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New Jersey lawmakers are pressing to prevent an expected flood of evictions and foreclosures for nonpayment of rent or mortgages during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Evictions have been legally on hold under an executive order from Gov. Phil Murphy. But that protection expires two months after the end of the public health emergency he declared to deal with the pandemic. That health emergency will end soon after Murphy and top Democrats in the Legislatures passed a bill Thursday to end nearly all of the executive orders he issued during the pandemic.
The legislation passed both houses in a vote divided along party lines after spirited debate. In the Senate, lawmakers at times had trouble hearing each other over the full-volume chants of protesters and police sirens outside the State House. In a statement after the vote, Murphy said he planned to sign the bill Friday as well as issue an executive order rescinding the order declarin