Walsh Joins Colleagues in Fight Against Government Overreach

September 25, 2026

HARRISBURG – Earlier this week, state Rep. Jamie Walsh (R-Luzerne) joined 84 of his colleagues in submitting a letter calling for the withdrawal of the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s (DOH) proposed rewrite of regulations pertaining to communicable and noncommunicable diseases in the Commonwealth.

“The proposal from the Department of Health would threaten the rights and privacy of every Pennsylvania resident,” said Walsh. “The people I represent don’t want the government superseding their parental rights when it comes to their children and they don’t want the government having access to their private medical records. These proposed regulations go too far.”

The letter, which was sent to the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC), highlights several provisions within the proposal, including:

• Broadly expanding mandatory vaccine reporting and allowing increased access to private medical records.
• Granting health officials the authority to enter school buildings and interview minor students privately for disease-control investigations without clear parental knowledge or consent.
• Providing the ability to enter private residences for disease control investigations while remaining silent about whether a search warrant is required prior to entering a residence.
• Expanding protocols for contact tracing, isolation and quarantine, while raising concerns over unilateral executive powers to re-impose mask mandates or other coercive measures.
• Attempting to permanently establish sweeping public health powers through the regulatory process rather than through open legislative debate.

Under Pennsylvania law, IRRC is charged with reviewing proposed regulations to ensure they are in the public interest and do not exceed statutory authority.  

“I am hopeful the Independent Regulatory Review Commission, after reviewing our letter and the thousands of complaints they have received from Pennsylvania residents, disapproves the proposed changes,” said Walsh. “These types of sweeping changes should go through the legislative process, where they can be debated in an open forum. I question why this comprehensive overhaul was done without our input when we represent the very people these changes would impact.”

Click here to read the comment letter.