It has been a busy week in the South Dakota State Legislature this past week, with many of the healthcare related measures SDAHO is following finally receiving a hearing in their appointed committees. This past week wrapped up week 6 and there are several bills to bring to your attention.
SB 154 – prohibit pharmaceutical manufacturers from interfering in contracts between 340B entities and pharmacies and to provide a penalty, therefore. This measure will make it so that a pharmaceutical manufacturer cannot directly or indirectly deny, restrict, or prohibit the acquisition of a drug at 340B prices to 340B entities for the use in contract pharmacies. A vote in support of SB 154 is supporting increasing access for patients. A vote against supports adding to the record profits of pharmaceutical companies, who want to control patient choices, limit patient access, and restrict Freedoms. The measure was amended in the House Health and Human Services Committee to remove “and the wholesale drug distributors” from the language of the bill. It passed out of committee as amended with a 6-1 vote. The SDAHO advocacy team has issued an action alert regarding the issue, asking our member leadership to advocate on behalf of SB 154, by reaching to your state senators and asking for them to vote in favor of the measure.
HB 1223 will provide for conscience exemptions from certain vaccinations. SDAHO is publicly opposing this measure and spoke against it in the House Health and Human services committee. The measure was amended and passed out of committee on a close 7-6 vote.
HB 1144– a measure to adopt the dietitian licensure compact. The measure passed the House of Representatives on Tuesday, February 18, unanimously. It says the board shall implement procedures for the completion of a state and federal fingerprint-based criminal background check for a dietitian seeking to participate in the dietitian licensure compact. It will now move to the Senate side for further consideration.
As we look to week 7, we are focused on crossover day which takes place on Tuesday February 25. This is the last day to pass bills or joint resolutions by the House of origin and last day to invoke JR7-7 in the House of Origin, which is the motion to smoke out a bill from committee.
Anyone interested in listening to the live or archived audio of committee hearings from this year’s session, it can be found at sd.net.
The SDAHO Advocacy team will be in Pierre for the entire run of the 2025 legislative session. To stay connected with healthcare related legislation, follow our Bill Tracker here.
You can also visit our State Advocacy Webpage.
