Bill Text: NJ AR170 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Urges New Jersey residents to patronize small businesses to support them through COVID-19 pandemic.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-1)

Status: (Passed) 2020-10-29 - Filed with Secretary of State [AR170 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2020-AR170-Amended.html

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[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY RESOLUTION No. 170

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED JUNE 25, 2020

 

 

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman  WILLIAM F. MOEN, JR.

District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)

Assemblywoman  VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE

District 37 (Bergen)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Urges New Jersey residents to patronize small businesses to support them through COVID-19 pandemic.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As reported by the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee on October 19, 2020, with amendments.

  

An Assembly Resolution urging all New Jersey residents to patronize small businesses ¹[once] to support them through¹ the COVID-19 pandemic ¹[has concluded]¹ .

 

Whereas, There are more than 860,000 small businesses operating in New Jersey, which employ an estimated 1.8 million individuals in this State; and

Whereas, These small businesses are the backbone of New Jersey's economy, providing services and employment to individuals throughout the State in such varied industries as finance, health care, the arts, real estate, food and restaurant, and retail, among many others; and

Whereas, On January 31, 2020, the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services declared the outbreak of a novel coronavirus, abbreviated as COVID-19, as a public health emergency for the United States; and

Whereas, COVID-19 is a contagious, and at times fatal, respiratory disease that can spread from person to person via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes; and

Whereas, On March 9, 2020, Governor Murphy declared a State of Emergency and a Public Health Emergency to address the COVID-19 pandemic in this State; and

Whereas, On March 21, 2020, Governor Murphy announced Executive Order No. 107, which closed all non-essential retail businesses and directed all New Jersey residents to stay at home to mitigate the impact and spread of COVID-19; and

Whereas, Due to this Executive Order closing all non-essential retail businesses and directing all New Jersey residents to stay at home, small businesses throughout this State ¹faced and continue to¹ face enormous economic pressure; and

Whereas, According to a March 2020 survey conducted by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic 73 percent of businesses reported a significant loss of revenue and over half of these businesses ¹[anticipate] anticipated¹ temporary layoffs ¹[if they do not receive financial support within the next three months]¹; and

Whereas, The ¹economic circumstances of businesses and individuals have continued to worsen during the¹ COVID-19 pandemic ¹[continues to worsen, for the week ending March 21, 2020, nearly 156,000] , as¹ New Jersey workers ¹have¹ filed ¹more than 1.65 million applications¹ for unemployment insurance ¹[, which is a 1,546 percent increase in unemployment claims from the previous week] since the pandemic began¹; and

¹Whereas, Over the course of the late spring and summer of 2020, Governor Murphy issued several executive orders, which have lifted the stay-at-home order on New Jersey residents and permitted various types of businesses to begin reopening, but with restrictions in place that have been costly and burdensome to implement; and

Whereas, The restrictions have included an initial prohibition on indoor dining, capacity limits for indoor dining once it was permitted, indoor capacity limits for other types of businesses, social distancing requirements indoors and outdoors, and increased safety and sanitization protocols across every industry; and

Whereas, The months of closure and the difficulties businesses faced while reopening have led to continued revenue losses and many permanent closures Statewide, and most profoundly affected small businesses; and¹

Whereas, Small businesses are locally owned and operated by our hardworking family members, our friends, and our neighbors, who need the patronage of all New Jersey residents to financially recover ¹[once the COVID-19 pandemic has concluded] from the economic devastation brought forth by the COVID-19 pandemic¹; now, therefore,

 

     Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    The residents of the State of New Jersey are urged to patronize small businesses ¹[once] to support them through¹ the COVID-19 pandemic ¹[has concluded]¹.

 

     2.    Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the Governor of New Jersey, the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey, and the Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.