Today, Congressman Van Drew sent a letter to Governor Murphy urging him to rescind Executive Order 253, which requires employees to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing or risk being fired from their job.

“We are over two years into the pandemic and the state of New Jersey no longer has mask mandates implemented, travel restrictions have been lifted, and businesses are able to operate at full capacity. Yet, for some reason, Governor Murphy has allowed Executive Order 253, which requires employees to undergo weekly COVID-19 tests or be fired from their job, to remain in place,” said Congressman Van Drew. “It is absolutely ridiculous that at a time where we are faced with a labor shortage, and businesses are struggling to find employment, our Governor continues to impose crippling mandates on workers and small businesses. After everything Americans have been through the past two years, including currently being in a recession, we should be incentivizing Americans to get back to work instead of putting more barriers in their way.”

Below is the letter:

Dear Governor Murphy,

I am writing to request that you rescind Executive Order (EO) #253 that you signed on August 23rd, 2021. This EO is outdated, unnecessary, and is causing disruption and hardship for education employees in South Jersey.

EO 253 forces schools to have employees “either provide adequate proof… that they have been fully vaccinated or submit to COVID-19 testing at minimum one to two times weekly.”1 This requirement, which took effect on October 18th, 2021, singles out those who choose not to receive a COVID-19 vaccination and causes burden to educational workers who have faced tremendous challenges during the pandemic.

You have already eliminated most of New Jersey’s COVID-19 policies, such as: mask mandates, capacity restrictions, social distancing requirements, and travel advisories. Additionally, the United States no longer requires travelers to submit a negative COVID-19 test in order to reenter the country from international travel. If millions of travelers can freely enter and reenter our country without testing, then education employees should be able to show up to work without testing as well.

In your March 4th, 2022 statement regarding EO 292, which ended the COVID-19 public health emergency in New Jersey, you asserted that “with COVID-19 moving into an endemic, the time has come to move toward normalcy.”2 Our school workers deserve the same opportunity to return to normalcy, which is why I urge you to rescind EO 253. If can be of any assistance in this matter, please do not hesitate to contact my office at (202) 225-6572.