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Committee advances bill to move lab rules into statute, authorize state lab fee changes
Summary
Sen. Carl Bjerke presented House Bill 198 to transfer multiple laboratory-related administrative rules into statute and to authorize the state lab to set market-rate fees that do not disadvantage private entities; the committee approved the bill.
Sen. Carl Bjerke presented House Bill 198, which moves several Idaho Administrative Procedure Act (IDAPA) chapters for laboratory quality assurance, drinking-water laboratory certification, clandestine lab cleanup and state laboratory fees into statute.
"The proposed legislation does not add any regulations or burdens to the state labs above what is already required in code and rule," Bjerke said. He told the committee the measure is largely a rules-to-statute transfer designed to make the requirements permanent rather than housed in administrative rules.
Bjerke highlighted one substantive change in section 12: it would authorize the state public health laboratory to change testing fees to market rates so the laboratory does not unintentionally underprice private providers and disadvantage competition. He said some fee levels had not been updated for decades.
Sen. Melissa Wintrow asked for clarification; Bjerke said all other requirements remained the same and the fee change was intended to prevent the state lab from undercutting private businesses. Several senators supported the measure and it was advanced to the floor with a do-pass recommendation on a voice vote.
Sen. Shippy commented that the change would help private businesses compete against public labs that historically charged lower fees.
