Committee to report concurrence on technical H.582 amendment removing 'advance directive' from fiduciary definition

The committee considered a technical amendment to H.582 (an act relating to adult protective services) to remove the term “advance directive” from the definition of “fiduciary.” Jennifer Carbrey (Office of Legislative Council) explained stakeholders—including advocacy and provider groups—objected to including advance‑directive agents in the fiduciary definition because those agents have distinct roles under separate chapters and are not generally fiduciaries under the adult‑protective‑services provisions.

Carbrey said several stakeholders (Rebecca Silver Nagle, Jessa Barnard and Helen Leibnall) had testified and asked for the language to be removed. The chair asked for a show of hands on whether members wished to concur with the Senate’s proposed amendment; the committee indicated concurrence and the clerk reported the tally as 9 yes, 0 no, 2 abstentions. Staff said the committee will report on the concurrence tomorrow.

Why it matters: the amendment is technical but clarifies statutory roles and avoids classifying health‑care‑agent roles from advance directives as fiduciaries under the adult‑protective‑services chapter, which stakeholders said could produce unintended consequences for agents and providers.

What was decided: the committee agreed to report concurrence on the Senate’s amendment and scheduled the item for the next day’s paperwork; no further legislative changes were made at the meeting.

The committee then took a 10‑minute break.