JEFFERSON CITY – Legislation giving local elected officials more control over public health regulations is being sent to Governor Mike Parson’s desk for final approval.
In action on Wednesday, Missouri House and the Senate overwhelmingly approved a package of proposed bills that includes the pandemic-inspired provision for health departments.
The proposal would require health officials to seek approval from city councils or government agencies before extending emergency health restrictions beyond a 30-day period.
Senator Bob Onder, R-Lake Saint Louis, previously attached the measure to an unrelated proposal to try to keep the legislation alive in the final days of the annual General Assembly session. It was among more than two dozen local government-related changes that were made to the underlying bill.
Onder introduced the proposed limits in response to an outcry from churches and companies over the past year that local emergency health regulations put restrictions on their business operations to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The orders, which included early closing times, occupancy restrictions, and full closings, were made to keep people socially at bay. This is an important measure established by federal and local government health experts to help limit the spread of the potentially deadly respiratory virus.
While Republican-controlled areas of the state lifted most of the pandemic-related restrictions in May 2020, Democratic areas like St. Louis and Kansas City took a more conservative approach as COVID-19 cases continued to surge over the year and only orders eased decline in COVID -19 cases and increase in vaccinations.
Republican lawmakers said the health ordinance was a mark of “tyranny”.
Opponents, including local health departments, the state medical association and other health groups, warned the change could politicize public health issues.
St. Louis County
If the Parson bill is signed, it is expected to have a direct impact on the largest county in the state, which has been fighting for months over public emergencies. The three Republicans of the seven-member St. Louis County Council have pressed for scrutiny of the orders of Democratic County Executive Sam Page, arguing that the county’s restrictions are too broad and inconsistent.
District Councilor Tim Fitch, 3rd District, said the bill would give the city council immediate powers over the county’s public health regulations and pointed to limiting the number of spectators at youth sports games as a possible mandate that the legislature had Body could revise.
“It gives elected officials a say on these mandates,” said Fitch. “We have been fighting over this since the mandates came into force.”
Page spokesman Doug Moore said the bill would result in “very difficult” public health instruction decisions to limit the spread of the potentially deadly virus.
“Public health decisions are best made by public health experts in the Department of Health,” Moore said in a statement. “When the law goes into effect, county council members will participate in the very difficult decisions made to protect the health and safety of people in our most vulnerable communities.”
Fitch also claimed the Page administration spent “thousands” fighting the Republican-backed bill in the legislature after the county asked lobbyists in Jefferson City to oppose the bill under a $ 150,000 deal for the restriction of public health regulations.
Moore said the lobbyists were hired to represent the county on a number of issues, including tax laws and economic development projects.
While four Democrats have historically rejected bills from Fitch and other Republicans to call for council oversight of health orders, council chairwoman Rita Heard Days, D-1, said. District, she expects to review the district’s health regulations and possibly override some requirements.
Days asked if, for example, it was “necessary” to require restaurants to have tables one meter apart.
The distance, highlighted by Page and the county health authorities in public meetings, is in line with guidelines from federal centers for disease control and prevention to help contain the spread of the respiratory virus.
“I’m sure you have a rationale for what you’re saying. The problem is we were never consulted, “said Days.
The state bill “gives us options,” she said.
Other provisions
The controversial issue was added to legislation sponsored by House Speaker Pro Tem John Wiemann, R-O’Fallon. He urged local leaders to publish more financial information on government spending.
The proposed law aims to increase transparency in local government. This would allow municipalities to voluntarily publish the information, but also give residents the opportunity to apply for a local database to be created if the local guides do not wish to participate.
The legislation also prohibits local governments from requiring vaccination certificates for access to public transport for other services.
The law also includes provisions regulating penalties imposed on some St. Louis County residents for late property tax bills.
According to a separate amendment sponsored by Senator Jill Schupp, D-Creve Coeur, taxpayers affected by late fees due to delays in the U.S. Postal Service would receive a credit for their 2021 tax bills equal to that of they paid for late fees this year.
The issue gained attention earlier this year after residents who sent their tax payments to the St. Louis County Tax Collector in late December were subject to severe fines for postmarking the mail and arriving after January 1.
State law instructs tax collectors to collect late fees on payments that are postmarked after the deadline.
The legislation is House Bill 271.
Updated at 5:55 pm with information on St. Louis County.
