Health and care facilities: licensing during emergencies or disasters.

Senator Stern’s measure would establish a cross‑agency regime to govern health and care facility licensing during emergencies, introducing an inactive-license framework that lets nonoperational facilities pause licensure obligations while they rebuild or reopen after disasters. The proposal spans a wide range of licensed entities, including skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, residential care facilities for the elderly, community care facilities, child daycare facilities, home care organizations, medical foster homes for veterans, and alcohol or other drug recovery programs, linking them to a centralized emergency‑licensing structure that operates alongside the state’s existing licensing authorities.

At the core, the bill creates a formal inactive-license pathway and a coordinated emergency framework for activating and reactivating licenses during proclamations or declarations of emergency. A facility may request inactive status within defined windows after a disaster or destruction, with the license not considered valid during inactivity and inspections allowed if the department suspects ongoing operation. Time limits are specified, including a general inactivity period capped at two years with potential extensions, and the bill authorizes partial or full waivers of annual licensing fees during inactivity. Reactivation requires a formal process, and where facilities are licensed by more than one state department, the involved departments must coordinate to align approval and reactivation dates.

The legislation simultaneously tightens planning and planning‑implementation requirements where appropriate. Notably, skilled nursing facilities would be required to review their external disaster and mass casualty plan at least once per year, seeking input from local planning offices and the medical health operational area coordinator (MHOAC) and sharing updates with emergency planning offices. Other provisions extend or standardize disaster‑planning expectations across RCFE, adult and child community facilities, and alcohol/drug facilities, including detailed emergency‑planning content, drills, staff training, and annual plan reviews, with interim licensing standards available to guide implementation during the transition.

Taken together, the bill foregrounds a broader, cross‑department approach to licensing during emergencies, anchored by Chapter 15’s governance of proclamations and the emergency‑disaster framework, and complemented by a parallel Chapter 7.6 for alcohol/drug facilities. It aims to preserve the capacity of state‑licensed providers to rebound quickly after disasters, while increasing coordination with local emergency planning bodies and adapting to federal emergency-declaration triggers. The legislation specifies operative dates for certain inactivity provisions (notably 2028 for some fee‑waiver and inactivity mechanics) and states that no new appropriation is requested, with local reimbursements governed by existing constitutional requirements.