A 2207 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

The "Certified Medication Aide in Nursing Homes Staffing Support Act;" authorizes certified medication aides to administer medications to nursing home residents.

This bill authorizes certified medication aides to administer medications to residents in New Jersey nursing homes, expanding their current scope of practice. It directly affects nursing homes struggling with staffing shortages and certified medication aides who would now be permitted to perform this role in nursing home settings (currently allowed in 38 states and other care facilities like assisted living residences). The key mechanism is amending existing law to explicitly include nursing homes under the certification framework for medication aides, addressing legislative findings that staffing challenges are severe in nursing homes post-pandemic. This change aims to alleviate staffing pressures by allowing medication aides to support resident care needs within existing certification standards.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Jun 23, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Introduced → Reprint · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill moved from Introduced to First Reprint after passage by the Assembly Appropriations Committee on June 23, 2026, with amendments. The most significant change is an expanded definition of 'health care professional' in Section 7 that now explicitly lists which licensing boards' regulated professionals are covered and carves out nurse aides, personal care assistants, and medication aides who undergo background checks under P.L.1997, c.100. A new Section 13 was added requiring retraining for individuals removed from the medication aide registry for more than one year.

Scope change

The scope of covered 'health care professionals' was narrowed by explicitly excluding nurse aides, personal care assistants, medication aides, and homemaker-home health aides who are subject to background checks under P.L.1997, c.100, while simultaneously clarifying the scope by listing specific boards whose regulated professionals are included.

DEFINITION

Section 7 now includes an explicit list of approximately 20 specific licensing boards whose regulated professionals qualify as 'health care professional' under the act, replacing a previously broader and less specific definition.

ELIGIBILITY

A new exclusion was added to the definition of 'health care professional' that specifically removes nurse aides, personal care assistants, and medication aides who are required to undergo criminal history record background checks under P.L.1997, c.100 (C.26:2H-83) or homemaker-home health aides under C.45:11-24.3.

REQUIREMENT

New Section 13 requires an individual whose name has been removed from the New Jersey medication aide registry for more than one year to retrain before being eligible for recertification.

TECHNICAL

The entire Statement section (a non-binding summary of the bill's provisions) was removed, which is standard when a bill advances through committee and is reprinted.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 23, 2026

Committee

Recommitted to Assembly Appropriations Committee

lower

Feb 19, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee

lower

1 primary · 3 co-sponsors