A3906

An Act concerning the leasing of hotel facilities by the State for certain purposes related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the Division of Purchase and Property in the Department of the Treasury shall negotiate and enter into lease agreements with a number of hotel facilities in each county of the State for the purposes specified in subsection b. of this section. The division shall commence negotiations with hotel facilities in each county within seven days following the effective date of this act, P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill).

For each lease agreement, the State shall pay the negotiated per guest room rate and any negotiated additional guest service fee for the entire hotel facility. If a hotel facility includes several separate guest room buildings, the State shall enter into a lease agreement for one such building if only one such building shall be deemed sufficient for its purposes.

The lease agreement may be for a term of one month with the option for a month-to-month renewal or for an initial term of several months with the option for a month-to-month renewal thereafter. The lease shall provide for a termination at the option of the State upon two business days’ notice if the State determines that the facility is no longer necessary for the purposes specified in subsection b. of this section or is being underutilized for those purposes.

The negotiated rate per guest room and for any additional necessary services shall be a reasonable amount that shall not exceed the average standard rates and fees charged by the hotel facility during the two months prior to the Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency declared by the Governor in Executive Order No. 103 of 2020. The agreement may provide for rates and fees that exceed those average standard rates and fees by a certain percentage, but not in excess of 10 percent, if the reasons for the additional percentage are clearly specified in the lease agreement and the percentage is specifically approved by the State Treasurer.

The lease agreement shall specify a standard guest room rate for any unoccupied room and a separate standard guest room rate for any occupied room.

The State shall determine the restrictions to be placed on the type and amount for food and beverage services as the State shall deem necessary and appropriate. The restrictions shall not be negotiable and shall be incorporated into the lease agreement.

The lease agreement shall provide that the State shall not pay any other rate or service fee or charge other than the guest room rate, and the service fees for food and beverages, and laundry if laundry is deemed necessary and appropriate under the circumstances and as specifically included in the lease agreement.

The lease agreement shall contain provisions for detailed documentation to be provided by the hotel facility to the State on the use of the facility and the services provided for the specified purposes.

The lease agreement shall contain such provisions regarding hotel staffing levels, payments for damages, access to the facility, use of the facility, insurance, deposits, and such other matters as the State shall deem necessary and as shall be negotiated with the hotel facility owner.

The number of hotel facilities in each county that the State shall lease shall be determined in consultation with the Department of Health and approved by the State Treasurer. Each lease agreement shall be approved by the State Treasurer prior to the signing of the agreement. No approvals by any other State official shall be required prior to the signing of each agreement.

A lease agreement shall be approved by the State Treasurer only if the agreement provides that the employees of the hotel facility shall be paid during the lease period the prevailing wage rate as determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development in accordance with the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act," P.L.1963, c.150 (C.34:11-56.25 et seq.), and only if the operator of the hotel facility is party to a collective bargaining agreement containing a “no-strike clause”, or is otherwise bound to an enforceable labor harmony agreement with the labor organization which represents hotel employees, as described in P.L.2019, c.438 (C.52:39A-1 et seq.).

If a hotel facility refuses to enter into negotiations for a lease agreement with the State and no other hotel facility in the area is available to accommodate the purposes specified in subsection b. of this section, the Governor and the Commissioner of the Department of Health shall take action to commandeer, in accordance with App.A:9-34 or section 9 of P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-9) or any other applicable law, any privately held property that is a hotel facility for the purposes specified in this section to address the public health emergency and State of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Health shall be responsible for the administration of the isolation center program under this section.

b. The hotel facilities under lease agreement with the State pursuant to subsection a. of this section shall be used as isolation centers to provide housing for individuals that exhibit symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), whether they have a positive test result or not, who require isolation but are not ill enough to require hospitalization at an acute care hospital facility. Such an individual shall be provided with a room at a leased hotel facility upon submitting to the hotel facility: a referral for isolation from a hospital or health care provider; or identification proving the individual is a health care professional or provider, as appropriate. The referral shall specify the number of days that the individual shall remain isolated. The individual shall be permitted to remain in the hotel facility for that number of days, or such additional days as a health care provider shall specify, or until the individual requires hospitalization at an acute care hospital facility.

The State shall lease a separate hotel facility in each county for each of the following categories of individuals:

(1) members of the general public;

(2) individuals who were released, for reasons other than the COVID-19 pandemic, from incarceration in a correctional facility within two weeks prior to seeking isolation at a leased hotel facility; and

(3) medical staff at hospitals and health centers, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, and other health care professionals or providers, who do not exhibit symptoms of COVID-19 but choose to isolate themselves based upon their own determination of their circumstances.

For individuals in categories (1) and (2), individuals shall be given first priority, and shall be encouraged to isolate, at a hotel facility that is within the county that the individual considers to be the individual’s county of residence. For individuals in category (3), individuals shall be given first priority, and shall be encouraged to isolate, at a hotel facility that is within the county in which the individual’s work predominantly occurs.

c. In order to maximize the effective use of the State’s health care workforce in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commissioner of the Department of Health shall issue a call requesting the services of additional health care professionals as volunteers to provide monitoring services at the hotel facilities under a lease agreement with the State in accordance with subsection a. of this section as isolation centers for the categories of individuals specified in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection b. of this section.

