New Jersey lawmakers have voted to delay the governor's legally required state budget address by two weeks in the hope that falling COVID-19 figures mean the return of an in-person speech.

Gov. Phil Murphy had sought the extension “hoping that case numbers will allow the address to be delivered” in the Assembly chamber for the first time in two years.

The votes in the Democratic-led Assembly and Senate passed despite Republican objections, sending the bill to the governor’s desk. State law requires the budget address to be delivered by the fourth Tuesday in February.

The new bill changes the date to March 8.