Bill Looks At Allowing Businesses To Appeal County Health Mandates
By Taylor Dixon
TheStatehouseFile.com
INDIANAPOLIS—Senate Bill 5 would allow people to appeal emergency orders put in place by local health officials. While county health officials have been in charge of mandates within their community, including imposing rules stricter than the state, this bill would require them to collaborate with local government officials before making decisions.
SB 5 was heard Wednesday by the House Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee, where testimony from both sides was heard and discussed. The bill will be voted on in the committee next week.
Some, like Sen. Ron Alting, R-Lafayette, who co-authored the bill, said health departments are given too much power and should be working in collaboration with local government officials.
“I don’t think that appointed people like health commissioners in each county should be the sole individual to shut down businesses and take away the livelihoods of people,†Alting said.
However, with nearly 1,000 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, health officials argue that this bill is unsafe and that it would be a safety hazard to challenge health mandates put into place.
One of the testimonials came from Dr. Virginia Cane, director of the Marion County Public Health Department. She opposed the bill, saying that the economy can’t bounce back until public health is addressed.
“Public health provides long-term economic success through smart, evidence-based strategies and through smart, long-term disease prevention strategies,†Cane said. “We can’t have a healthy economy without healthy consumers and healthy workers.â€
Dr. Roland Walker, the health commissioner of Gary, said health care officials are putting these precautions and rules in place to protect people during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“People will be harmed by this,†Walker said. “There will be an increase in morbidity and mortality. More people will get sick and more people will die.â€
FOOTNOTE: Â Taylor Dixon is a reporter for TheStatehouseFile.com, a news website powered by Franklin College journalism students.
Is it asking too much to have these “representatives” actually read the Constitution and the relevant USSC case laws before proposing foolish laws like this one? The USSC has ruled that during a health emergency (I think the pandemic more than qualifies) the state and thus the Health Departments have the right to make such rules. No Constitutional rights are being violated when a Health Department of Governor demands that businesses close or operate within specific parameters. “Livelihoods” aren’t important when your clientele are dying because you foolishly want to make a few extra bucks. This bill, if it makes it to the governor’s desk, should be vetoed.
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