Committee advances bill to codify Idaho newborn‑screening rules into statute; supporter testifies for families with rare conditions

Senate Bill 1014, sponsored by Senator Kamille Blaylock, would transfer administrative rules on newborn screening into Idaho statute without changing current screening practices.

Blaylock told the Health and Welfare Committee that newborn screening requirements “date back to 1921,” and the bill copies the approved rule text verbatim into statute. “This bill does not introduce new requirements or change current practices,” she said, adding the change is intended to ensure elected officials maintain oversight rather than leaving the provisions solely in agency rule books.

The sponsor said the bill would repeal six sections of code and reintroduce the current rule language in consolidated statutory form. Jennifer Beazer, a Boise resident who said she lives with a newborn‑screening diagnosis in her family, testified in support. “These are genetic conditions. They don't go away. We don't grow out of them,” Beazer said, and added she supports moving newborn screening “into Idaho code.”

Senator Harris moved the bill to the floor with a due‑pass recommendation; Senator Wintrow seconded and spoke in discussion recognizing both the sponsor's aims and the tradeoffs of moving rules into statute versus leaving flexibility for agency implementation. The committee approved the motion by voice vote and the bill will go to the Senate floor.

The bill's sponsor said the statutory change is intended to enhance legislative oversight by codifying longstanding screening requirements; the hearing record includes no opposition testimony.