Statement From Rob Walgate, Vice President of The Ohio Roundtable: Good First Step on Substitute Senate Bill 1

CLEVELAND, May 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Rob Walgate, Vice President of the Ohio Roundtable issued the following statement regarding Ohio Substitute Senate Bill 1 which begins the process of reforming Ohio quarantine laws.

"The Ohio House amended Senate Bill 1 and took a good first step at restricting the unlimited authority of the Ohio Department of Health to shut down the Ohio economy and strip Ohioans of their civil rights, businesses and future prosperity. The legislation was passed way too fast for public input and left out a number of key ideas that are essential to real quarantine reform. Therefore, we are calling upon the Ohio Senate to give timely and careful consideration to a full package of quarantine reform language. 

Currently, Ohio law gives the Director of Health 'ultimate authority' over matters of quarantine. That authority has been around since 1908 (HB1268). Back then, the idea of a general population quarantine was unthinkable. This is the first time the state Department of Health has issued orders to close down the Ohio economy and lockdown civil liberties without the oversight of the elected General Assembly. That abuse of power has to end."

The Roundtable is working with legislative leaders in Ohio to pass quarantine reform laws that will help address life-threatening, communicable diseases while protecting the civil rights of the general population. For more information please visit aproundtable.org.

The Ohio Roundtable is a division of the American Policy Roundtable, a non-profit, independent education, research and media organization founded in 1980. Rob Walgate has served as Vice-President of the Ohio Roundtable and the American Policy Roundtable since 2003. For more information or to arrange an interview with Mr. Walgate, please call 1-800-522-8683.

SOURCE The American Policy Roundtable