Nevada Governor Vetoes Genetic Privacy Bill, Says it Duplicates HIPAA
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo (R) vetoed Democrats’ genetic privacy bill (AB-589) Monday because he said it “unnecessarily duplicates existing federal requirements and is likely to create greater confusion around the handling of this data.”
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Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager (D) sponsored the bill, which responded to the 23andMe bankruptcy and Trump administration misinformation about people with autism, protecting the privacy of certain information and genetic material (see 2505220032).
“Protecting the privacy of autism-related data and expanding legal protections around DNA testing are important goals,” wrote Lombardo in his veto letter.
However, the governor said the legislation is unclear and unnecessary. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act already regulates “much of this data, and while this bill extends protections beyond HIPAA’s scope, the overlap may create confusion for agencies and contractors regarding which standards govern their activities.”
Lombardo seemed unlikely to sign the bill, considering Republicans lined up against it in the legislature and the governor earlier endorsed Donald Trump for president (see 2505300017.