Children & Youth committee reports bill allowing day care facilities to maintain epinephrine auto-injectors

The Children & Youth Committee voted 26-0 on Oct. 11, 2025, to report House Bill 928 as amended, a measure that permits day care facilities to keep epinephrine auto-injectors and expands training and information requirements for staff and families.

The amendment approved in committee, A000885, sponsored by Representative McNeil, changes several provisions of the bill originally sponsored by Representative Kozlowski. Danielle, a committee staff member, summarized the bill for members as amending Title 35 (Health and Safety) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes to address epinephrine auto-injectors in day care settings.

The amendment replaces a statutory "requirement" with language that facilities "may" have epinephrine delivery systems and specifies that funding be designated to support the program. It adds definitions for "day care facility" and "epinephrine delivery system," expands training to include agents and employees, and requires that training and informational materials be developed and provided in English, Spanish and "any other language deemed appropriate by the department." The amendment also adds instruction on recognizing signs and symptoms of severe allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, and adds general emergency procedures; it removes a separate "food allergy policy" provision. The effective date was changed from 60 days to 180 days.

Representative Kozlowski, the bill sponsor, said the legislation was driven by "Elijah's story," describing a child who "lost his life in a daycare setting secondary to anaphylactic reaction to an allergen that was given to him by the caretakers, and they were not able to recognize the signs and symptoms." Kozlowski identified the child as 3 years old and thanked Elijah's parents, Dina and Thomas, who have advocated for the change.

Representative McNeil, who sponsored the amendment, summarized the changes during the committee meeting and presented the amendment text. Committee staff reported there was "no known opposition" to the bill; the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children, Trying Together and First Up were listed as supporting organizations.

Members spoke in favor of the bill and the amendment. Representative Marceau, who said she is a mother of a child with food allergies, told the committee that having access to epinephrine and proper training in day care settings can make a critical difference and praised bipartisan cooperation on the measure. Representative Curry noted other bills on food-allergy prevention and urged members to consider related measures in other committees.

Chairwoman Klunk praised the bipartisan work, said more fine-tuning may be necessary to ensure providers "feel comfortable with delivering this type of care," and expressed support for reporting the bill out of committee. A roll-call vote on the amendment recorded 26 ayes and zero nays; the committee subsequently voted 26-0 to report the bill as amended.

The committee record shows the bill will be reported as amended. The transcript does not specify the next legislative step (for example, a referral to a second committee or placement on the House floor calendar).