New Jersey needs to reopen, our small businesses thrive on the summer economy: Rep. Jeff Van Drew
For over a month, my office has presented cogent arguments on the need to safely reopen to New Jersey Gov. Murphy and his staff
New Jersey is as diverse economically as it is geographically. The path to reopening the state I represent in the U.S. House of Representatives to business should be based on the science about what we know of the epidemiology of coronavirus.
This approach needs to be balanced with the need to save our families and businesses from personal and economic devastation.
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We have let the one-size-fits-all approach that Governor Phil Murphy has decreed to us slowly bleed the life out of too many in South Jersey. We urgently need an exact plan to reopen from the governor and we needed it a month ago.
For over a month, my office has presented cogent arguments on the need to safely reopen to Governor Murphy and his staff. We have seen the number of coronavirus cases decline on a nearly daily basis in the same timeframe. We brought in business owners and industries that presented plans for safely reopening.
These efforts fell on mostly deaf ears.
South Jersey’s small businesses thrive on the summer economy and they are now forced to watch as their plans for safely reopening are largely ignored.
I voted for hundreds of billions of dollars in resources for our small businesses to utilize in forgivable and low-interest loans. These same small businesses were forced to shut down based on the restrictions in place and in many instances, were forced to put their employees onto an unemployment system we funded with additional federal dollars.
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That unemployment system has been paralyzed by its own antiquity and was marred with disaster for those in need.
Businesses were forced to shut down at the governor’s request and many employees could not get the help that was supposed to be there for them in a timely fashion.
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Why can’t the governor reopen state unemployment offices full-time to help the mess we have on our hands?
This past week casinos in Las Vegas reopened after plans for safely reopening were implemented. The Bureau of Labor Statistics has Atlantic City’s unemployment rate for April 2020 at 33.3 percent, one of the worst in the nation. Casinos in Atlantic City have presented plans for safely reopening, but like many other businesses, they do not have clear answers from Governor Murphy.
Salons, gyms, restaurants, churches, hotels, dance studios, boutique stores, and numerous other businesses are fed-up with the lack of exact guidance. Even the Motor Vehicle Registration centers are not open in most of South Jersey while licensing facilities are.
Why?
I still cannot fathom the science the governor sees that allows large groups of people at once in a large chain store being safer than allowing small groups into a properly sanitized small business.
Many states around the country have begun reopening.
Our neighbor Pennsylvania has offered reopening phases based on a county-by-county approach that takes data from Coronavirus rates and outbreaks and offers distinct instructions for reopening and for businesses.
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Thirty-four counties (more than half of the counties in the state) as of last week were close to fully open. We have received constant mixed messages, no hard timelines, and double standards for some businesses versus others from Governor Murphy.
The untold pain many are dealing with is caused by the inflexible restrictions and will be a story we have to tell our future generations. We will see the numbers of overdoses, suicides and attempts, and depression and anxiety rise. This agony is solely based on decisions that could be tailored to minimize our pain.
I am on the phone with these folks every single day. I hear their heartbreak and their pain. Does the governor?
New Jersey needs leadership that can make nuanced decisions that protect lives and protect livelihood.
The time for action is now. We have data on what restrictions work, what do not and what can be done to save lives and save our economic future.
South Jersey needs answers and timelines, and they need them now.
If only we had a governor who understands the economic and geographic diversity our state offers and an exact plan based on that.
Republican Jeff Van Drew represents New Jersey's 2nd Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives.