Committee advances two identical rural health-care transformation bills with different sunset dates

The Finance and Taxation General Fund committee gave favorable reports to two bills carrying identical language to support a rural health-care transformation program, the chair said.

The chair explained that HB 591 and HB 614 contain the same statutory language but differ only in the date: HB 591 would expire on Sept. 30, 2026, and HB 614 on Sept. 30, 2027. Committee members said the bills had been passed previously in the Senate and the two measures allow the state to use rural health-care funds across two fiscal years. Members asked no substantive questions in the recorded transcript.

The committee used the previous roll and recorded no objections; both measures were given favorable reports. The chair said the bills need to be treated as two separate measures because they cover different fiscal years.

Both bills will proceed with the committee's favorable report to the next legislative step. The transcript records the chair and staff (Kirk) discussing the need for two bills to access funds across the two years.