The [Texas] Legislature... reined in the amount of time the state can remain under a public health disaster or emergency authorization. These declarations, intended to allow the state government to respond more nimbly to a crisis, can now only remain in effect for 30 days, after which the Legislature or a legislative committee would have to renew it monthly. “It's just this... level of bureaucracy that I am afraid is not going to be helpful for us in the next pandemic,” said Allison Winnike, a Houston-based lawyer with the Network for Public Health Law. “Our public health system will have its hands completely tied.” 🔗 Read the full article, 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘊𝘖𝘝𝘐𝘋, 𝘛𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘤, in the The Texas Tribune, here: https://lnkd.in/eB9jGD3u #EmergencyPreparedness #Pandemic
Tribal Public Health Officer, Tule River Indian Health Center, Inc.
2wThe new law requires emergency declarations be renewed by the state legislature. What better way is there to listen to the community than with elected officials? I think it's good practice for public health leaders to work with elected politicians to decide what is most appropriate for a state/county/city/community. And I know there's many issues with political leaders but look up what Winston Churchill said about democracy. We talk about a lot about listening to the community in public health but it seems we don't listen to them when they disagree with us.