Senate rejects local health order restrictions after marathon session

Senate Bill 12 would have required approval by a local legislative body, such as a city council, to enact any emergency restrictions on businesses or schools lasting longer than 15 days. It also prevented any restrictions being placed on churches.

Sen. Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, said lawmakers weren’t able to compromise to put together enough support for the bill. It failed when a group of Republicans joined Democrats in defeating it.

Rowden stills supports the goal of creating more oversight of local health officials. He mentioned his disagreement with some of the decisions made by the director of Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services, Stephanie Browning, as a reason for needing the bill.

“I don’t have any recourse to say, I don’t like what she’s doing, and I’d like to do something about it,” Rowden said. Giving a city council or county commission the power to ratify an order is a good idea, he said.

Sen. John Rizzo, D-Independence, said that even though attempts were made to create a more bipartisan bill, it wasn’t enough. He agreed that the concept is likely to be debated again, noting that many Republican senators support the idea.

Rizzo said it will be necessary to review the response to the pandemic to determine what could be done better. But he said he wants public health officials to look at science instead of politics when making decisions.

“How political do you want your local health department to be?” Rizzo asked.

Despite the divisions that remain over the bill, Sen. Dave Schatz, R-Sullivan, the Republican president pro tem of the Senate, remains committed to addressing local health orders.

“I think there are going to be some opportunities for us to continue that conversation,” Schatz said. “We may not have got it done on that bill last night, but I do believe that we will drive a point of compromise to the position that gives businesses better protection and also some accountability for those elected officials.”