Committee advances technical fix to pharmacy inventory law with amendment to allow FBI checks for surrogate parents

The House Executive Departments and Administration Committee advanced Senate Bill 254 on a 14‑0 vote, approving a technical change to state law that removes an outdated reference to “odd‑numbered” years for controlled‑substance inventories and adopting a non‑germane amendment to update FBI background‑check language for educational surrogate parents.

Senator David Rochefort, sponsor of SB 254, told the committee the underlying measure corrects a drafting error introduced when the state previously adopted federal inventory rules. “We achieved our purpose in adopting federal law,” Rochefort said, “but we missed striking the ‘every odd number year’ language. This fixes that mistake and keeps the requirement that inventories be done every other year, pharmacy by pharmacy.”

The committee also approved an amendment, carried into SB 254 as a non‑germane change, that revises statutory language on FBI fingerprint‑based criminal history checks so the New Hampshire Department of Education can receive the federal record for people who seek to serve as educational surrogate parents. Representative Lamb explained the amendment was requested by the Department of Education after the FBI declined to release the national criminal history under the prior statutory wording.

Department of Education attorney Diana Fenton and education consultant Janelle LeBlanc told the committee the goal is to match statutory language the FBI has accepted in other contexts so that the Department of Safety can disseminate certified FBI records to the Department of Education for review. Fenton said the 2023 law had authorized background checks for surrogate parents but the FBI refused to approve the statutory text; the amendment “is intended to fix a problem with the statutory language on FBI background checks,” she said. Christine Chay of the Department of Safety’s State Police Criminal Records Unit told members the amended language mirrors other state provisions that have been successfully approved by the FBI.

Committee members pressed staff for details. Committee testimony and Department of Education officials clarified: - The surrogate‑parent role is defined in the statutory cross‑reference given in the amendment (recorded in the hearing as RSA 186‑B:14). Educational surrogate parents serve children whose parents cannot be identified or located or when the child is in state custody; they provide written consent in special‑education proceedings in lieu of a parent. - The Department of Education currently has about 10 certified educational surrogate parents and a list of roughly 15–20 candidates at various stages of application who are awaiting background‑check processing. - The amendment preserves confidentiality: the Department would receive the FBI record confidentially, review it under existing rules, and destroy criminal‑history record information within 60 days unless retention is authorized by statute or rule. Department witnesses said existing federal and state rules (HIPAA, 42 CFR part 2, and state confidentiality provisions) limit dissemination and require CJIS/CJIS‑type training for authorized users.

Senator Rochefort and pharmacist witnesses emphasized that the inventory correction is narrowly technical. Elizabeth Sargent, appearing for the New Hampshire Pharmacists Association, said pharmacists already conduct inventories frequently and supported the clarification aligning state language with federal requirements.

Action: The committee adopted the non‑germane amendment and moved SB 254 as amended. Representative Lamb moved “ought to pass with amendment,” Representative Schmidt seconded; the clerk recorded a unanimous committee vote of 14‑0 in favor.

The measure and its amendment are now placed on the committee’s consent calendar for further floor action.