Republican lawmakers in at least twenty-six states, driven by manufactured outrage over mask mandates, vaccination requirements, and shutdowns, have passed laws to weaken the authority, possibly permanently, of state and local officials to protect public health, according to a recent report from Kaiser Health News.
At least sixteen states have limited public health officials’ power to order mask mandates, quarantines, or isolation, the report says. And at least seventeen states have banned COVID-19 vaccine mandates or passports, or “made it easier to get around vaccine requirements.” (These tallies do not include pro-COVID-19 bans on public health measures imposed by executive order—like the surprise one signed by Idaho’s Republican lieutenant governor while the governor, also a Republican, was out of state.)
Here are some examples:
Arkansas
SB 590 largely revokes the ability of state and local governments to impose mask mandates, which it calls “a burden on the public peace, health, and safety.” Governor Asa Hutchinson later regretted having signed the bill, saying he did so knowing he “would be overridden by the legislature if I didn’t.”
Idaho
S 1060 gives county commissioners, who typically have no public health expertise, the power to veto countywide public health orders.
Indiana
The legislature voted 95-40 to override Republican Governor Eric Holcomb’s veto of a bill, SB 5, that gave county commissioners the power to block public health orders.
Iowa
HF 889 prohibits mandatory disclosure of COVID-19 vaccination status; HF 847 bars cities, counties, and school districts from imposing mask mandates. Governor Kim Reynolds thanked lawmakers for their initiative, saying “I am proud to be a governor of a state that values personal responsibility and individual liberties.”
Kansas
SB 40 empowers local school boards, not public health officials, to decide what public health measures should be in place in schools. It also requires districts to employ the “least restrictive means possible” to maintain a safe educational environment.
Montana
HB 632, passed in April, called for a 20 percent cut in some state funding to local jurisdictions that pass public health rules stronger than the state’s. By mid-September, public health officials there were begging citizens to wear masks to relieve the pressure on the state’s hospitals.
Oklahoma
The state legislature passed, and Governor Kevin Stitt signed, SB 658, a bill to ban school mask mandates. An Oklahoma judge later temporarily blocked enforcement—because the law applied only to public and not also to private schools.
Utah
With HB 1007 in place, universities, school boards, and local education agencies are barred from requiring anyone to wear a mask for in-person instruction, at sports events and extracurricular activities, in dormitories, or anywhere on campus.