Health Committee advances substitute to create associate‑level speech‑language pathology assistant

Health Committee members voted Wednesday to approve a substitute bill to create an associate‑level speech‑language pathology assistant and gave the measure a favorable committee report.

Supporters described the substitute as a step to expand the pipeline of practitioners who work with children and other clients in schools and clinical settings. The committee debated supervision limits, required practicum hours and whether the measure should initially be limited to a single community‑college pilot before broader adoption.

Representative Mooney moved adoption of the substitute; Representative Gray seconded the motion, and the committee approved the substitute and advanced the bill out of committee. Representatives later moved and seconded a motion to report the bill favorably as a substitute; Representative Brinyard provided the second for that motion. The transcript does not record a roll‑call vote tally for the final favorable report.

Committee members and outside witnesses focused on several technical details. The…