AB 1131

Currently, local health officers have the statutory authority to do what is

reasonable and necessary for the prevention and suppression of disease and forbid

public gatherings when necessary to control outbreaks or epidemics among other

public health powers. In addition, local health officers must take all measures

necessary to prevent, suppress, and control communicable diseases and report those

measures to the appropriate governing body along with the progress of the

communicable disease.

This bill prohibits a local health officer from ordering the closure of or

forbidding gatherings in places of worship to control outbreaks and epidemics of the

2019 novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. Also, under the bill, a local health

officer may not directly enforce an order or directive to close or restrict the capacity

of businesses to control outbreaks and epidemics of the 2019 novel coronavirus. To

enforce any order or directive to control an outbreak or epidemic of the 2019 novel

coronavirus, the local health officer, after issuing the directive, must petition a court

to enforce the directive under the existing procedure for quarantine and isolation

court orders established by the Department of Health Services by rule. If the order

or directive seeks to close or restrict capacity of businesses, the local health officer

must first have approval by the committee of the local governmental unit that deals

with matters related to health to petition the court to seek enforcement of the order.

The approval must be within five business days of the request by the local health

officer in order to seek a court order for enforcement. The court may order a remedy

prescribed by DHS by rule or a penalty established by county, city, or village

ordinance if the courts finds a failure or refusal to comply with or obstruction of

execution of a directive issued under the provision of the bill.

Currently, the federal Transportation Security Administration administers a

list of individuals who are prohibited from boarding an airplane because those

individuals are contagious with an infectious disease. The bill prohibits a local

health officer from submitting the name of any individual to the TSA or other federal

agency for inclusion on that “do not board” list and from negotiating the terms of

removal of an individual from that list.