S 1493 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Updates requirements for licensure in occupational therapy.

S 1493 updates New Jersey's occupational therapy licensure requirements by clarifying definitions and expanding recognized practice areas. It directly affects licensed occupational therapists, assistants, and the Occupational Therapy Advisory Council by adding LGBTQIA+ health, pelvic health, disaster management, and other modern practice areas to the scope of "occupational therapy services." The bill defines key terms like "continuing competence" (requiring documented professional development for license renewal) and "occupational performance" (covering daily life skills and health). These changes ensure licensure rules align with current practice standards without altering eligibility or fees.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2026
Committee Review
Jun 2026
Senate Passage
Jun 2026
General Assembly Passage
Jun 2026
Signed into Law
Aug 2026
Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Signed Aug 6, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

Introduced Reprint · 5 edits
MODERATE
This is a first reprint of S 1493 reflecting amendments from the Assembly Budget Committee (reported June 28, 2026). The most substantive change narrows the definition of 'occupational therapy services' by removing broad language about 'traditional, non-traditional and emerging areas in line with occupational therapy practice' and deleting the sentence specifying that services are provided to individuals, groups, or populations through medical, health and wellness, educational, community, and social systems. The remaining changes are procedural (added Assembly co-sponsors, updated status) and technical (cross-reference renumbering, citation format fix).
DEFINITION

The definition of 'occupational therapy services' was narrowed: the phrase 'in traditional, non-traditional and emerging areas in line with occupational therapy practice including, but not limited to' was removed, and the sentence 'The services shall be provided to individuals, groups, or populations through medical, health and wellness, educational, community, and social systems' was deleted. The list of service areas (parental health, women's health, pelvic health and intimacy, LGBTQIA+ issues, sports and concussion management, disaster preparedness and emergency management, population health management) is retained but now introduced simply with 'to address.'

SCOPE

Assemblyman Sterley S. Stanley (District 18, Middlesex) was added as a sponsor, and Assemblywomen Peterpaul and Donlon were added as co-sponsors, indicating broader legislative support.

TECHNICAL

Internal cross-references were updated: references to 'section 18' and 'sections 4 and 9' of the pending bill were changed to 'section 10' and 'sections 4 and 10' respectively, reflecting renumbering of sections during committee amendment.

A statutory citation was corrected from C.45:9-37-64 to C.45:9-37.64 (formatting fix).

The legislative STATEMENT section (a summary of the bill's purpose) was removed, which is standard when a bill moves from introduced version to reprint.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
3
Committee
3
Jun 30, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed Senate (Passed Both Houses) (33-5)
upper
Jun 30, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed by the Assembly (71-5-2)
lower
Jun 28, 2026
Committee
Transferred to Assembly Budget Committee
lower
Jun 18, 2026
Committee
Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee
lower
Jun 18, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed by the Senate (35-5)
upper
Feb 12, 2026
Committee
Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Introduced
Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Commerce Committee
upper
3 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors