House Education committee advances H.209 to allow intranasal epinephrine and clarify school nurse authority

The House Education Committee on March 14, 2025 voted to advance H.209 (Draft 2.1), an amendment to an existing statute that would permit intranasal epinephrine as an option in schools and revise who may authorize staff to administer epinephrine.

The amendment and accompanying language changes were presented by Katie McLennan of the Office of Legislative Council. "This bill amends an existing statute that pertains to epinephrine auto injectors to allow, for intranasal epinephrine," McLennan said. She summarized revisions that shift a number of authorizing and procedural duties from the school administrator to the school nurse and clean up defined terms used in the statute.

The bill’s changes described in committee include: adding a licensed practical nurse (licensed pursuant to Title 26) as a category of designated personnel who may be authorized to administer epinephrine when authorized by a school nurse; creating or clarifying a definition of "school nurse" by cross-referencing existing AOE rules; requiring that a standing order for epinephrine be issued by a health care professional in consultation with the school nurse; permitting a school administrator to authorize a school nurse who may in turn authorize designated personnel; and revising a subsection that requires schools to adopt policies for managing life‑threatening allergies so those policies implement a process for school nurses (not just schools and guardians) to develop written management plans.

McLennan also noted a wording change replacing the undefined term "physician" with the defined term "health care professional," explaining the statutory distinction between a "provider" (which can denote an entity) and a "professional" (a person).

Committee members moved and seconded a motion to call the roll and vote on H.209, Draft 2.1; the transcript does not identify the names of the members who moved and seconded the motion. The roll call recorded the following representatives voting "yes": Rep Brady; Rep Brown; Rep Dobrevitch; Rep Harvold; Rep Hunter; Rep Chong; Rep McCann; Rep Glindy; Rep Taylor; Rep Tooth; and Rep Kamlin. The committee vote as recorded in the transcript was unanimous among those present (11 yes votes recorded). The transcript does not list any "no," "abstain," or "recused" votes.

Committee members discussed floor preparation and timing briefly; a floor presentation date and final prep were described as "TBD" in the meeting. No amendment to change the bill’s substantive policy elements was recorded in the committee discussion beyond the presented Draft 2.1 language clarifications.

Next steps mentioned in the recorded discussion are scheduling and floor preparation; the transcript indicates those items remained to be set.

The changes under H.209 as described in committee affect school medication administration protocols, the delegation of authority to school nurses and designated personnel, and statutory terminology used when issuing standing orders for epinephrine.