SSB3130: Health, Nutrition, and Taxation Reforms

Institutes wide-ranging reforms across health, nutrition, and tax policy. It mandates continuing education in nutrition and metabolic health for specified medical professionals; revises certificate of need (CON) requirements, removing certain restrictions and adding new exemptions and inclusions; compels ongoing participation in SNAP and allows for summer EBT with healthy foods requirements; authorizes over-the-counter sales of ivermectin; imposes new prohibitions on specific food additives in school meals; adopts the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact for telepractice and temporary in-person practice; and substantially increases excise taxes on cigarettes, tobacco products, vapor products, and consumable hemp products, directing new revenues to the health care trust fund.

Key Points & Impacts

• Mandates at least one hour of continuing education on nutrition/metabolic health every four years for various health professionals as a license renewal condition (new requirements for MDs, PAs, and others).

• Revises Certificate of Need law: eliminates certain categories from CON requirements, adds new exemptions (e.g., outpatient behavioral health facilities, open heart surgery, organ transplants, certain equipment), and removes the cap on intermediate care facility beds for persons with intellectual disabilities; replaces public hearings with written comment periods for CON applications.

• Requires uninterrupted state participation in SNAP and allows summer EBT participation only if eligible foods meet newly defined 'healthy foods' criteria set by the state.

• Allows pharmacists and others to distribute ivermectin for human use without a prescription, with immunity from professional or legal penalties for such distribution.

• Bans serving or selling foods containing certain artificial dyes and additives in school meals (public, charter, innovation zone, and nonpublic schools receiving state funds), effective July 2027.

• Enacts the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, enabling cross-state telepsychology and temporary in-person practice by licensed psychologists, while establishing compact governance and discipline mechanisms.

• Raises the cigarette tax from 6.8¢ to 10.05¢ per cigarette (pack of 20 increases from $1.36 to $2.01); increases tobacco product tax rate from 50% to 55% of wholesale price; increases cigar tax cap and switches snuff tax to 55% of wholesale price; imposes 15% excise tax on vapor products and consumable hemp products at retail; all new revenues directed to the health care trust fund.

• Makes extensive conforming amendments to tax administration, reporting, enforcement, and inventory tax provisions to cover vapor and consumable hemp products and ensure collections flow to the health care trust fund.