CHARLESTON – The state Senate made some more tweaks on Wednesday to its bill clarifying county commission veto power over local health board rules, passed it and sent it to the House.
SB 3026 arose in response to confusion over some elements of SB 12, which passed during the 2021 session and gave “appointing authorities” – counties, or counties and cities where health boards have joint oversight – veto power over health board rules.
SB 3026 specifies that an order is narrow, issued “to protect the public health of the citizens by directing an individual or a discreet group of individuals to take a specific action to protect the health of the public or stop the spread of a communicable disease.”
A rule is broader and applies to the entire jurisdiction of a health board – for instance an indoor smoking ban.
SB 12 requires appointing authorities to act on a bill – approve, disapprove or amend it – within 30 days. SB 3026 adds a pocket veto: Any rule not acted on within 30 days automatically dies.
Senate Judiciary and Finance both approved the bill and sent it to the Senate floor on Tuesday. It was on third reading for passage Wednesday but the vote was delayed because Gov. Jim Justice amended his proclamation spelling out the bill.
Judiciary chair Charles Trump, R-Morgan, said there were questions about whether the bill conformed to the governor’s intent so Justice sent the revised proclamation.
Senators agreed to pull the previous version and adopted one drafted Wednesday to conform to Justice’s new wording.
The bill spells out that health boards deal with three kinds of rules: state rules, local rules and local health board rules.
The new version clarifies that a local rule is “an order adopted by a county commission or an ordinance adopted by a city that properly directs the local health department to implement or enforce the order or ordinance.”
A local health department rule is “a rule issued by the local board of health that has been approved by the appointing authority or was adopted prior to March 4, 2021, or a rule issued by the local board of health that may immediately go into effect because of an imminent public health emergency.”
A state rule comes from a state agency, typically the Department of Health and Human Resources, “relating to public health that is to be enforced by a local health department.”
A health order is “an order issued by the local health officer or local health board to protect the public health of the citizens by directing an individual or a discreet group of individuals to take a specific action to protect the health of the public or stop the spread of a communicable disease.”
Trump said health officers can’t make rules, but health boards can.
Health chair Mike Maroney was lead sponsor of SB 12 and supported SB 3026. Because of the confusion, some health officers were making rules in the guise of orders. “There were instances … where it was getting out of control,” he said.
The vote was 25-7. Seven Democrats voted no, three voted yes. Locally, Sens. Bob Beach and Mike Caputo voted no.
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