Senate Health and Welfare schedules gubernatorial appointments, previews heavy docket including S.64 and housing bills

The Senate Health and Welfare committee met March 18 to begin handling gubernatorial appointments and to preview a heavy bill calendar that includes S.64 and several housing measures.

Committee members confirmed that the vice chair will organize and run interviews for nominees sent by the governor’s office and that staff (identified in the meeting as “Kiki”) will gather bios and resumes for scheduled interviews. The committee identified several nominees for initial screening and assignment, including Jay Samuelson, nominated as secretary of the Agency of Human Services for a term “from and including March 1, 2025, to and including February 28, 2027,” and Owen Foster and Peter Ireland for board appointments. The committee asked staff to clarify Peter Ireland’s district before scheduling an interview.

The committee also previewed bills expected to come before it in coming weeks. Members said S.36 may receive agency-recommended language to restore text from an earlier version of the bill, and that the committee will coordinate with the Finance and Appropriations Committee on any amendment that raises budgetary issues. The committee noted that several House bills related to housing are on the House calendar and will be reviewed, including a general-assistance housing measure, a bill described in the packet as a “340b” item, a certificate-of-need (CON) bill, and a bill on psychologist prescribing authority described in the meeting as involving “PhD psychologist prescribing.” The committee also said it will take up S.21 (moved from Education) and bills on birthing centers and doulas at times to be scheduled.

Committee members warned there is no guarantee any single bill will clear the committee before the end of the year; instead, once substantive work begins those items will become committee priorities into January unless an emergency intervenes. The committee described S.64 as a high-interest, contested bill with many signatures and said it will give the measure “due diligence,” noting that the secretary of state had made a recommendation that committee members want to understand as they consider scope-of-practice issues raised by the bill. A committee member relayed a message from a relative of a stakeholder: “please vote please pass S.64.”

No formal votes or final actions were taken at the March 18 meeting; the committee spent the session assigning people to interview nominees, directing staff to collect candidate materials, and setting expectations for forthcoming bill work. Members described the day as intentionally low-impact to allow time for preparation on heavier items in the coming weeks.