Establishes "Midwifery Licensing Act." *

Board size reduced from 13 to 11 members. The two OB/GYN physician seats were consolidated into one seat (OB/GYN or family medicine), and the seven midwife seats now require a specific breakdown: at least two CPMs, two CNMs, and two CMs.

Certified professional midwives no longer need to work under written guidelines with a physician, advanced practice nurse, physician assistant, or other midwife. They may now provide services 'to the full scope of the individual's license and credential' independently, removing the collaborative practice requirement entirely.

All provisions regarding drug prescribing authority for certified midwives and certified nurse midwives were removed (former sections 19-22 amending P.L.1991, c.97). The introduced version had expanded prescribing to include ordering, dispensing, and administering drugs and medical devices including controlled substances; the committee substitute drops this entirely.

New provision authorizing licensed midwives to work in any setting for which they are trained and qualified, including hospitals, clinics, patients' homes, or birthing centers. This replaces the old standing-order requirement for drug administration.

The amendment to R.S.45:9-1 (State Board of Medical Examiners composition) that would have removed a certified nurse midwife seat from that board was dropped from the committee substitute.

New provision authorizing licensed midwives to sign paperwork for Temporary Disability Insurance and family temporary disability benefits under P.L.1948, c.110.

Continuing education requirements were restructured. The introduced version required the board to establish specific standards including number of credits, subject matter, competency assessments, and mandated at least one credit on explicit and implicit bias training. The substitute instead requires midwives to maintain certification through their national credentialing body (AMCB or NARM) and complete continuing education 'in accordance with the respective credentialing body for each level of certification.'

The provision allowing carryover of excess continuing education credits to the next biennial renewal period was removed.

The definition of 'Director' (Director of Consumer Affairs) was removed from the bill's definitions section. The board name in the definition was corrected from 'State Board of Midwives' to 'State Board of Midwifery.'

Cross-references in sections amending P.L.1971, c.60 and P.L.2002, c.104 were updated to reflect more recent legislation (P.L.2023, c.237 and P.L.2024, c.67 respectively), and additional boards (Home Improvement and Home Elevation Contractors, Applied Behavior Analyst Examiners, Creative Arts and Activities Therapies) were added to those lists.