S 1421 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Requires municipalities to provide basic life support services; establishes basic life support services as essential.

This bill requires all New Jersey municipalities to provide basic life support (BLS) emergency medical services as an essential public service. It directly affects every local government in the state, mandating they arrange for BLS care through five specific options: contracting with private or nonprofit entities, entering mutual aid agreements with other towns, partnering with hospitals, or using existing fire/emergency services. The law defines BLS as covering critical emergency care like CPR, wound treatment, and stabilization during transport. Municipalities must ensure these services meet community needs, with no specific funding details provided. The bill takes immediate effect upon passage.

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 May 18, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Technical Review Of Prefiled Bill → Introduced · 3 edits · Jan 13, 2026

MINOR

This is primarily a transition from a technical review draft to the introduced version of the bill. The substantive change is that the act now supplements Title 40 of the Revised Statutes instead of Title 26, and it adds P.L.2015, c.70 to the list of laws being amended. A summary statement section was also added at the end describing the bill's purpose.

Scope change

The bill's statutory placement shifted from Title 26 to Title 40 of the Revised Statutes, and its scope expanded to also amend P.L.2015, c.70 regarding hospital agreements for basic life support service.

SCOPE

The act now supplements Title 40 of the Revised Statutes instead of Title 26, changing which statutory title the new provisions are codified under.

P.L.2015, c.70 (C.26:2K-12.1) was added to the list of laws being amended by this act, expanding the bill's reach to hospital agreements for basic life support service.

TECHNICAL

A STATEMENT section was appended at the end summarizing the bill's purpose: requiring each municipality to provide basic life support and ambulance service and designating BLS as an essential service.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Law and Public Safety Committee

upper

2 primary · 2 co-sponsors