Measures seeking some form of relief from the coronavirus pandemic, including a pair of measures being closed watched by Atlantic City's casino industry, were passed by state Senate committees in Trenton on Tuesday by remote votes.

The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, chaired by Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, approved seven COVID-19 bills, while holding off on three.

S-2477, sponsored by Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and triggered by the mountain of unemployment benefit claims going unprocessed by an overwhelmed system in New Jersey, gained committee approval by a 12-0 vote.

The bill would allow available civil servants (state and local government employees) to be redeployed to assist departments handling an additional workload during the state of emergency while preserving seniority, salary steps and job classifications.

"We recognize the impact the COVID crisis is having on the state's ability to respond in a timely way to the emergent needs of the public and want to do what we can to improve the effectiveness of services, especially unemployment benefits," said Sweeney said in a statement. "They have been overwhelmed with an avalanche of claims from those who are in immediate need of the benefits. We need all hands on deck to respond as quickly as possible."

Added co-sponsor Sen. Declan O'Scanlon, R-Monmouth: "We are now experiencing the most severe levels of unemployment since the Great Recession. It's imperative that we have the flexibility to put our valued state workers to use where they are needed most to help New Jerseyans."

The measure garnering the most debate before getting an 11-0 vote by the budget committee, with one abstention, by Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, was Sarlo's own bill, S-2392/A-3969, that would give local governments some breathing room in dealing with the current crisis.

The bill would adjust requirements for various time frames, deadlines, and notifications for local governments. The flexibility would apply to property tax collections and payments, remote meetings, and other certain timeline extensions for a variety of fiscal actions that municipalities routinely make.

S-2392 would also authorize the director of the Division of Local Government Services to permit municipalities to extend a grace period for quarterly property tax payments; allow an extension of the 10-day interest-free grace period on payments up to a maximum of 30 days; extend the certification renewal periods for various county and municipal officers, including finance officers, qualified purchasing agents, municipal clerks, public works managers, tax collectors, and tax assessors; and authorize local public bodies to hold public meetings remotely.

"Sponsoring this bill is not my defining moment," said Sarlo, a local mayor, "but property taxes are not getting collected, there's already been layoffs, and we're expecting the third quarter [of this year] will also be difficult."

The committee passed five other COVID-19 bills:

S-2360 would create a New Jersey gross income tax deduction for charitable contributions that are made to certain state-based charitable organizations during the tax year for the COVID-19 pandemic (passed 12-0);

S-2413/A-3966 would allow certain sale and delivery of alcoholic beverages during the state of emergency and allow alcohol used by distilleries in the production of hand sanitizer to be exempt from the alcoholic beverage tax (passed 12-0, while A-3966 passed the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Monday by an 11-0 vote);

S-2436/A-4012 authorizes pharmacists to order and administer tests for the coronavirus consistent with federal guidance (passed 12-0);

S-2346 would extend existing permit approvals from state, county and municipal agencies for the duration of the COVID-19 emergency (passed 12-0);

S-2437/A-3978 would limit service fees charged to restaurants by third-party food takeout and delivery applications during certain states of emergency (passed 12-0).

Three bills, S-2361, S-2384 and S-2423, were held on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a trio of measures—aimed at protecting "essential" employees, including health-care workers and public safety workers during the pandemic, and establishing cleaning protocols for casinos and hotels set to reopen—later passed the Senate Labor Committee. All have the backing of the powerful Senate president.

S-2380 attempts to answer this question: Can workers serving the public who contract COVID-19 in the workplace apply for unemployment benefits, including workers' compensation?

Despite opposition from several business and insurance groups, including the Insurance Council of New Jersey, with representatives who testified on Zoom that federal programs already exist to cover this issue, the five-member Labor Committee passed S-2380 with three "yes" votes, one "no," and one abstention.

S-2380 would cover workers in the public and private sectors, and would be retroactive to March 9, when Gov. Phil Murphy declared a state of emergency and public health emergency for New Jersey.

"The men and women who are on the front lines protecting our health and safety and providing the vital services we all need during this crisis must be assured that they have basic worker protections … if they fall ill to the coronavirus," said Sweeney in a statement.

"While we're hammering out the details with stakeholders and the bill remains a work in progress, I look forward to a positive outcome for everyone," said Sen. Robert Singer, D-Monmouth, a co-sponsor with Sweeney as well as Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex/Mercer.

A pair of bills that would require casinos and hotels to provide additional safeguards for their employees got identical 3-2 votes, split along party lines. Sen. Anthony Bucco, R-Morris, and Sen. Michael Testa, R-Cape May, cast the two "no" votes on each bill, while the committee's chairman, Sen. Fred Madden, D-Camden, Sen. Joseph Lagana, D-Bergen, and Greenstein voted "yes."

S-2478 would require the state Department of Health to establish sanitization standards and protocols for casinos, while S-2479 demands the same of hotels operating in the state. Sponsors said both bills are intended to set up guidelines to protect returning and new workers. The New Jersey State AFL-CIO expressed support for both bills on Tuesday.

Steve Callender, senior vice president of El Dorado Resorts, which owns the Tropicana in Atlantic City, and current president of the Casino Association of New Jersey, testified in opposition to S-2478, contending that the measure would be disruptive, has unrealistic mandates and requires staffing levels that would be impossible to sustain. He said every casino in Atlantic City has at least one hotel attached to it.

"The bill [S-2478] is well-intentioned but has no basis in public health," Callender said before the bill won narrow passage.

Casinos and hotels are still awaiting word from Murphy and his Restart and Reopen Commission as to when they will be allowed to reopen. The statewide lockdown of all nonessential businesses took effect on March 16.

On Wednesday, Murphy signed Executive Order No. 142, permitting the resumption of non-essential construction and curbside pickup at non-essential retail businesses, effective 6:00 a.m. on Monday, May 18. Under the order,  car gatherings for the purpose of drive-through and drive-in events are to resume, effective immediately.