HARRISBURG — Rep. Kathy L. Rapp, R-Warren/Crawford/Forest, Republican chair of the House Health Committee, announced the submission of formal legislative comments from 85 members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) outlining grave concerns regarding the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s massive 502-page proposed rewrite of the Chapter 27 regulations, which govern communicable and noncommunicable diseases.
According to Rapp, the proposed regulatory package represents an unprecedented expansion of bureaucratic control, threatening the constitutional liberties, medical privacy, and parental rights of citizens across the commonwealth. In a formal filing ahead of the Sept. 21 public comment deadline, House members are calling on the department to withdraw the regulatory package.