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Committee advances bill moving newborn-screening requirement from rules into statute; parents retain right to decline
Summary
Senate Bill 1014 was sent to the House with a due-pass recommendation. Sponsors said the measure moves long-standing newborn-screening requirements into statute and does not change parental rights to refuse the test.
The House Health and Welfare Committee voted to send Senate Bill 1014 to the House with a due-pass recommendation. Representative Healy (transcript presenter) said the bill moves newborn-screening requirements — including an ocular antibiotic prophylaxis provision — from administrative rules into statute. He and other supporters emphasized that moving the requirement into statute does not remove a parent’s right to decline the test.
Representative Healy said the screening has been in place for about 100 years and that ‘‘parents can say no, they don't have to have it, but parents also have a right to have it.’’ Representative Kaler asked whether the ocular antibiotic prophylaxis provision would become a mandatory procedure for all births; Healy and other committee members clarified that parents retain the ability to opt out.
Jared Larson, chief of legislative and regulatory affairs for the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, told the committee that the department prioritized this item because the requirement dates to 1921 and had been a long-standing practice reviewed repeatedly by the Legislature. Committee members discussed that moving longstanding rules to statute reduces the annual rules-review burden and gives the Legislature clearer control over regulatory language.
Representative Wheeler moved to send Senate Bill 1014 to the floor with a due-pass recommendation; the committee approved the motion by voice vote and the chair recorded the motion passed.
