Committee advances bill requiring TB screening framework for nursing‑home staff

The committee advanced Senate Bill 819, which would require nursing homes and community residential care facilities to implement a tuberculosis screening procedure for applicants and new employees who will have resident contact.

Representative Heath Sessions, chair of the medical subcommittee, said the bill codifies common practice and requires facilities to conduct an annual TB risk assessment guided by CDC standards. The measure would require a written declaration from an authorized health care provider confirming a recent negative TB test or documentation of a prior negative test. Under the bill an applicant could begin non‑resident contact onboarding activities after submitting required documentation, subject to follow‑up testing and monitoring.

Committee members asked procedural questions; Sessions said the bill standardizes facility procedures and clarifies follow‑up when tests are positive or symptoms of active disease appear. The committee voted unanimously to report the bill favorably.