House Bill 1861, which includes nearly 500 regulations waived and suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, was signed by Gov. Tom Wolf on Thursday.
In June, regulatory waivers and suspensions reinstated during the COVID-19 disaster emergency declaration were extended until Sept. 30. The extension allowed the General Assembly to review the impact of the waivers and suspensions and to determine which regulations were still needed and which needed to be modified.
The bill reinstates multiple regulations and extends a number of waivers and extensions for an additional six months, allowing the General Assembly more time to review the waived and suspended regulations. The extensions include tele-health and medical care.
“When looking at a massive upset of our traditional regulatory scheme and forging a path forward, especially while still navigating a global pandemic, the priority must be: First, do no harm,” Pennsylvania House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff (R-Centre/Mifflin) said. “While this bill does bring back online a number of needed waived and suspended regulations, it keeps in place critical waivers for tele-health, the provision of medical and mental health services, and important provisions to help government and business operate during the pandemic.”
State Rep. Andrew Lewis (R-Dauphin) sponsored the legislation.
“I want to thank the members of Pennsylvania’s General Assembly for heeding my call to expand information-sharing under the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program and to extend the suspension of regulations and statutes originally suspended under the COVID-19 disaster declaration,” said Gov. Wolf. “These are important changes that will help us continue our work to protect public health in Pennsylvania. Following the expiration of the disaster declarations for the opioid epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic, I’m pleased that we were able to come together to keep these important public health measures working on behalf of Pennsylvanians.”