New Jersey Food Council President and CEO Linda Doherty on what a year of change and investment for an essential industry looks like.

The new bill offers assistance to establishments with up to 50 employees. “These are among the places that have been hardest hit by the pandemic,” Gov. Phil Murphy said. “Margins for our restaurants, if they’re positive at all, remain razor-thin.”

“New Jersey will soon be swimming in cash from the federal government and I want to make sure those funds are dedicated to helping our taxpayers and the unemployed,” said Assembly Republican Jon Bramnick, R-21st District.

More than 2 million New Jerseyans have sought unemployment assistance since March 2020, when Gov. Phil Murphy ordered sweeping closures and restrictions on businesses like restaurants, retail, salons and barbershops, casinos, malls, gyms and theaters.

The newest batch of funding marks the second bill Gov. Phil Murphy approved from a broader set of $100 million in proposed pandemic assistance the state Legislature sent to his desk on March 25.

The Murphys will get their shots at the Atlantic City mega-site. "...We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to showcase a terrific location with plenty of vaccine availability,” the governor said.

New Jersey communities have received thousands of pieces of personal protection equipment to provide to those in need in their local neighborhoods.

Cooperative Business Assistance Corp., a community development financial institution in Camden, received funding to help underserved small businesses stay open and preserve jobs.

The announcement puts the state in line with guidance the federal Centers for Disease Control put in place on April 2 for domestic excursions.

Several of the state’s largest chambers of commerce and trade organizations are floating a major paydown of some of the state’s debt using federal relief funds with a goal of freeing up money in the coming years.

The additions are another major push toward the state’s goal of qualifying adults ages 16 and up for inoculations, ahead of President Joe Biden’s May 1 deadline.

"We deliberately waited until early November to make a final decision on our ... plans to ensure that we had a clear understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on our campus community, as well as the most current recommendations from our state and local public health officials," university President Patrick Leahy said in a statement, as new daily cases of the virus reach numbers in New Jersey not seen since May.