Senate committee unanimously backs bill to repeal COVID testing requirement for long‑term care new hires and admissions

The Senate Health and Human Services Committee voted unanimously to give a do‑pass recommendation to House Bill 645, which would repeal a pandemic‑era requirement to test new hires and new admissions to long‑term care facilities for COVID‑19.

Representative LaHood, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the testing requirement was added as an amendment to House Bill 987 during the 2020 pandemic response and was appropriate at the time. “That was appropriate at the time. There were visitor restrictions. There were just all kind of, you know, Today, the CDC has … rescinded that order,” LaHood said, adding that current infection‑control protocols remain in place.

The bill’s nut graf: sponsors and committee members said the specific one‑time COVID testing trigger is no longer recommended by federal health authorities and that existing infection‑control rules for long‑term care — including tuberculosis screening and general infection prevention — remain in effect.

Committee members had little substantive debate. The presenter characterized HB 645 as mainly a logistics change that removes a now‑outdated mandate; no technical changes to other infection‑control statutes were proposed during committee discussion.

The committee recorded the motion and unanimous voice vote to advance the bill; no roll‑call vote with named counts was recorded in the transcript. The committee chair confirmed the bill would be carried forward for floor consideration.

Because the change removes a test mandate created by a 2020 amendment to another bill, the article notes only the legislative history recited at the hearing; no new testing or reporting requirements were added in committee.