Updated September 29, 2026 at 9:26 AM EDT
Pennsylvania's Department of Health has rescinded a 502-page proposal that could've given the agency more control over how it tracks and investigates the spread of diseases — and that spelled out the measures officials can take in response.
Gov. Josh Shapiro's administration sought to "modernize" the state's public health regulations in the midst of a recent measles outbreak. But Republicans bristled at the proposed rules, arguing that they represented a potential return to the kind of mandates and controls that followed the COVID-19 pandemic.
State Senate Republican leader Joe Pittman, for one, called the rules "probably the most invasive effort that I've ever seen of the government coming into individuals' lives and usurping local control, particularly in our school districts" at a Monday Pennsylvania Press Club luncheon in Harrisburg.
But late last week the state Department of Health said it was pausing the effort to advance the rules, which must be approved by the state Independent Regulatory Review Commission.
Department of Health Secretary Dr. Debra Bogen notified the commission on Friday the agency was changing course to "make further revisions to the proposed rulemaking." State officials would "resubmit it… at a future date," Bogen's brief letter to the state's regulatory review board said.
The proposal sought to expand the list of diseases health providers are required to report to the state and make stricter rules for data sharing about infectious diseases and vaccinations. The rescinded regulations would have changed the language that governs the health department's disease-control procedures, giving health officials more authority to take action for the purpose of preventing or mitigating a disease outbreak.
The changes would have been the first meaningful update to Pennsylvania's public health regulations since 2001.
But the proposal also included language that specified whether the health department could enter an apartment building, school, college or university for the purpose of investigating an outbreak. That language drew the ire of state Republican lawmakers, who feared it would have allowed the department to skirt privacy concerns.
Critics, including more than 100 state lawmakers, submitted thousands of public comments to the department. Ordinarily proposed regulations received fewer than a half-dozen comments.
In a Tuesday-morning statement, department spokesperson Neil Ruhland said the agency had "received a historically high volume of feedback during the public comment period and it is clear additional stakeholder input is needed."
But Ruhland added that the department would "file revised language once Pennsylvanians' feedback has been adequately incorporated into the draft regulations."
Still, Pittman celebrated the decision, saying Monday that after a "massive grassroots uprising throughout this Commonwealth," state health officials "withdrew 502 pages of bureaucratic gobbledygook."
Citizens Alliance of Pennsylvania, a right-wing policy group, also took a victory lap.
"That happened because you refused to sit quietly while a 502-page regulation threatened to expand government authority over your family, your privacy, your children, your schools, and your medical decisions," CAP executive director Therese Hollen wrote in a recent email blast.
The proposed regulatory changes followed a state Supreme Court ruling that said the health department couldn't impose mask mandates in schools at the height of fears over the COVID-19 pandemic. The court did rule, however, that the department could change its guidelines to give itself such authority.
The department is already permitted to enter a "house, health care facility, building or other premises" to carry out investigative measures such as contact tracing. But critics of COVID mandates noted that among other things the rules would've added school buildings to the list of properties where officials could visit.
"We DO NOT want the government having more power over us. Government officials are supposed to work FOR the people and not OVER the people," wrote one public commenter.
In a letter of his own, Bridgeville Republican state Sen. Devlin Robinson said the health department had overreached its authority.
"Perhaps most concerning" of the rules, Robinson said in a letter, "is the expansion of power to investigate cases, outbreaks, public health emergencies, and unusual occurrences of diseases, infections, and conditions. The Department's desire to allow warrantless entry to private residences, schools, and other locations the Department deems necessary is chilling."
Squirrel Hill state Rep. Dan Frankel, who chairs the House Health Committee, said that although updates to public health regulations are still needed, it's good the state is listening to concerns.
"The Department of Health is rightly tuned in to the fact that its effectiveness relies on Pennsylvanians, across political parties and across the urban-rural divide, having faith in these institutions that are there to protect us," Frankel said in a statement to WESA.
"I really appreciate the willingness to listen to any sincerely held fears and concerns, and to incorporate that information into these crucial regulations," Frankel said. "That said, we have a measles crisis and other serious threats at the door, so I look forward to seeing this process move forward with some urgency."
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