Murphy is likely to sign the measure, which would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021, replacing an identical federal levy – part of the Affordable Care Act – that expires that same day.

As of July 30, another 28,000 residents filed for unemployment, marking more than 1.44 million who’ve applied since the COVID-19 pandemic slammed into the state and the Northeast in mid-March.

Republicans from the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee sent a letter to State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio contending state officials inflated the numbers to justify a $9.9 billion borrowing plan and to win over additional federal relief from the Trump administration.

The state logged roughly 2,000 new cases of the virus in less than a week, according to Gov. Phil Murphy, and crowded house parties with attendees in their teens and early twenties are largely to blame. The numbers also have officials considering revisiting the metric used to determine which locations travelers coming into New Jersey should self-quarantine from, which currently stands at 36.

A suggested decrease from $600 to $200 under a proposed COVID-19 federal relief package introduced by Republican lawmakers this week could upend state systems, like New Jersey's, already pushed to the limit and struggling to catch up with mounting claims.

State health officials reported 565 new positive cases of the virus, 24 new deaths, 30 new hospitalizations, a 1.87 percent positivity rate among tests, and a transmission rate of 1.14—the highest in months.

“The polling results confirmed our belief that there is overwhelming support for the creation of a regulated, adult-use cannabis marketplace in New Jersey," said John Fanburg, co-chair of the cannabis law practice at Brach Eichler, which conducted the survey. “Respondents supported it because it will create tremendous opportunity. It will create vitally needed new businesses, the state will receive significant tax revenues and illegal sales will be dramatically reduced, if not eliminated."

A previous round of $45 million for the program received more than 31,000 applications, with over half of them put on hold for future rounds of funding.

More than three months after the COVID-19 pandemic hit the state, two-thirds of residents support the restrictions in place meant to keep the virus in check, according to a Tuesday report from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

All told, that makes up more than $44 million in aid to small enterprises in the state, according to the Murphy administration, from the agency's grants, low-interest loans, and loan guarantees meant for investors in startups.

In Middletown, a party with high school aged attendees led to 52 people testing positive for the virus. In Long Beach Island, more than two dozen lifeguards contracted it, and in Jackson, the three organizers of an AirBnB party with 700 attendees were charged with violating Gov. Phil Murphy’s ban on large gatherings.

A legal challenge to the governor’s planned bond issue could force the administration to get more creative with the budget.