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SB 21 - This act modifies several provisions relating to public health. First, any political subdivision of this state, county health board, or the Department of Health and Senior Services shall not make and promulgate any public health orders, ordinances, rules, or regulations during a declared state of emergency and pertaining to such state of emergency for a cumulative period longer than 14 days in a 2 year period, unless authorized by the General Assembly, as described in the act. Additionally, no orders, ordinances, rules, or regulations promulgated by the Governor, political subdivisions, county health boards, or the Department of Health and Senior Services shall govern the number of people gathering or residing on private residential property during a declared state of emergency. No political subdivision shall make or modify any orders, ordinances, rules, or regulations during a declared state of emergency that has the effect, directly or indirectly, of a prohibited order, ordinance, rule, or regulation under this provision. The Department may be permitted to delegate certain rulemaking authority to county commissions, county councils, or county health boards of trustees in declared states of emergencies, as specified in the act. This act provides that the state, any state agency, political subdivision, county commission, county health center board, or person is prohibited from enacting, adopting, maintaining, or enforcing measures during a declared state of emergency that would restrict, directly or indirectly, the free exercise of religion. Any order, ordinance, rule, or regulation made by a county commission, county health center board, or county health officer during a state of emergency and pertaining to that emergency shall first be submitted to the governing body of the county or political subdivision for approval, rejection, or modification. If the governing body fails to approve, with or without modification, such order within 30 days, then the order shall be considered rejected and shall not go into effect or become operative unless resubmitted for the governing body's consideration. County health officers may recommend orders, ordinances, rules, or regulations to county commissions, county councils, or county health center boards, but shall not have the authority to enact such orders, ordinances, rules or regulations. Beginning January 1, 2021, this act allows a taxpayer that is a resident of a city or county that imposes any city-wide or county-wide ordinance or order prohibiting or restricting the use of the taxpayer's real property to receive a credit against property taxes owed on such affected property. The amount of the credit shall be a percentage of the property tax liability that is equal to the percentage of the calendar year that the restrictions on the use of the property were in place. The credit authorized by this act shall only apply to real property tax liabilities owed to a city or county imposing such an ordinance, and shall not apply to property tax liabilities owed to any other taxing jurisdiction. Next, no quarantine order issued by a county health board shall require, under penalty of law, that a person subject to quarantine isolate himself or herself from members of the same physical household. No public health order issued by any political subdivision, county health board, or state agency shall infringe on the parental rights of an individual, including decisions relating to the minor child's care and custody, upbringing, education, religious instruction, place of habitation, and physical and mental health care. Nothing in this provision shall be interpreted to limit the ability of such political subdivision or state agency to protect a child from clear, immediate, and substantial threat of child abuse or neglect. A positive test result for COVID-19 of a parent, guardian, or child shall not be the sole or determinative reason to remove a child from the care and custody of a parent or guardian. Finally, no hospital shall adopt, and no political subdivision shall impose, any policy restricting the presence of or visitation by one visitor if requested by a pregnant or new mother, in accordance with the hospital's regular visitation hours, or restricting the presence or visitation of a child by the child's legal parent or guardian. This act has an emergency clause. SARAH HASKINS
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