Lawmakers in the Senate voted in favor of a bill Wednesday that would set mandatory nurse staffing ratios at hospitals in Maine.

State senators voted 22-13 in favor of the proposal, which carried over from last year. It seeks to ease staffing shortages and improve patient care.

According to the Portland Press Herald, the bill includes a range of minimum staffing ratios depending on the types of patients and the severity of a patient’s condition. Averaged out, the minimum ratio would be roughly one nurse for every two patients.

The bill now goes to the House of Representatives for an initial vote.