Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Sb2113 Amendment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate committee adopts amendment to clarify certified behavioral health clinic language, sends SB 2113 to appropriations
Summary
The Senate Human Services Committee adopted a drafting-fix amendment to SB 2113 that clarifies reporting frequency and narrows which behavioral health clinics are affected; the committee later voted to pass the bill as amended and re-refer it to appropriations.
The Senate Human Services Committee on Tuesday approved an amendment to Senate Bill 2113 that clarifies reporting requirements and narrows which clinics the bill covers, then voted to pass the bill as amended and re-refer it to the appropriations committee.
Jonathan Almaturne, a Department of Health and Human Services staff member, told the committee the amendment reinserted language allowing the department to adopt rules for the operation of state-operated behavioral health clinics and adjusted reporting frequency language for certain psychiatric facilities. "We currently have rules," Almaturne said, explaining the drafting fix was meant to preserve the department's rule-making authority and to ensure gero-psychiatric facilities had a separate reporting cadence from other providers.
The amendment also inserted the word "certified" before "community behavioral health clinic" in one section to avoid inadvertently expanding the bill's scope beyond the intended entities, Almaturne said. Committee members described the changes as technical clarifications that improved readability without creating new policy obligations.
Senator Holmgren moved adoption of the amendment; the amendment was approved on a roll call with the committee recorded as voting "aye": Senator Lee (chair), Senator Weston, Senator Rohrs, Senator Hogan, Senator Van Osteen and Senator Clemens.
After the amendment's adoption, a committee member moved to pass SB 2113 as amended and re-refer it to the Appropriations Committee. The committee approved that motion on a roll call vote that recorded the same six members as voting in favor; the clerk recorded the bill as approved 6–0 and referred to appropriations.
Committee discussion leading up to the votes focused on ensuring the amendment did not unintentionally broaden the bill's coverage and on clarifying operational expectations for public and private certified behavioral health clinics.
