A 4075 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Authorizes DOH to establish partnerships in international public health.

This bill authorizes New Jersey's Department of Health (DOH) to seek participation in the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network (GOARN), a global network for disease outbreak coordination. It directly affects the DOH and New Jersey's public health response system by enabling collaboration on outbreak detection, information-sharing, and emergency preparedness. Key provisions allow the DOH to communicate with GOARN, submit applications, designate contact points, and participate in trainings without creating new legal obligations or requiring additional funding beyond existing appropriations. The bill specifically clarifies it does not establish New Jersey's membership in the WHO or override federal law.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2026

Committee Review

May 2026

General Assembly Passage

Jun 2026

Senate Passage

May 2026

Signed into Law

Jul 2026

Introduced Feb 12, 2026 Signed Jul 22, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Reprint · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was reported out of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee with two substantive amendments. The most significant change removes the word 'directed' from Section 3a, making the Department of Health's pursuit of participation in the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network purely permissive rather than mandatory. A funding availability condition was also added to the reporting requirement in Section 5a.

Scope change

The bill's scope narrowed slightly: the Department of Health is no longer directed to seek GOARN participation (now purely authorized), and the reporting obligation is conditioned on fund availability, giving the department more discretion in both areas.

REQUIREMENT

Section 3a: The word 'directed' was removed, changing the language from 'authorized and directed to take all reasonable and appropriate steps' to simply 'authorized to take all reasonable and appropriate steps.' This makes participation in GOARN optional rather than a directive obligation on the Department of Health.

FISCAL

Section 5a: Added the phrase 'and subject to the availability of funds' as a condition on the Commissioner of Health's obligation to submit the 18-month report to the Governor and Legislature. The report is now only required if funds are available.

SCOPE

Three new Senate sponsors (Vitale, Turner) and additional co-sponsors (Mukherji, Freiman, Wainstein) were added, indicating broader legislative support after committee review.

TECHNICAL

The entire 'Statement' section summarizing the bill's purpose was removed from the reprint version. This is a standard procedural change in New Jersey legislation when a bill is reprinted after committee action.

Floor votes

How they voted

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

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jun 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (57-22-0)

lower

May 28, 2026

Upper · Passed

Passed by the Senate (23-10)

upper

May 4, 2026

Committee

Received in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee

upper

Mar 23, 2026

Lower · Passed

Passed by the Assembly (55-18-0)

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading

lower

Feb 12, 2026

Introduced

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health Infrastructure Committee

lower

4 primary · 4 co-sponsors