A number of Executive actions were taken in the final days of 2023 on legislation that passed both houses earlier in the year. In addition to A.7328 (Paulin)/S.6897 (Rivera)* which was signed by the Governor on December 12 and would incentivize nursing homes to reduce their use of temporary healthcare staffing agencies and direct resources to staff, the following bills received the Governor's attention and could impact both skilled nursing and assisted living facilities:

Signed by Governor:

• Emergency Evacuation Plan Requirements (A.6291-A, Burdick/S.264-A, Stewart-Cousins)* -- Establishes an emergency evacuation plan for       individuals with disabilities and a $500 fine for knowingly failing to comply with such standards. (CHAPTER 745)
• Reimbursement for Home Health Services (A.7365, Paulin/S.6641-A, Rivera)* -- Allows a nurse to visit the home and provide a core public health service, without being subject to licensure, so long as it follows statutory requirements and is not intended to serve as nursing services. The Department of Health (DOH) may determine if the services exceed the limits of the scope of public health services, as well as establish the requirements for reimbursement. (CHAPTER 748)

Vetoed by Governor:

• Grieving Families Act (S.6636, Hoylman-Sigal/A.6698, Weinstein) -- Allows for the expansion of a wrongful death action to include any close family members to receive compensation for their non-economic losses as well as funeral expenses, medical care relative to the injury that caused the death, and pecuniary injuries. (VETO MEMO 151)
• Special Needs Assisted Living Program (A.7035-A, Fahy/S.2161-A, Rivera) -- Creates a limited number of special needs-designated assisted living residences (ALRs) for individuals with neurodegenerative disease with behavior disturbances. This designation would wholly be reserved for those ALRs with a pre-existing “enhanced” or “special needs” licensure. (VETO MEMO 100)

(*) Indicates that a "chapter amendment" is required. A chapter amendment is essentially a bill that the Legislature agrees to pass in exchange for the Governor signing another bill amending the same law(s). Chapter amendments can be minor technical adjustments or major substantive revisions.