T he process and authority of Alabama ’ s State Health Officer continues to concern those who identified a potential glitch in the system after the COVID pandemic — a glitch that ended in devastation for some Alabama business owners .
State Health Officer Dr . Scott Harris currently has the authority to shut down much of the state , including public buildings , parks , and beaches . His orders during the pandemic also led to the closing of businesses and churches .
Such sweeping authority must be checked , lawmakers say , many of whom have previously attempted to change how these health situations are handled . And they are gearing up for another fight over this issue in the next legislative session .
Appointed by the Medical Association of the State of Alabama ( MASA ), the job of the State Health Officer is to oversee the Alabama Department of Public Health ( ADPH ) and inform the public of pertinent health information . But in March 2020 , Harris stood by Republican Gov . Kay Ivey as she declared a state public health emergency and issued multiple orders . These orders prohibited restaurants from serving on premises , closed schools , and stopped “ non-essential ” workers from going to work .
But many Alabamians barred from work thought their jobs were essential , too — essential to put food on their tables and roofs over their families .
“ We understand that the health orders issued will be a hardship on Alabamians ,” Harris said at the time . “ We must , first and foremost , protect the health and safety of our citizens . This decision has not been made lightly and will help to prevent the spread of this virus .”
Some businesses never recovered from Harris ’ pandemic orders , and concerned citizens now believe that abridging their rights to individual liberty should not be within the State Health Officer ’ s power .
Despite such scrutiny , Harris received a 7 % raise this year , bringing his salary up to around $ 328,000 .
State Sen . Larry Stutts ( R-Tuscumbia ), a physician himself , told 1819 News he has nothing against Harris personally . Rather , it is the position and its power that he is concerned about the most .
State Sen . Sam Givhan ( R-Huntsville ) filed a bill last session to ensure accountability to the position and to prevent overreach .
“ I think so many people did not understand that the State Health Officer was not accountable to any elected officials , and we as elected officials are accountable to the people ,” Givhan said . “ But there is a small board of doctors that appoints the State Health Officers , and I think there are still people that are unaware of that . When they become aware of that , they ’ re like , ‘ Oh no ! The governor should appoint .’”
The bill failed in the legislature last year because it stalled in the Healthcare Committee . However , Givhan said he isn ’ t quitting .
“ I will be filing a similar bill to what I filed last year ,” Givhan said . “ I will be prefiling it before the session .”
This time , Givhan will request to have the bill go through the State Governmental Affairs Committee , chaired by State Sen .
Tom Butler ( R-Madison ), a co-sponsor of the bill . The vice-chair of that committee is State Sen . Chris Elliott ( R-Josephine ), who saw the damage of overreaching orders firsthand in his district .
“ Generally , I am certainly in favor of making sure we don ’ t go back through the mandates , whether they be mask or occupancy issues or things like that like we did before ,” said Elliott . “ You know , we killed thousands of Alabama small businesses — the government did — and that ’ s something we ought to be ashamed of . That will have impacts on those people , their lives , their children ’ s lives for generations , and we did it and we don ’ t need to do it again .”
Along with the committee change , Givhan is optimistic about the bill given the early start they are getting on discussions .
“ I truly believe if I can get it to the floor , it will pass a floor vote ,” he said . “ The trick will be getting it to the floor .”
While the bill will be similar to last year ’ s , this one will give a little more autonomy to the governor .
Givhan believes lawmakers will aggressively pursue conservative issues next session and he welcomes support from the public on the bill .
“ They can call their local representatives and senator and let them know what ’ s important to them ,” Givhan added . “ And I think reaching out to the governor ’ s office is important to let them know this isn ’ t just something that will pass away with the diminishing of COVID . This is not a passing fancy for the people of Alabama .”
Other legislation on the docket next session will include a bill prohibiting the government from issuing mask mandates . State Rep . Brock Colvin ( R-Albertville ) pre-filed the bill , which still allows licensed medical facilities and state and local detention facilities to issue mask mandates .
Looking at the evidence , mask mandates did nothing to flatten the curve during the pandemic , Stutts said . He also said that there is proof the vaccine did not stop the spread of the virus . Hopefully the state has learned from all this , he said , and shutdowns and overreaching mandates are now a thing of the past .
“ If you want to wear a mask , wear one , but I don ’ t want any mandates ,” Stutts told 1819 News . “ I ’ m hopeful that people learned that it didn ’ t work last time and it just ran its course . We totally lost sight of everything .”
COVID showed us how much power the State Health Officer position holds , Givhan said , but he understands that playing Monday morning quarterback is not what he needs to be doing . Thus , he is moving forward , ensuring that whoever is in the position will be held accountable by the public .
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