SB12 would prohibit political subdivisions from issuing restrictive public health orders for longer than 15 calendar days in a 180-day period, unless authorized by a two-thirds vote of the respective governing body; with a simple majority vote being sufficient to terminate such an order. It also contains several provisions that would protect individual rights during a declared state of emergency relating to public health.
The Senate failed to pass SB12 on March 24, 2021, by a vote of 11 to 19. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because oversight of state and local emergency powers is a proper function of the respective legislative bodies of government within a system of checks and balances. Each state, under Article IV, Section 4, of the U.S. Constitution, is guaranteed a republican form of government, which requires a limitation and separation of powers.