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Panel backs streamlined data‑sharing compact for state agencies with voluntary participation and privacy limits
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Summary
The Senate Finance Committee reported SB 233 favorably as amended; the bill would let agencies enter a standardized, voluntary compact with the Office of Technology Services to reduce repetitive MOUs for lawful data sharing while maintaining HIPAA and other privacy safeguards.
Senator Mizell presented SB 233 on April 7, describing it as a proposal from the Louisiana Department of Health to make interagency data sharing more efficient. The Senate Finance Committee moved the bill forward with amendments and will report it favorably.
Kim Sullivan, senior advisor to the LDH secretary for Medicaid, told the committee the compact would let a participating state agency sign a single agreement with the Office of Technology Services (OTS) specifying which data it would share, the security protections, and permitted users. “You only have to enter into 1 agreement with OTS to share your state agency data to whatever the federal and state law allows you to share,” Sullivan said, describing the proposal as voluntary: agencies would choose whether to participate.
Mitzi Hoheiser, Deputy Director at the Louisiana Department of Health, told senators the bill does not change existing legal limits on data sharing or privacy requirements; rather, it reduces administrative burden by avoiding repeated agency‑to‑agency memoranda of understanding. She said OTS would maintain the compact and promulgate rules; participation remains voluntary and agencies could withdraw from the compact.
Committee members pressed for safeguards. Senator Andrews asked whether rules promulgated under the compact would return to a legislative committee for review and urged tightening protections for health records sent to education agencies, noting that schools typically need immunization records but not full health records. LDH and the sponsor said they would discuss adding language on rule oversight and tighter exclusions for certain health records before the bill reaches the floor.
Senator Boudreaux moved to accept the bill as amended; the committee carried the motion and will report SB 233 favorably. The bill as discussed establishes a voluntary compact administered through OTS with a participating‑agency committee, requires documentation of data elements and security, and remains subject to federal and state privacy laws such as HIPAA.
