Panel advances bill to allow trained assisted‑living aides to administer medication amid safety debates

The Public Health Committee advanced a substitute for House Bill 5299, a measure that would allow trained assisted‑living aides (med techs) to administer certain medications to assisted‑living residents under delegation by a registered nurse and require the Department of Public Health to adopt implementing regulations.

Representative Kit moved the bill and Representative Belton seconded. The measure includes civil‑liability protections for nurses who delegate medication administration except in cases of willful or wanton negligence; it also directs the public health department to adopt related regulations and states an effective date in the bill summary of Oct. 1, 2026.

Several members said the bill, as written, posed safety and implementation concerns. Representative Martinez said she would vote no as drafted, citing the risk that delegation could be confused across shift changes and the lack of clarity on required training and mechanisms for enforcement. "I'm just not seeing the protections all the way there for the patient and I think that needs to be the number one priority," Martinez said.

Several members voiced conditional support only if the bill’s scope were narrowed and stronger safeguards added. Representative Mara said she supports the concept but asked who would ultimately own responsibility for medication administration. Representative Dolphane and others said they intended to vote on the exact text before them and reserved the right to change their votes once Aging Committee amendments were available.

Senator Ammoir delivered one of the meeting’s more forceful objections, arguing that medication administration is accompanied by clinical assessment that trained aides cannot replicate. "When a nurse walks in and sees a patient, they are assessing that patient in a depth and detail which assesses where they are, what's going on...There is an indirect assessment happening every time a patient gets the medicine," he said, and concluded he would vote no.

Representative Kennedy noted the bill’s Oct. 1, 2026, effective date could leave a short window for the Department of Public Health to write and adopt regulations. The clerk called the roll after discussion; votes were recorded and the chair left the roll open until 4:30 p.m. for any additional members to submit votes. The committee did not record a final, closed tally during the meeting.

What’s next: HB5299 will go to the floor as a JF (joint favor) but the chair indicated it would return to the Aging Committee for further amendment work and regulatory clarification before final passage.