Background: The ban on self-serve gas dates back to the 1949 Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act , which cited, among other things, fire hazards and exposure to toxic fumes, “particularly in the case of pregnant women.”

It gained bipartisan sponsorship in the Senate, but died almost immediately when then-Senate President Steve Sweeney said that as long as he was in charge, he wouldn’t post the Bill.

Chris Christie, while not opposed in principle, also threw cold water on the idea in 2016, saying that based on his own polling, New Jersey voters — and especially women — just didn’t want to pump their own gas.

The office of new Senate President Nicholas Scutari did not immediately respond to a request for comment and Cecilia Williams, a spokesperson for Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, shed no light on his feelings about self-serve gas.

Risalvato, of the gas merchants organization, said the ongoing worker shortage, already bad before Covid, has brought some of his member stations to a crisis point.

Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) and Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R-Sussex) plan to introduce a companion bill in the upper house.