New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy extended the state’s COVID-19 emergency on Tuesday after the state Senate speaker declined to schedule voting on a bill extending it for 45 days. On Monday, New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat, announced that a bill to extend the governor’s emergency powers in response to COVID-19 would not be voted that day, the final day of voting in the lame-duck legislative session. The resolution to enact a 45-day extension of the Governor’s emergency powers was set to expire the next day on Jan. 11. Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat, declared on Tuesday in a new executive order that his prior COVID-19-related emergency order issued in March 2020 “remains in full force and effect” drawing criticism from Republican lawmakers. New Jersey Senator Anthony Bucco (R) said in a statement that the governor’s declaration has taken the state backward. “While Governor Murphy always talks about moving New …