Local lawmakers oppose proposed Pennsylvania health regulations

HARRISBURG — Three Republican lawmakers representing the region are criticizing proposed Pennsylvania Department of Health regulations that would significantly change the state’s rules governing communicable and noncommunicable diseases.

State Reps. Jake Banta, R-Erie, and Kathy Rapp, R-Warren/Crawford/Forest, and state Sen. Dan Laughlin, R-Erie, have called on the Shapiro administration to withdraw the proposal, citing concerns about government authority, privacy and individual rights. Rapp is chair of the House Health Committee.

Proposed Rulemaking 10-242, also identified as IRRC No. 3490, would amend 28 Pa. Code Chapter 27. The 502-page proposal would expand the list of reportable diseases and conditions, update disease-reporting requirements, establish mandatory reporting of immunization information unless a patient declines in writing, and revise procedures for disease investigations and control measures. The Department of Health says the existing regulations, many of which date to 1959, need to be updated to reflect current public-health practices and recommendations.

The proposal would also expand the circumstances in which health authorities could investigate diseases and enter certain locations, including homes, health care facilities, schools, colleges and universities. It would provide health authorities access to medical records during an investigation and establish requirements for schools to provide access to individuals for contact tracing or partner services.

Lawmakers’ concerns

Banta said the regulations are reminiscent of COVID-19 policies and called them government overreach. He specifically cited provisions involving mask mandates, entry into private residences, access to private health information and private interviews with students.

Rapp similarly called for the proposal to be withdrawn, saying it would infringe on constitutional norms and civil liberties.

Laughlin said the proposal could give the state greater authority to enter homes, businesses, schools and medical offices.

“We cannot allow any actions like we saw taken by the executive branch during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic to be put in place,” Laughlin said. “Our health and safety can be protected without sacrificing our privacy and freedoms.”

There are some distinctions between the lawmakers’ descriptions and the actual proposal.

The regulation does not itself impose a mask mandate. It does, however, broaden the purposes for which disease-control measures may be used, and the Department specifically discusses a 2021 Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision involving the state’s school masking mandate. The proposal says the court found the existing regulation did not authorize that mandate and that the regulation could be amended.

The proposal also does not specifically use the word “warrant” when addressing entry into locations. It establishes authority for health officials to enter specified locations during qualifying investigations. Existing regulations already provide some entry authority, so the proposal would expand and clarify that authority rather than create it for the first time.

Similarly, the proposal permits health officials to meet privately with students for contact tracing or partner services and does not establish a parental-notification requirement in that section. It does not, however, authorize unrestricted interviews with students for any purpose.

Public comment

The proposal is not currently in effect. It remains in the regulatory review process, and IRRC lists the public-comment deadline as Sept. 21. No final-form regulation has been submitted and IRRC has taken no action on the proposal. The public may submit comments to the Department of Health at RA-DHCHAPTR27PROPREG@pa.gov, referencing Rulemaking 10-242 and IRRC No. 3490.

Comments can also be submitted through the Independent Regulatory Review Commission:

Submit a public comment through the Pennsylvania IRRC

The IRRC website also provides access to the full proposal and comments already submitted. As of Sept. 6, the commission’s listing showed numerous public comments but no legislative comments or IRRC comments on the proposed regulation.