Stanfield, Torrissi and Umba urge all legislators to take a stand against mandates

TRENTON– Senator Jean Stanfield, Assemblyman MIchael Torrissi and Assemblyman Brandon
Umba pushed back on Governor Phil Murphy’s new Public Health Emergency and urged every
state lawmaker to do the same.

“Governor Murphy made every Democratic legislator a deal that his mandates would end on
January 12. Well January 12th came and went, but his mandates are still here,” Stanfield said.
“It’s time for every Democrat in Trenton to stand up with Republicans and call an end to the
madness, or step aside and let those who want to govern have their spot,“ she continued.

Over the summer, Governor Murphy and the Democratic caucus struck a deal to leave some of
the Governor’s mandates in place, such as masking for children and vaccine requirements, in
exchange for ending others. The deal was set to expire on Tuesday, but the new Public Health
Emergency allows Governor Murphy to introduce new mandates and extend them until
whenever he sees fit.

“For two years, Trenton Democrats have been complacent with sitting on the sidelines and
allowing the Governor to rule through executive order. They were supposed to get their courage
back this week and do the job they were elected to do, but once again, they’ve been relegated
to the bench,” Umba said.

“A new round of mandates is out of step with the general public, which has had every chance to
get vaccinated and now wants to move on with their lives. And if it’s not, then Trenton
Democrats should put them up for a vote and stake their reputation on them,” he continued.

Every Republican in the state voted against the deal to extend the Governor’s executive orders.
The caucus has repeatedly called for a restoration of equal representation between the
Governor’s office and the legislature.

“I was sworn in as a member of the 220th General Assembly, yesterday. It was the honor of my
life, but with that honor comes the responsibility of representing the people of my district,”
Torrissi said. “Democrats in Trenton have relegated their duties to the Governor for far too long.
I join Stanfield and Umba’s call to legislators to speak up now or move aside.”