S3946

An Act concerning a review of the State’s COVID-19 pandemic preparedness, response, and recovery efforts.

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

1. a. The head of each principal department in the Executive Branch of State government shall conduct an internal analysis of the department’s preparedness, response, and recovery efforts concerning the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, and develop a preparedness, response, and recovery plan for any future state of emergency or public health emergency.

b. In the department’s internal analysis, the head of each principal department in the Executive Branch of State government, at a minimum, shall:

(1) make a full and complete accounting of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on the department’s functions;

(2) review and evaluate the department’s preparedness for the COVID-19 pandemic, and the actions taken by the department at critical junctures before and after the World Health Organization designated COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern on January 30, 2020, and before and after the World Health Organization designated the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic on March 11, 2020;

(3) review any laws, executive orders, regulations, administrative orders, plans, practices, and procedures related to the department’s operations during the COVID-19 state of emergency and public health emergency, as declared on March 9, 2020 by the Governor pursuant to Executive Order No. 103 of 2020 and as extended, and assess the impact of those laws, executive orders, regulations, administrative orders, plans, practices, and procedures on the department’s operations;

(4) identify and examine lessons learned regarding preparedness, response, and recovery efforts at the department related to COVID-19; and

(5) review any recommendations from the federal government and similar departments in other states and local governmental units on future preparedness concerning health security and pandemic preparedness, response, and recovery and on combatting natural and unnatural disasters, and incorporate any relevant recommendations into the department’s preparedness, response, and recovery plan.

c. The head of each principal department in the Executive Branch of State government shall report the findings and recommendations from the internal analysis to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), to the Legislature no later than two years following the effective date of this act, P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

For over a year, the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a significant impact on the lives of every resident of this State. Many New Jersey families have experienced firsthand the effects of furloughs and layoffs, the stresses of prolonged social isolation, and the pain of preventable illnesses and deaths. It is anticipated that COVID-19 will have lasting deleterious effects on the State and the nation due to the costs of the COVID-19 response, widespread upticks in unemployment claims, and the lasting toll of the disease on first responders, health care workers, and the health care industry, as well as to other commercial and social sectors.

This bill requires each principal department in the Executive Branch to conduct a review of the department’s COVID-19 preparedness, response, and recovery and to make recommendations. Under the bill, the head of each principal department in the Executive Branch must conduct an internal analysis of the department’s preparedness, response, and recovery efforts concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, and develop a preparedness, response, and recovery plan for any future state of emergency or public health emergency. The bill also requires the head of each principal department in the Executive Branch to report the findings and recommendations from the internal analysis to the Governor and the Legislature no later than two years following the effective date of the bill.