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TRENTON – The state Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion Aug. 12, upholding the constitutionality of the COVID-19 bond act that will permit the state to borrow up to $9.9 billion for pandemic-related expenses, without seeking the approval of the voters.
The court found that the requirement to seek voter approval does not apply when the debt is taken on “to meet an emergency created by a disaster.” In the opinion, the court stated that the disaster clause must include “a rare, once-in-a-century infectious disease.”
The bond act was challenged by the state Republican Committee almost immediately after Gov. Phil Murphy signed it into law.
The act allows the state to borrow up to $2.7 billion in the current extended fiscal year, which runs until Sept. 30. It then allows for an additional $7.2 billion in the shortened nine-month fiscal 2021 year.
The court cautioned that borrowing under the law must be limited to expenses related to the pandemic.
