Amid a flurry of activity in simultaneous voting sessions by the state Senate and Assembly, a temporary spending plan to keep state government fully operational over the next 90 days passed both houses and was signed by the governor Tuesday.

The Senate voted 21–17 to approve S-20, while the Assembly approved counterpart measure A-3 by a 46-27 vote Monday.

The purpose of S-20/A-3, as stated in the bill: "Amends and supplements FY20 Appropriations Act to effectuate extension of fiscal year through September 30, 2020; reduces authorized appropriations; makes FY20 supplemental appropriations of $7,745,997,000 in State funds and $4,586,243,000 in federal funds."

On Tuesday Gov. Phil Murphy signed the measure,

"The fiscal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are as unprecedented as this public health emergency itself," the governor said in a release from his office just after 1 p.m. "As we move forward toward the nine-month Fiscal 2021 budget, our choices will have an even bigger impact. But, make no mistake, we cannot just cut our way forward.

"We must have the flexibility to borrow essential funds to secure the core services we will rely upon as we emerge from this pandemic, and we need direct assistance from the federal government," said Murphy. "Absent those, the tough decisions we have made now will pale in comparison to those which lay just around the corner."

Sen. Paul Sarlo, chairman of the Senate budget and appropriations committee, who guided the bill to passage before his committee just days earlier, said the three-month budget extension will serve its purpose: to buy the state time to come up with a new fiscal year spending plan following the governor's proposed $40.9 billion plan from earlier in the year—essentially voided by the pandemic-induced lockdown since mid-March that shut off the state's tax revenue streams and will force Draconian cuts across the board.

"We have developed a three-month budget plan under crisis conditions that requires hard decisions to get us through the next stage of an extremely difficult economic recovery," Sarlo said in a statement after the 40-member Senate passed S-20 at 2:45 p.m. Monday.

"This budget is not what we want to do, but it is something we have to do to keep government operating."

Sarlo said the hard part was only beginning, and lawmakers will be working through most of the summer to come up with a new fiscal year 2020 budget.

"We next have to focus on a fiscal plan for the following nine months and be prepared for the economic challenges we will continue to face over the next few years," said Sarlo.

Sarlo's message was pretty much the same when S-20 cleared the 12-member Senate Budget Appropriations Committee by an 8-4 vote along party lines June 26. The four Republicans on the committee voted against S-20.

S-20 was the result of an agreement announced April 1 between the governor and Legislature to extend the budget cycle during this most unusual of years. Residents and businesses were also bought time to file income and corporate taxes, as that deadline moved to July 15 in the same announcement. A month later, on May 4, the governor announced he was rescinding an executive order to commit $1.28 billion toward the state's surplus fund as the fiscal picture worsened. The Governor's Office has said it expects revenue projections to be down by about $10 billion, including $2.8 billion less than expected in this fiscal year and $7.2 billion less in the next fiscal year.

There was brief debate in passing S-20 and A-3 on Monday.

Sen. Ronald Rice, D-Essex, chairman of the Legislative Black Caucus, said "to not vote this budget would cause more harm than good." Rice said he feared that thousands of public workers getting furloughed, and critical services to urban, minority communities that have borne a substantial brunt of COVID-19's impact getting cut off, would cause more suffering.

Rice also spoke up earlier in support of S-19 to designate June 19—Juneteenth, which celebrates the end of slavery in the United States—as a state and public holiday. S-19 passed the Senate 35-0 with five abstentions.

"I realize that all progress that was made was not sufficient, and there are still mindsets out there," said Rice, a cosponsor of S-19.

S-19 was among a handful of bills approved by both houses addressing racial injustice, as protests across the country in the wake of George Floyd's death in police custody in late May have spurred cries for massive police and criminal justice reforms. The measures in Trenton reflect how legislatures nationally are becoming active participants in the debate on how to achieve such reform.

On Monday, A-744 (substituted for S-1482, which would require law enforcement agencies to provide internal affairs and personnel files of officers to other agencies under certain circumstances, passed the 80-member Assembly 72-2; A-3201, sponsored by Carol Murphy, D-Burlington, which would recognize Harriet Tubman's contributions to freeing slaves and her role in women's suffrage by recognizing Howell House in Cape May as Harriet Tubman Museum in New Jersey, passed the Assembly 73-0; S-2331, which would assist inmates released from incarceration in obtaining necessary re-entry benefits, passed the Senate 61-12 after the chamber concurred with the Governor's recommendations; and AJR-171, a resolution to designate July 13 "Black Lives Matter Day" in New Jersey, passed the Assembly 53-0 with 18 abstentions, while its Senate counterpart, SJR-87, was introduced in the Senate and referred to the Senate state government, wagering, tourism and historic preservation committee for a hearing.

When voting action returned to the Senate—after the upper chamber waited on eight bills to pass the Assembly first, including A-3—Sarlo, who sponsored S-20 with Sen. Sandra Cunningham, D-Hudson, made a final pitch for the critical spending bill. Sarlo told his budget committee colleagues June 26 that S-20 would help fund public colleges and universities experiencing severe revenue declines, the unemployed and those in need of affordable housing, and address other issues brought on by the pandemic.

"I just want to reiterate that this three-month spending plan includes no new taxes, no new fees and no borrowing to fund the three-month budget. I just want to be on the record for that," said Sarlo.

But just as lawmakers met in person for the first time at the Statehouse since mid-March's social-distancing guidelines were put in place, the governor put the brakes on easing restrictions to allow indoor dining as transmission rates showed an uptick in New Jersey and elsewhere.

Indoor dining was scheduled to resume Thursday at 25% capacity after outdoor dining resumed June 15. But that's no longer the case, said the governor, who said "he has no choice" but to pull back.

Murphy isn't alone.

As lockdown restrictions have been eased nationally, some states in the West and South are experiencing alarming increases in COVID-19 cases, forcing governors in those states to reinstitute social-distancing guidelines, such as the closure of bars for the second time in Texas and Florida over the weekend.

Murphy said Atlantic City's nine casinos are still on track to reopen Thursday after being shuttered since mid-March—at 25% capacity, and now without indoor dining. The governor  signed Executive Order No. 158 on Monday, temporarily pausing the resumption of indoor dining and prohibiting the consumption of food or beverages and smoking in the indoor premises of any retail, recreational, or entertainment business where masks are strictly required.