Establishes bipartisan task force to study response to COVID-19 in New Jersey.

A159

ASSEMBLY, No. 159

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes bipartisan task force to study response
to COVID-19 in New Jersey.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act
establishing a bipartisan task force to study the
response to COVID-19 in New Jersey.�

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� There is established a
bipartisan task force, to be known as the �New Jersey COVID-19 Response Task
Force,� to consist of eight members.� The President of the Senate, the Minority
Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly, and the Minority
Leader of the General Assembly shall each appoint two members to the task
force.

���� 2.��� The members of the task
force shall be appointed and shall hold their initial organizational meeting
within 45 days following the effective date of this act.� The members shall
elect one of the members to serve as chair and one of the members to serve as
vice-chair.� The chair may appoint a secretary, who need not be a member of the
task force.� The members shall serve without compensation, but shall be
eligible for reimbursement for necessary and reasonable expenses incurred in
the performance of their official duties within the limits of funds
appropriated or otherwise made available to the task force.�

���� 3.��� The task force shall
meet at the call of the chair.� The task force shall hold at least three public
hearings in different parts of the State and elicit testimony from the public
at such times and places as the chair shall designate.� A meeting of the task
force shall be called at the request of five of the task force�s members, and
five members of the task force shall constitute a quorum at any meeting
thereof.�

���� 4.��� It shall be the duty of
the task force to study New Jersey�s general response to COVID-19.� In
addition, the task force shall:

���� a. examine the effectiveness
of the communication and coordination between governmental entities during the
State�s response to COVID-19;�

���� b.��� review the impact of the
State�s COVID-19 response measures on nursing homes and nursing home residents;

���� c.���� assess the impact of
the State�s COVID-19 response measures on the education, physical and mental
health, and socialization of children in the State;�

���� d.��� examine the impact of
the State�s COVID-19 response measures on crime rates, physical and mental
health, poverty rates, and rates of suicide;

���� e.���� analyze the financial
impact of the State�s COVID-19 response measures on businesses, residents, and
the State;

���� f.���� compare the number of
positive COVID-19 cases and the number of COVID-19 deaths in this State to
states which took less restrictive, comparable, and more restrictive COVID-19
response measures as compared to New Jersey�s COVID-19 response measures;

���� g.��� review the healthcare
system�s response to COVID-19 and determine which government actions and
provisions of law either aided or hindered the ability of the healthcare system
to respond to COVID-19; and

���� h.��� consider other matters
as the members of the task force may deem appropriate.�

���� 5.��� The task force shall
make recommendations for legislation or other action as it deems appropriate
with regard to improving, expanding, and facilitating a response to a Statewide
or national medical emergency.

���� 6.��� The task force shall be
entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the
employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau,
commission or agency, as it may require and as may be available for its
purposes, and to employ stenographic and clerical assistance and incur
traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as may be necessary in order to
perform its duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made
available to the task force.�

���� 7.��� The task force shall
report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature, pursuant to section
2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), and the Governor within 18 months of its
initial organizational meeting.�

���� 8.��� This act shall take
effect immediately and shall expire after the task force submits its findings
and recommendations to the Governor and the Legislature.�

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes a
bipartisan task force to study the response to COVID-19 in New Jersey.

���� The bill establishes a
bipartisan task force, to be known as the �New Jersey COVID-19 Response Task
Force,� (task force) to consist of eight members.� The President of the Senate,
the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly, and the
Minority Leader of the General Assembly are to each appoint two members to the
task force.� The members of the task force are to be appointed and are to hold
their initial organizational meeting within 45 days following the bill�s
effective date.�

���� It is to be the duty of the
task force to study New Jersey�s general response to COVID-19.� In addition,
the task force is to:� 1) examine the effectiveness of the communication and
coordination between governmental entities during the State�s response to
COVID-19; 2) review the impact of the State�s COVID-19 response measures on
nursing homes and nursing home residents; 3) assess the impact of the State�s
COVID-19 response measures on the education, physical and mental health, and
socialization of children in the State; 4) examine the impact of the State�s
COVID-19 response measures on crime rates, physical and mental health, poverty
rates, and rates of suicide; 5) analyze the financial impact of the State�s
COVID-19 response measures on businesses, residents, and the State; 6) compare
the number of positive COVID-19 cases and the number of COVID-19 deaths in this
State to states which took less restrictive, comparable, and more restrictive
COVID-19 response measures as compared to New Jersey�s COVID-19 response
measures; 7) review the healthcare system�s response to COVID-19 and determine
which government actions and provisions of law either aided or hindered the
ability of the healthcare system to respond to COVID-19; and 8) consider other
matters as the members of the task force may deem appropriate.�

���� Under the bill, the task force
is to make recommendations for legislation or other action as it deems
appropriate with regard to improving, expanding, and facilitating a response to
a Statewide or national medical emergency.

���� The bill provides that the
task force is to expire after it submits its findings and recommendations to
the Governor and the Legislature.