SB0001 would limit the effectiveness of an emergency public health order to control an epidemic to 28 days unless an extension is approved by the Legislature. It would also prohibit the issuance of a new emergency order for the same epidemic without approval by the Legislature.
The House passed SB0001 on March 9, 2021, by a vote of 59 to 50, prior to it being vetoed by the Governor. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because the exercise of executive emergency powers ought to be strictly time-limited, not indefinite, and the abuse thereof checked against by periodic legislative oversight. Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution guarantees each state a republican form of government, which requires a limitation and separation of powers.