(TRENTON) – Revised legislation Assembly Democrats Annette Quijano, Shavonda Sumter and Nancy Pinkin sponsored to help ensure health care facilities maintain power during emergencies was approved 62-0 Thursday by the Assembly, giving it final legislative approval.
The bill (A-1341) stems from concern following the widespread power outages seen throughout New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy.
“It’s frightening to think that those power outages put health care facilities at risk,” said Quijano (D-Union). “We’ve taken steps to ensure gas stations can be equipped with generators, but these facilities must also be prepared. They care for some of our most vulnerable residents, and we need to ensure they’re ready to go should we get hit with more power outages.”
Health care facilities included under the provisions of the bill include nursing homes; assisted living facilities; comprehensive personal care homes; pediatric community transitional homes; federally qualified health centers; dialysis centers; hospice in-patient cares; or residential health care centers connected to another licensed facility.
“These facilities cannot be left in the dark,” said Sumter (D-Passaic/Bergen). “They need to be ready, and this is a reasonable requirement.”
“This bill is quite simply the right thing to do,” said Pinkin (D-Middlesex). “It’s a responsible step in the right direction to ensure our most vulnerable residents get the vital protections they need.”
The bill permits facilities to choose from several energy efficient and energy resilient options and to seek funding for distributed energy resources from the recently established Energy Resilience Bank.
The bill will now go to the governor, who previously conditionally vetoed it.
