S.B. 55 Placental Tissue Amendments: transcript

Okay. So thank you Mr. Chair and committee. Uh, a couple years ago, we actually passed a bill that this, the primary, most of the pro proceed provident the things in this bill and allowed for stem cell to be used, uh, in treatments. Um, we, and we put in there that the, the physician would disclose to the patient certain things. We, unfortunately left out one important part of that. We left out the authority for the physician or the provider to provide notice. So I know that sounds kind of, uh, ludicrous, but that's exactly what happened. We ran the bill and, uh, last year we had this bill. It was one of those ones that got on the board at the last night. And then when, uh, the house had a long, longer discussion on the vape bill than we thought they would, it ended up dying. And so this is back this year. Simply all this does is in this process, gives authority to the physician to allow him, him or her to provide notice to the patient. That is already documented in the rest of the, if you look at the other lines that are not new, that that's already in code.

Okay. Aye. Motion that we approve this bill.

I waive. Waive. Okay.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Uh, it's actually been enjoyable to sit here and listen. Uh, I, I served on HHS for a long time up until last year, and when I, my current duties and business and labor conflict with that committee. So it's, it's nice to sit in and, and listen to some HH STI items. Again, I kind of, I think I can promise you that neither one of these bills are gonna make you cry Representative Clancy, but we'll see. But, uh, anyway, um, I assume we're looking at SB 55 first. Yes. Yep. That will work. A couple of years ago, we, uh, uh, authorized that under certain conditions with a practitioner working inside their scope of practice. And, uh, they could utilize placenta tissue to do stem cell, uh, treatments. And we acquired in that, that there would be notification to the patient that the, where, where the stem cells were coming from. And so they would make sure it was clear with them. We left out one important piece, and that is that we forgot to authorize the practitioner to give those notifications. So, um, the bill last year was one that was a casualty on the last night. And actually there were, you guys were debating for quite a while, a, um, a vaping bill, or I think, I think, and it took up quite a bit of time. This, this is one of those casualties was right underneath that one. So this, it's back this year. We're just trying to clarify that, you know, those providers can provide that notification.

I, I believe this was a bill that I floor sponsored from, um, someone in the Senate, um, two years ago. So I'm glad we're, I'm glad you're fixing, um, sorry.

So this is, we're talking 55, right? Or did you start with eight? Yeah, I, I presented on SB 55. Yes. Okay. Um, I was wondering, um, I was wondering if it is the placental tissue, is it if you're donating tissue and if you are receiving something that has human tissue, is that, is it both ways?

This is just in the treatment. So we're just talking in treatment. So, you know, utilizing placenta tissue to use stem, do stem cell treatments on a patient. So, so the note, the piece that really the only policy change in the bill is that the notification that needs to go to the, to the patient is authorized for the, the prescriber or the physician within that practitioner that's working within their scope of practice, would notify the patient where that placenta tissue would come from.

Oh, so where it comes from? Yeah. Okay. Do you know if, and that they are using placental tissue for, you know, stem cell treatment. Okay. But do you know on the other side of that, when someone donates, say their, um, placenta in a hospital setting, do they know that they're donating it? Or is it, do you know how that works on that side?

I am not an expert there. I really couldn't tell you. I, to my, my, uh, superficial knowledge, yes, absolutely. But I, sorry, I'm not an expert there. I don't know.

Yeah, I, I, that's okay. I just wondered if this bill dealt with both ends of that, but, okay. Thank you. Yeah, Thank you.

Thank you. I would move that we favorably recommend SB 55.

I'll waive.

No, I think it's pretty straightforward and I appreciate your consideration of the bill and appreciate your support.

for the PR practitioner who is working in a space to give the notification. So this bill, which was one of those casualties on the last night a year ago, is one that simply does, that gives the practitioner the authority to, uh, give that notice out. And without, I'm open for any questions.

Thank you. I waive summation, move the Senate bill, uh, 55. Be read a third time.

Thank you Mr. President. Um, a few years, a couple of years ago, we allowed for Senate tissue to be used in stem cell treatments and we required some notification going to the patient. And in under indications we left out one, uh, important piece. We didn't authorize the practitioner to, to issue that notification. So this bill cleans that up and allows the practitioner that's in that specialty to be able to provide that notification. With that, I'm open for questions.

I would voice summation and move the Senate. Bill 55 pass.

Thank you Mr. President. Uh, when we originally set up the medical cannabis program, we set up regions in the state when we had, uh, indicating certain number of licenses for medical cannabis pharmacies would go in each of those regions. And the intent was to keep them within those regions, not allow them to move from one region to another. Uh, last year in the bill that we were doing to,

at at BYU and other places looking at privacy concerns. A to to us this was actually started as a committee bill and, and we looked at it in committee. There were a few changes that were made in the house that kind of took off the committee bill, uh, designation, but I I think they were fairly minor. But this bill provides schools with the tools to respond decisively when vendors break the law. Currently schools that discover privacy violations often find themselves contractually trapped. They can't termin terminate agreements without triggering penalty clauses or buyout fees even when the vendors are illegally profiting from student data. HB 55 fixes this. It requires contracts to include mandatory termination provisions for privacy violations with no fees or financial liability for schools acting to protect students. This process is fair. Schools must notify vendors of violations and give them 30 days to remedy the problem and establish preventative procedures. But if vendors fail to comply, schools must terminate, no exceptions, no penalties. The bill also empowers the state board to investigate credible reports and implement an audit process to catch violations before they escalate. This isn't complicated. Vendors who violate FERPA COPA state privacy laws shouldn't be able to enforce contracts against the very schools. They betrayed our students' privacy demands this protection. And I urge your support. Thank you. I'm open to questions.

Thank you. President Bon yield. Senator Johnson, will you yield? Yep, go ahead.

Thank you, president. I, I know, uh, this pendulum seems to swing on this topic and just wondering what extra, um, layers of protection go beyond I I thought these protections were already in place. So if you could expand on that. Excuse me. Repeat that question. 'cause I'm not sure exactly where you're going with that. We have, we have a lot of data protection in place now. And just wondering what this, what extra is getting put in place?

Well, what, what this says is if, if vendors have found, if, if the school board or others find violations of student privacy, that the, the state school board can investigate that and then they can terminate the contract with, with the vendor if they're not complying with the, with the rules. They said they were complying with

Yes. President. I I certainly thought that was in place already. I saw that they can terminate a contract. Well, Senator Johnson come to find out that is not currently implicit in the contracts and that's what this bill basically does.

Thank you president. Thank you Senator Owens.

Uh, I move that HB 55, uh, privacy compliance for education technology vendors. Be read for a third time.

Yeah. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Uh, SB 55 Placental tissue Amendments. Uh, there was a legislation that was passed a couple of years ago that had to do with this, uh, but there was, uh, some issues that were kind of overlooked. So providers were required to give notice of treatment type to patients. They were not explicitly granted the legal authority to do so. So the bill was introduced last year to fix the air, but it became a late night casually like so many of our bills do, failing to pass before the end of the session. So it's just a technical fix that grants providers the authority to provide this required notice to use stem cell therapy. Uh, and so with that, I'm open to any questions. Mr. Speaker.