed, sanitation is maintained, online payments systems are set up and passenger and customer logs are preserved for the purposes of contact tracing.

"We are confident in taking steps in taking our state on the road back," Murphy said.

Murphy signed legislation (A3966) that permits hotels, motels, bars and restaurants to sell and deliver alcoholic beverages and mixed cocktails in original containers or in closed and sealed containers. The bill would also allow craft distillery licensees to sell for consumption.

“New Jersey’s restaurant and hospitality industry, like so many other businesses, has suffered tremendous financial losses due to COVID-19,” said Murphy. “Allowing business owners with certain licenses and permits to sell beverages directly to consumers is a creative way to alleviate some of their financial uncertainty.”

Murphy said New Jersey will continue to take incremental steps in reopening the economy now that the state's coronavirus numbers continue to improve. He said he may announce additional information on Monday.

Murphy said hospitalizations and patients in critical care continued to fall on Friday and Saturday.

Positive tests also continue to fall.

Murphy signed these bills into law:

• A-3942/S-2394 (Mukherji, Vainieri Huttle, Pintor Marin/Greenstein, Stack) - Requires hospital to permit individual to accompany woman during childbirth.
• A-3969/S-2392 (Danielsen, Mukherji, Verrelli/Sarlo) - Allows extension of certain local government timeframes; allows local governments to accept certain payments; allows local governments to conduct certain meetings remotely; adjusts certain property tax distribution and notice requirements.
• S-2344/A-3970 (Pou, Singer, Vitale/Reynolds-Jackson, Quijano, Zwicker) - Requires Medicaid and health insurance coverage for certain refills of prescription drugs during state of emergency.

Watch Murphy here:

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