We are off to the races and bills are flying through committee hearings in both chambers. Every bill gets a hearing in the state of SD, and it is estimated that we will have at least 500 bills this session. I am going to talk about many health bills this week, although I sit on the Senate Ag and Senate State Affairs committees as well. I will try to rotate the bill discussion to other topics within those committees in the following weeks and please reach out to me on specific bill questions as well, of course.

In Senate Health and Human Services, we are working through many department bills, which is common in the early weeks. The Department of Health is recommending some adjustments to the medical marijuana program. First off, they would like to add a probationary status for dispensaries and manufacturers (SB42). Currently the department only can suspend or revoke a license. This isn’t appropriate when there are small issues that need to be corrected. Suspension or revocation should only be used for serious infringements.

The DOH also would like to increase the fees for the medical marijuana industry (SB43). I understand that we must be cautious as to not overcharge the small producers in the state, impeding small business. This bill will be heard in the Senate Monday, and I am waiting to see what the department and industry come up with for solutions.

The DOH also would like to add nurse practitioners and physician assistants to be allowed to be EMS directors and move EMS under the Board of Medicine (SB63 & SB64). Paramedics currently are currently regulated by the board, not the DOH, and the lack of consistency with paramedics and EMS has made their licensing and communication more difficult. There also are communities who have no one sitting as director of their EMS program, because there are not doctors who are locally available to fill this role.

The DOH proposed a change to the Board of Medicine (SB87) to add allied health professionals on the board. Allied health professionals under the board, who would now have a seat on the board, include physician assistants, EMS, respiratory therapists, nutritionists or dieticians, athletic trainers, occupational therapists, and genetic counselors. We don’t want to grow government to create separate boards, but would rather have the board be more representative of the professions it serves and facilitate a better team approach. 29 other states have allied health professionals on the Board of Medicine. The DOH held multiple meetings on this over the summer as to make sure they were providing the best possible solution to the problems SD is facing.

SB10 and SB11 are bills that I passed through the Senate which now will go to the House. SB10 is a bill that will require a marijuana card certificate to send a summary back to the primary care provider or referring provider. This will improve patient safety and communication across the team. SB11 will prevent a provider from referring a patient to a marijuana clinic in which they receive financial benefit and impose a class 2 misdemeanor for those who knowingly do. This bill is crucial to protect patients in the medical marijuana program.

Please continue to reach out to educate me on how bills will affect you as this often helps me in my voting decisions. When you do email, please put District 21 in the heading so that I can prioritize the emails from my constituents.

Stay warm and keep in touch,