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Senate passes bill adding alpha-gal to reportable diseases and limits backflow inspection frequency
Summary
The West Virginia Senate passed Engrossed House Bill 2,776 requiring the Department of Health to propose rules to report positive alpha-gal tests to the CDC and restricting how often the department can require inspections of backflow prevention assemblies for low- and high-hazard systems.
The West Virginia Senate on the floor passed Engrossed House Bill 2,776 on a roll-call vote, directing the Department of Health to propose rules that would add alpha-gal syndrome to the list of conditions required to be reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The bill also bars the Department from adopting rules that require inspections of backflow prevention assemblies more frequently than once every five years for low-hazard systems and no more frequently than annually for high-hazard systems.
Senator from Ohio explained the amendment that resolved a conflict with Senate Bill 269 and described the two inspection-frequency limits for backflow assemblies, urging adoption. "The amendment inserts language into the bill to resolve a conflict with Senate Bill 269," the senator said, and "I urge passage." Senator Chapman moved to strike everything after the enacting clause before the Senate adopted that amendment by voice vote.
The measure advanced on a recorded vote: the clerk reported 32 yays, 0 nays, 2 absent not voting, and the presiding officer declared the bill passed. The Senate subsequently adopted a title amendment and, on a separate recorded vote, voted to make the bill effective from passage by the same margin.
The bill requires the secretary of the Department of Health to propose legislative rules to include alpha-gal syndrome on the list of conditions reportable to the CDC. It also contains the inspection-frequency provisions described on the floor; the amendment adopted provided explicit definitions and the inspection schedule for low- and high-hazard systems. During floor discussion, a senator identified only as "Senator for Marion" asked whether the measure touched the immunization bill considered earlier in the year; the Senator from Ohio replied that it did not.
Clerk records show the Senate communicated the action to the House after the vote. The Senate also adopted a title amendment before sending the bill forward.
