The New Jersey State Police will now screen visitors to the statehouse complex at the entrances to the garage and will require identification and proof of vaccination or evidence of a recent negative Covid test result before they’ll be allowed in.
The announcement was made in the form of an email to lawmakers on Sunday from Steven Pietrzak, a state Treasury Department employee who serves as building manager of Statehouse Operations.
According to Pietrzak, orders for the new policy came from the State Police.
“All personnel accessing the State House garage via both entrances tomorrow will be required to show ID and proof of vaccination (actual card or electronic record or proof of recent negative testing results), State ID alone will not suffice,” Pietrzak wrote. “Anyone not providing proper documentation will not be allowed to enter the garage or the Complex.”
But it’s not immediately clear, again, how state troopers will react when a legislator seems to enter the building without showing the documentation.
Republicans say that stopping people at the garage was not part of the policy adopted by the State Capitol Joint Management Commission.
The Department of Law and Public Safety did not immediately respond to a 6:06 PM email seeking comment on what authority was invoked to get Pietrzak to send his email.
Pietrzak said that a “rapid testing station will be set up at the exterior entrance to the Welcome Center at 8 AM for Members and their staff if they lack proper entry identification.”
“Foot traffic will be expected to enter via the State House Annex front door and subject to the same ID requirements,” he said.
