Okc Officials Object To Measure Weakening Local Health Department

NewsOK.com RSS - news >> politics >> !The Oklahoman, Daily Oklahoman: Politics
Sun, 02/28/2021 - 6:23pm

Mayor's experience shows Having a mayor with state legislative experience has its advantages. Mayor David Holt, a former state senator, said last week that he reached out to the author when he first saw House Bill 2504 several weeks ago. Holt said the bill as originally written would have ended local health departments, bringing them under state control. The Oklahoma City-County Health Department has led the metro-area's COVID-19 response. And results are clear, Holt said — Oklahoma City's toll as measured by pandemic metrics such as case counts and deaths have been better than state and national figures. Legislators amended the bill before passing it out of committee last week. Still, its assault on local control is clear. As it stands, according to The Oklahoman's legislative reporter Carmen Forman, the local health department would be prohibited from taking any action "more stringent than" state law or State Board of Health action. That substitutes for "inconsistent with" and is a clear shot at local mask mandates. The state health commissioner would gain authority to appoint one of the nine city-county health board members. That would diminish the influence of the Oklahoma City Council, which now appoints five of the nine. The bill targets Oklahoma City and Tulsa, where the state's only metro health departments enjoy a degree of autonomy to address public health challenges unique to their diverse populations. "We pride that independence greatly," Holt said. He said it was a "total nonstarter to lose operational control of our own health department.Read more on NewsOK.com

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