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Law360 (April 28, 2020, 10:44 PM EDT) -- Merck & Co. Inc. CEO and onetime general counsel Kenneth Frazier was tapped Tuesday to co-chair a New Jersey COVID-19 commission packed with power players from the public and private sectors, including attorneys from Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP and Windels Marx Lane & Mittendorf LLP.
The 21 members of Gov. Phil Murphy's Restart and Recovery Commission will mine their expertise in academics, business, health care, economics and finance to guide the state's recovery from the coronavirus, the governor said in an announcement. The commission represents "some of the sharpest minds our state and nation have to offer," Murphy said.
Noting that Merck is headquartered in New Jersey, Frazier said the company is committed to helping the state recover from the coronavirus.
"I am confident that with input from thoughtful people, including scientific and health care experts, we will be able to recommend a responsible path forward to reopen the economy while continuing to keep New Jersey citizens safe," Frazier said. "Together, we will win this fight against the viral outbreak."
The commission members are serving on a volunteer basis, Murphy spokesman Mahen Gunaratna told Law360.
They will immediately start virtual meetings to explore short-term and long-term economic issues, identify potential investments and strategize about ways to shore up support from the state and federal governments, Murphy said. The first task will be advising the governor on "the timing of the restart as it aligns with predetermined public health metrics," according to the statement.
The commission's unveiling comes as New Jersey and other states begin looking to scale back restrictions put in place to try to contain the spread of COVID-19. On Monday, Murphy outlined key drivers for reopening New Jersey, including the need for a 14-day downward trend in new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. The second-hardest hit state after New York, New Jersey had 113,856 positive cases and 6,442 deaths as of Tuesday.
Former Princeton University President Shirley Tilghman will co-chair the panel alongside Frazier. The commission also includes Jeh Johnson, the former U.S. secretary of Homeland Security who is now a partner at Paul Weiss, and Amtrak Chairman and Windels Marx partner Anthony R. Coscia.
In a one-two punch tackling the economic and health ramifications of the coronavirus, Murphy also named former Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and onetime acting Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Richard Besser to the panel. Besser now heads the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Commission members hailing from the business sector are Prudential Financial Inc. CEO Charles Lowrey, former Campbell Soup President and CEO Denise Morrison and entrepreneur Jessica Gonzalez, founder of InCharged, VendX and Lux-UVC.
New Jersey's Rutgers University is represented on the commission by incoming President Jonathan Holloway and by William M. Rodgers III, a public policy professor and chief economist at the university's Heldrich Center for Workforce Development.
Former New Jersey leaders are also lending a hand. The commission is home to Lisa P. Jackson, an Apple Inc. vice president and the Garden State's former environmental commissioner, and former New Jersey Secretary of State Regena Thomas, who now oversees human rights and community relations at the American Federation of Teachers.
Another labor leader who joined forces with the commission is Richard Trumka, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, or AFL-CIO.
From Murphy's own Cabinet, the commission members are Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, Chief Policy Adviser Kathleen Frangione, Chief of Staff George Helmy and Chief Counsel Matt Platkin, who was recently diagnosed with coronavirus.
The other commission members are Neera Tanden, president and CEO of the think tank American Progress, and actress Evelyn McGee-Colbert, a Montclair Film board member and vice president of Spartina Productions.
--Editing by Jill Coffey.
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