I. State
a. COVID-19 Update
Today Governor Murphy announced that there were 488 new positive results and an additional 36 confirmed deaths resulting from COVID-19. To date there have been 178,345 confirmed cases, and 13,845 confirmed deaths. There are also 1,920 probable deaths associated with the virus.
The rate of transmission (RT) decreased to 0.84. The Administration continues its objective to keep that number below 1.0.
Since last Friday, the Governor has taken the following actions:
Executive Order 166: Creating Greater Oversight and Accountability for Federal COVID-19 Resources.
Executive Order 167: Directing U.S. and New Jersey Flags to Fly at Half-Staff in Honor of U.S. Representative John Lewis.
Executive Order 168: Allowing the Resumption of Contact Practices and Competitions for Certain Organized Sports in Outdoor Settings. *
Please note that the Governor later clarified that this Executive Order pertains only to outdoor sports. Executive Order 169: Which clarifies Executive Order No. 164 and states that the postponement of annual municipal and county party committee reorganization meetings is only applicable to municipal party committees and county party committees that held elections during the July primary elections.
The Federal Department of Labor reported that unemployment claims rose to 1.4 million last week.
In addition, the Department of Education will be updating guidance on parent availability to choose all remote learning for their child as part of the school district's reopening plan.
See the League's
COVID-19 page for all our resources and communications.
Contact: Michael F. Cerra, Executive Director,
mcerra@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x120.
b. Governor Murphy Announces Main Street Commercial Corridors Relief
Yesterday, Governor Murphy announced a new relief program for small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Small Business Lease – Emergency Assistance Program (SBL-EAGP) will allow businesses in 64 eligible municipalities to apply for grants of up to $10,000 for lease costs. The SBL-EAGP is the first component of a broader Main Street Corridors Relief Package, funded by $6 million in federal CARES Act money.
Grant eligibility is limited to tenants leasing commercial space in mixed-used buildings, space in commercial buildings, or space to operate a storefront business. Applications open August 10, 2020, online, and funds will be distributed on a first come first served basis. Eligible municipalities may want to make your main street business aware of this program.
Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x137.
c. NJ Supreme Court Issues ‘Action Plan for Ensuring Equal Justice’
Last week, the NJ Supreme Court released an Action Plan for Ensuring Equal Justice. The Action Plan outlines a series of reforms that the Court will seek to accomplish within the next year in order to “eliminate disparities within the court system and remove institutional obstacles to justice.” The Plan includes general reforms aimed at the court system as a whole, but also includes specific municipal court reforms.
These municipal court reforms include enabling alternative methods of resolving municipal court matters with the goal of reducing the need for litigants to appear in person. This goal would be achieved through an expansion of the Statewide Bureau Schedule to allow payment without appearance for low-level statutory fines and penalties, and the Municipal Online Dispute Resolution applications, which enables persons charged with minor matters to negotiate a plea amount via an online portal for approval by a judge. The Action Plan also calls for implementation of various recommendations such as the process for selecting municipal court judges, and court consolidation found in the Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Court Operations, Fines, and Fees, which the League has outlined in the past.
We will provide updates as the Supreme Court seeks to implement their Action Plan.
Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., Associate General Counsel, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x137.
d. Legislation Requiring Health Insurance Annual Assessment Advances
Legislation that would require certain entities authorized to issue health benefits plan to annually pay an assessment of 2.75% of the entity’s’ net written premiums was amended and released from committee and now await consideration by the Assembly Appropriations Committee and Senate Budget Committee, respectively. A-4389/S-2676 applies only to entities subject to section 9010 of the Affordable Care Act and may be subject to an assessment by the State. The assessment will be used to increase affordability in individual and small group markets and provide greater access to health insurance to the uninsured, including minors, through a number of ways including subsidies, reinsurance, tax policies, outreach and enrollment efforts, buy-in programs, such as the NJ FamilyCare Advantage Program, or any other efforts that can increase affordability for small employers and individual policyholders in those markets. As introduced, it appears that the bill does not apply to local governments. We are currently reviewing committee amendments to confirm if that is the case. We will continue to provide you with additional updates.
Contact: Lori Buckelew, Assistant Executive Director, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x112.