Conference committee considers ban on publishing nursing-home room recordings in SB 2070 update

A conference committee reviewing Senate Bill 2070 discussed adding a provision to the state resident-rights law to prohibit publishing recordings captured by authorized in-room electronic monitoring or virtual monitoring devices without the express written consent of the resident or their legal representative.

The committee meeting — convened to reconcile House and Senate changes to SB 2070 — focused in part on privacy and use limits for devices families and facilities use for communication and monitoring. Chair Royce called the committee to order and members debated how to balance family access, resident privacy and staff protections.

Committee members said the bill already contains requirements for consent and notice in shared rooms and that the administrative code supplements the statute. Representative Freilich said families and facility stakeholders support communication tools such as video-call devices but worry that recordings could be posted on social media or captured inadvertently when a wandering resident or a roommate is present. "Their concern is... the things that could…