Committee hears 'Genomic Security Act' to keep sequencing data and some equipment in U.S.

Sen. Daniel Zolnicov introduced Senate Bill 410, calling it the "Genomic Security Act," and framed the measure as a response to concerns that genomic-sequencing technologies and equipment from foreign-adversary firms can be backdoored and used for intelligence purposes. "This bill is the Genomic Security Act saying that any genomic, sorry, genetic sequencing information it has to be maintained in this country," he told the committee.

Zolnicov described a broader national effort to replace potentially compromised telecommunications and infrastructure equipment and said similar threats exist for genomic sequencing hardware and software. He urged the state to confine sequencing data in the U.S. and to prohibit use of certain foreign-sourced technologies.

Brent Mead, bureau chief for the Office of Consumer Protection at the Montana Department of Justice, voiced support and described instances where companies domiciled abroad stored sequencing or genetic data outside the United States and were the subject of federal scrutiny. He said Montana’s data-privacy and consumer-protection authorities can require compliance or changes to policies: "This is we think this is a great bill that gives our office another tool to help protect Montana's personal private information for being misused."

Committee members pressed specifics. Representatives asked whether the bill would rely on a federal list of "foreign adversaries" and whether the statute’s references could become obsolete as the federal list changes; the sponsor said the bill can reference the federal list without hardcoding a date and that the list can be struck if desired. The sponsor also explained the bill would require that state-held sequencing data be stored in the U.S., and that remote access from outside the U.S. would require written approval from the individuals whose data would be accessed.

Members also asked how the measure would work in practice: whether protections apply only to sequencer equipment and software or more broadly to data derived from people who shed DNA. The sponsor said the bill focuses on sequencing technology and the storage of sequence data, and that its protections complement Montana’s existing DNA-ownership law and prior privacy measures, including waivers for essential clinical uses. Zolnicov closed by urging passage and inviting technical edits to remove or revise reimbursement language he said was inappropriate to state practice.

The hearing on SB 410 concluded with committee questions answered and no immediate executive action taken.