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I OPPOSE the Passage of Bill H4101/S1334 An Act relative to accelerating improvements to the local and regional public health system to address disparities in the delivery of public health services (aka SAPHE 2.0)

This bill:

  • Disempowers local boards of health to manage their own local situations, compelling them to comply with national standards (whatever they may be) if they wish to receive federal funds to improve public health services.
  • It violates the separation of powers by granting to another body the power to make law. This bill would unconstitutionally delegate the lawmaking power to a private corporation.

  • Establishing “a minimum set of public health services, including, but not limited to, public health programs and foundational capabilities” is more than merely implementing policy; rather, it is the making of policy.

  • It has dangerously broad language that authorizes unelected officials, namely the Commissioners of Public Health and of Environmental Protection, to organize “public health responses” on the basis of an “outbreak of disease” or a “health care situation important public health.” These vague, ill-defined terms grant dangerously broad powers that would affect every MA resident to two unelected government officials, without legislative oversight.
  • Allows for increased surveillance and tracking of individuals, eroding medical/personal privacy.

It is now known that many COVID pandemic mandates and restrictions—despite bold promises of benefit to the public made at the time—ultimately proved ill-advised and harmful to individuals and the community. Lost jobs, bankrupted businesses, physical injury, psychological distress, isolation of dying family members, neglect of routine health maintenance care, and delays in children’s development are among the harmful effects. Caution, discernment, and localized responses are needed going forward, not increased powers for unelected officials to enact widescale mandates that bypass individual and community decision-making.

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