Bill Text: NJ S2629 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing for staff members of child care centers.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-06-29 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S2629 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S2629-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing for staff members of child care centers.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) testing and supplementing Chapter 5B of Title 30 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Health shall require the administration of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests to every staff member of a child care center licensed pursuant to P.L. P.L.1983, c.492 (C.30:5B-1 et seq.). The Department of Health shall require that:
(1) the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests be administered once every seven days on a staggered basis;
(2) the results of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests be expedited and provided to the child care center that employs the staff member within one day of the staff member's receipt of the results; and
(3) public and private laboratories, pharmacies, and drive through testing centers which administer coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests prioritize tests administered to the staff members of a child care center pursuant to this subsection.
b. The Department of Health shall require that, pursuant to section 15 of P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-15), persons who test positive for coronavirus disease 2019 pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be isolated or quarantined to help reduce the transmission of infection.
c. The provisions of subsection a. of this section shall be carried out to the extent that necessary personnel, resources, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests are available.
2. Notwithstanding the provisions of the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.) to the contrary, the Department of Health shall, within 10 days upon filing the regulations with the Office of Administrative Law, adopt such temporary regulations as the department determines necessary to implement the provisions of this act. The regulations may thereafter be amended, adopted or readopted by the department as the department deems necessary in accordance with the requirements of the "Administrative Procedure Act."
3. This act shall take effect
immediately and shall expire following the end of the Governor's declared
public health emergency regarding the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
STATEMENT
This bill stipulates that the Department of Health (DOH) require the administration of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) tests to every staff member of a child care center licensed pursuant to P.L. P.L.1983, c.492 (C.30:5B-1 et seq.).
Specifically, the DOH would require that: the COVID-19 tests be administered once every seven days on a staggered basis; the results of the tests be expedited and provided to the child care center that employs the staff member within one day of the staff member's receipt of the results; and public and private laboratories, pharmacies, and drive through testing centers which administer COVID-19 test prioritize the tests administered to the staff members of a child care center pursuant to the bill.
The DOH would also require that, pursuant to section 15 of P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-15), a staff member of a child care center who tests positive for COVID-19 would be isolated or quarantined to help reduce the transmission of infection. The bill's provisions would be carried out to the extent that necessary personnel, resources, and COVID-19 tests are available.
