---
type: "Bill"
title: "Requires Director of Division of Veterans' Healthcare Services in DMVA to have prior clinical and long-term care experience."
description: "Requires Director of Division of Veterans' Healthcare Services in DMVA to have prior clinical and long-term care experience."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "219"
identifier: "A 5856"
citation: "New Jersey A 5856 (219)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["HEALTH", "VETERANS"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Conaway, Herb", "Diegnan, Patrick J.", "Jimenez, Angelica M.", "Vitale, Joseph F.", "Zwicker, Andrew"]
version_count: 2
action_count: 7
vote_count: 3
first_action: "2021-06-03T04:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-09-16T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/cef8535d-2fda-49cf-83ae-6af94d892cf5"
source_url: "http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/downloads.asp"
source_hash: "2f76a06e2f6ddda3a1969a54cd8f732d8c808a8039d98dc52e89af4a4ac32f23"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey A 5856 (219) — Requires Director of Division of Veterans' Healthcare Services in DMVA to have prior clinical and long-term care experience.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A9999/5856_I1.HTM)
2. **Reprint** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A9999/5856_R1.HTM)

## Votes

- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **75–0** (pass) · lower
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported out of Assembly committee with amendments — **6–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Conaway, Herb — primary (person)
- Diegnan, Patrick J. — primary (person)
- Jimenez, Angelica M. — primary (person)
- Vitale, Joseph F. — primary (person)
- Zwicker, Andrew — primary (person)
- Armato, John — cosponsor (person)
- Cruz-Perez, Nilsa I. — cosponsor (person)
- Mejia, Pedro — cosponsor (person)
- O'Scanlon, Declan J. — cosponsor (person)
- Pou, Nellie — cosponsor (person)
- Space, Parker — cosponsor (person)
- Swain, Lisa — cosponsor (person)
- Tully, P. Christopher — cosponsor (person)
- Vainieri Huttle, Valerie — cosponsor (person)
- Wirths, Harold J. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-06-03T04:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Military and Veterans' Affairs Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2021-06-14T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Assembly Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2021-06-24T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (75-0-0) `passage`
- **2021-06-28T04:00:00+00:00** Received in the Senate without Reference, 2nd Reading
- **2021-06-30T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for S3909 (1R)
- **2021-06-30T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (Passed Both Houses) (38-0) `passage`
- **2021-09-16T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2021, c.221. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/cef8535d-2fda-49cf-83ae-6af94d892cf5`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).