For this purpose, the commissioner shall issue such waivers from State professional licensure requirements, consistent with the commissioner’s powers under section 18 of P.L.2005, c.222 (C.26:13-18), as are necessary to allow fourth-year medical students, nursing students, and professionals licensed or certified to practice by another country to provide monitoring services in the isolation centers, provided that nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize any health care professional to provide any health care service or intervention that exceeds the scope of that individual’s professional experience and training.

The volunteer health care professional who is providing monitoring services may provide for the transfer of any individual being monitored to a general acute care hospital or other appropriate facility for treatment as necessary.

The department shall establish a registry for such individuals to enter their consent as volunteers to provide monitoring services and the hours and locations for which they will be providing the service.

Individuals who volunteer shall not be considered State employees for any purpose under the law or for any civil action. The State shall not be liable in any civil action for any act or omission of such individuals who volunteer their service as monitors.

d. In the course of developing its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commissioner of the Department of Health shall, within the limits of available resources and subject to the need to prioritize the distribution of resources throughout the State, seek to ensure that an adequate supply of personal protection equipment is distributed to health care professionals providing monitoring services at a hotel facility serving as an isolation center and to individuals in categories under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection b. of this section in those hotel facilities.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Division of Purchase and Property in the Department of the Treasury to negotiate and enter into lease agreements with a certain number of hotel facilities in each county of the State to serve as isolation centers for persons who have symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but do not require hospitalization. Separate hotel facilities will also be made available by lease agreement to health care professional without symptoms who choose to isolate themselves.

The bill provides that the State will lease the entire hotel and pay a negotiated rate per guest room and any negotiated additional service fee, for a specific term of months. The negotiated rate per guest room and any additional necessary service fees must be reasonable and should not exceed the average standard rates and fees charged by the hotel facility during the two months prior to the Governor’s declaration of the Public Health Emergency and State of Emergency in Executive Order No. 103. The agreement may provide for rates and fees that exceed those standard rates and fees by a certain percentage, but not in excess of 10 percent, if the reasons for the additional percentage are clearly specified in the lease agreement and the percentage is specifically approved by the State Treasurer.

The State will determine the restrictions to be placed on the type and amount for food and beverage services as the State deems necessary and appropriate. The restrictions will not be negotiable and will be incorporated into the lease agreement.

The number of hotel facilities in each county that the State must lease will be determined in consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Health and approved by the State Treasurer.

A lease agreement will be approved by the State Treasurer only if the agreement provides that the employees of the hotel facility will be paid during the lease period the prevailing wage rate as determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development in accordance with the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act", and only if the operator of the hotel facility is party to a collective bargaining agreement containing a “no-strike clause”, or is otherwise bound to an enforceable labor harmony agreement with the labor organization which represents hotel employees, as described in P.L.2019, c.438 (C.52:39A-1 et seq.).

If a hotel facility refuses to enter into negotiations for a lease agreement with the State and no other hotel facility in the area is available to accommodate the purposes specified in the bill, the Governor and the Commissioner of the Department of Health must take action to commandeer, in accordance with current law, any privately held property that is a hotel facility for the purposes specified in this bill to address the public health and State of emergency caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department of Health will be responsible for the administration of the isolation center program under this bill.

The hotel facilities under lease agreement with the State will be used as isolation centers to provide housing for individuals that exhibit symptoms of COVID-19, whether they have a positive test result or not, who require isolation but are not ill enough to require hospitalization at an acute care hospital facility. Such an individual will be provided with a room at a leased facility upon submitting to the hotel facility: a referral for isolation from a hospital or health care provider; or identification proving the individual is a health care professional or provider, as appropriate. The referral must specify the number of days that the individual must remain isolated and the individual will be permitted to remain in the hotel facility for that number of days, or such additional days as a health care provider may specify, or until the individual requires hospitalization at an acute care hospital facility.

The State will lease a separate hotel facility in each county for each of the following categories of individuals:

(1) members of the general public;

This bill provides that, in order to maximize the effective use of the State’s health care workforce in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Commissioner of Health will be required to issue a call requesting the services of additional health care professionals as volunteers to provide monitoring services at hotel facilities serving as isolation centers. The commissioner will be required to issue such waivers from State professional licensure requirements, consistent with the commissioner’s powers under current law, as are necessary to allow fourth year medical students, nursing students, and professionals licensed or certified to practice by another country to provide monitoring services in the isolation centers, provided that nothing in the bill will authorize any health care professional to provide any health care service or intervention that exceeds the scope of that individual’s professional experience and training. The bill specifies that these individuals who volunteer will not be considered State employees and the State will not be liable in any civil action for any acts or omissions of such individuals who volunteer their service as monitors.

Additionally, the Commissioner of Health will be required to seek to ensure that an adequate supply of personal protection equipment is distributed to the hotel facilities that are isolation centers, subject to resource limits and the need to prioritize the distribution of resources throughout the State.