Health officials ring alarm as GOP begins to override veto

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Multiple Ohio local health departments are sounding the alarm about legislation restricting their ability to respond to emergencies such as the coronavirus pandemic.

The agency heads laid out their concerns in letters to Republican Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday, documenting how the bill would slow down, or block, local officials from ordering businesses to close or requiring residents to quarantine or isolate without a medical diagnosis.

“Board of health orders are crucial tools to mitigate a situation, allowing time for a full investigation of a situation before it becomes urgent or worsens,” Franklin County health officials wrote. “Orders like these are utilized sparingly and almost always involve guidance and expertise from the CDC or the Ohio Department of Health.”

The department and several other public health agencies oppose Wednesday plans by House and Senate Republicans to override the DeWine’s veto of the bill, and asked lawmakers not to do so.

The Senate overrode the veto on Wednesday afternoon on party lines, sending it to the House, where Republicans also hold a majority. It would be the first veto override for the Republican governor since taking office in 2019.

The bill’s sponsor, GOP Sen. Rob McColley, pushed the override through with a final speech on the chamber floor.

“Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for us to stand up for the legislative branch. It’s time for us to reassert ourselves as a separate and co-equal branch of government here in the state of Ohio,” McColley said before the vote was taken. “We need to stand up and we need to finish this for all the Ohioans who have been asking us for a long time to be their voice.”

The Senate bill in question would allow state lawmakers to rescind public health orders issued by the governor or the Ohio Department of Health as soon as they take effect, as well as prevent the governor from reintroducing similar orders for at least 60 days.

The bill would also limit state of emergency orders to a period of 90 days but allow lawmakers to extend them in 60-day increments indefinitely.

DeWine has warned the bill would also ripple the state’s ability to address an emerging public health crisis and open up local health departments to lawsuits by anyone who disagrees with their enforcement actions.

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Farnoush Amiri is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.