State Senator Tim Schaffer Discusses Senate Bill 348

ZANESVILLE, OH – State Senator Tim Schaffer and State Senator Kristina Roegner have announced legislation that will significantly update local boards of health.

Senate Bill 348 would allow local boards of health to reject orders from the Ohio Department of Health or the Ohio Director of Health during periods of emergency.

“We put a couple protections in this legislation to make sure sound decisions are being made. One is every action will take, during a pandemic, every action will take a two thirds majority vote of that board. And that virtually guarantees local docs and nurses are making those decisions. And also we have a requirement in there that if they depart from the state health department mandates that they collaboratively communicate with the state department of health,” Ohio State Senator Tim Schaffer explained.

Senator Schaffer stresses the importance of allowing local boards of health to review mandates sent down from the state level and assessing whether or not it is appropriate for the community.

“And it’s really important then to have that local medical expertise on those boards because Ohio is community based. We are a collection of thousands of communities and there’s no reason why we can’t use the medical talent and economic talent we have here in Muskingum County for example, to put on those boards and make sure that we’re making good sound decisions.”

A large part of this
bill emphasizes the sharing of data among the state and local health
boards to allow for a peer review system when determining whether to
accept or reject state mandates.