Senate Health Committee advances package of bills on behavioral health, patient directives, newborn screening and MAT

The Utah State Senate Health and Human Services Standing Committee met Feb. 26 and voted favorably to advance several health-related bills to the Senate floor, approving measures that tighten definitions around mental‑health practice, update advance‑directive law, preserve newborn screening review processes, protect access to medication‑assisted treatment in residential programs, and make technical changes to civil‑commitment and health‑facility licensing statutes.

The committee moved the most contested items early: Senate Bill 48, titled Behavioral Health Amendments, cleared the committee with a favorable recommendation after proponents said the bill draws “guardrails” around what constitutes mental‑health practice and creates an education/enforcement fund to address unlicensed practice. Sponsor remarks flagged draft language under review that would target life‑coaching practices used to deliver conversion‑therapy‑type interventions; the sponsor said that language was not ready for committee review but could be added later.

The panel also advanced Senate Bill 134, a state adoption of a revised Health Care Decisions Act drafted by the Uniform Law Commission, which updates advance‑directive forms and default surrogate rules; committee members and health‑care stakeholders discussed an amendment to add a physician as an additional default surrogate and the Department of Health preparing a form to document a surrogate’s authority.

Other measures advanced included a newborn‑screening bill (SB 60) intended to keep a specific condition “on the radar” of the state’s newborn screening advisory committee rather than immediately mandate testing; House Bill 14, which clarifies when licensed emergency services personnel may use their skills in hospital or clinic settings; Senate Bill 65, which prohibits residential treatment programs or sober‑living homes from requiring that people on FDA‑approved medication‑assisted treatment (MAT) discontinue those medications as a condition of entry; Senate Bill 76, which narrows the allowable age gap in certain minor marriages and adds a 72‑hour waiting period; House Bill 16, extending the Health Facility Administrator Act; and a substitute (first substitute HB 56) that makes technical changes to emergency civil‑commitment procedures.

Votes at a glance

- SB 48, Behavioral Health Amendments — Passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation; committee recorded the vote as 4–0 in favor. - SB 134, Health Care Decisions Act Amendments — Passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation; committee recorded the vote as unanimous (3–0 in committee roll call reported at time of passage). - SB 60, Newborn Testing Amendments — Advanced with a favorable recommendation; committee action recorded as passed (vote tally not specified in the transcript excerpt). - HB 14 (House substitute), Emergency Service Personnel Amendments — Passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation; committee recorded the vote as unanimous (4–0 reported at time of passage). - SB 65, Medication‑Assisted Treatment Amendments — Passed out of committee as amended; committee recorded the vote as 5–0 in favor. - SB 76, Marriage Amendments — Passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation; vote recorded as unanimous in committee (tally not specified in the transcript excerpt). - HB 16, Health Facility Administrator Act Amendments — Passed out of committee with a favorable recommendation; committee recorded the vote as 5–0. - First…