Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has vetoed a bill that would have required that residents of assisted living communities be provided with educational information about influenza. The bill had unanimously passed the state House of Representatives and Senate.
S.B. 22 “is an example of an unnecessary government intrusion into the private sector” Bevin said in a message accompanying the veto. “It instills little to no confidence that there will be any measurable health benefit resulting from this increased regulation of private assisted living facilities,” he added.
The legislation had been sponsored by Kentucky Sen. Ralph Alvarado, a physician and, like Bevin, a Republican. Alvarado, however, originally introduced the bill in an attempt to add the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care to the state statute. The flu provision was added by House Rep. David Watkins, a Democrat, and Alvarado and the Senate had agreed to the change.
