RÉSUMÉ DIGEST
HB 149 2021 Regular Session Frieman
Present law provides that a disaster, emergency, or public health emergency shall be declared
by executive order or proclamation of the governor if the governor finds that a disaster or
emergency has occurred or the threat thereof is imminent.
Present law also provides that the state of disaster, emergency, or public health emergency
shall continue until the governor finds that the threat of danger has passed or the disaster or
emergency has been dealt with to the extent that the emergency conditions no longer exist
and terminates the state of disaster, emergency, or public health emergency by executive
order or proclamation.
Present law provides that no state of disaster, emergency, or public health emergency may
continue for longer than 30 days unless renewed by the governor.
Present law authorizes the legislature to terminate an emergency declaration of a state of
disaster, emergency, or public health emergency by petition of a majority of the surviving
members of either house of the legislature. Relative to public health emergencies, provides
for the legislature to be in consultation with the public health authority (defined in present
law as the secretary of the La. Dept. of Health, or his designee, and the state health officer).
Proposed law would have specified that the legislature may terminate the entire state of
emergency or any section or subsection of an emergency declaration by petition signed by
a majority of the members of both houses of the legislature. Relative to public health
emergencies, would have provided for the members of both houses of the legislature to
terminate the emergency by petition after consulting with the legislative fiscal office and a
public health specialist with a degree from a school of public health accredited by an
institutional accrediting agency recognized by the U.S. Dept. of Education. Proposed law
would have required the legislative fiscal office to estimate the fiscal impact of early
termination of a public health emergency or any section or subsection of the executive order
relative thereto prior to the filing of a petition to terminate.
Present law provides that the petition terminating an emergency declaration may establish
a period during which no other declaration of emergency may be issued. Proposed law
would have limited present law to situations related to the specific state of disaster or
emergency or any section or subsection of the order or proclamation that was terminated.
Proposed law would have required that the petition terminating an emergency declaration be
transmitted to the clerk of the House of Representatives and the secretary of the Senate and
would have required the clerk and the secretary to transmit the petition to the governor.
Proposed law would have provided that the petition terminating an emergency declaration
becomes effective upon transmission of the petition to the governor.
Proposed law would have further required the clerk of the House of Representatives and the
secretary of the Senate to disseminate the petition to the general public and file it with
specified executive branch agencies.
( Proposed to amend R.S. 29:724(B)(2) and 768(B))
VETO MESSAGE: This bill was the latest attempt by the Legislature to remedy the
obvious and adjudged defects in the petition signed by some House of Representatives
members last October attempting to terminate the COVID-19 public health emergency. I
need not provide here how catastrophic the pandemic may have been in Louisiana had the
House members been successful in terminating the emergency protective measures during
some of the worst months of the third surge in Louisiana. Thankfully, the petition was not
successful. As a result, the mitigation measures worked, and along with the protection
provided by the ever-increasing number of vaccinations, Louisiana is now seeing the light
at the end of this long, dark tunnel. I vetoed House Bill 4 of the Second Extraordinary
Session of 2020 because it violated the Louisiana Constitution and would have crippled the
response to the COVID-19 pandemic. I have vetoed House Bill 149 from our recently-ended
session because it did not sufficiently improve the vetoed bill from last year. House Bill 149
did make one significant change from current law which demonstrates a significant
constitutional infirmity in the House petition. The bill establishes that both houses of the
legislature would be required to act before the petition would be effective. This is a
significant change and a clear admission that the October 2020 petition, signed by members
of only one chamber, was without effect. However, the current bill still has significant
problems. First and foremost, it allows the Legislature to act in secret, outside of public
scrutiny and in violation of Article III, Section 15 (A) of the Louisiana Constitution. In
addition, the bill waters down the obligation to consult with a public health authority, thus
making it more likely that any action by the Legislature would be based on the political
winds rather than scientific date expert medical advice. I proposed amendments which
would have remedied the issues with the bill and would have provided for a clear voice for
the Legislature in checking a declared public health emergency. Those suggestions were
rejected. While it is true this bill would only affect my successor as the effective date is the
date of the inauguration of our next governor, I do not feel it is appropriate to tie the hands
of the next governor to properly respond to a public health emergency. If the next governor
feels otherwise, he or she can sign this bill at that time.


Statutes affected:
HB149 Original: 29:724(B)(2), 29:768(B)
HB149 Engrossed: 29:724(B)(2), 29:768(B)
HB149 Enrolled: 29:724(B)(2), 29:768(B)