State government in action is my favorite government to watch flail. The Missouri Senate has recently debated Senate Bill 12. Listen, I agree with this bill, but I find it hilarious/sad that we must pass a law to tell local government they can’t do something that they are already are not legally authorized to do.
Basically, this bill eliminates the ability for local government to impose rules to restrict the number of people gathering or residing on private residential property during a state emergency related to public health. It also restricts local government reach for closing or limiting churches, schools and such.
You catching what they’re throwing down over in Jefferson City, mayors and health departments?
Yeah, this needs to be the legal debate of our lifetime. The escalation of executive orders and “health” restrictions has grown to an alarming level in 2020. I’m old enough to remember when they were debating whether DWI checkpoints were a legal reason to stop people and the freedoms that it infringed upon. That has long been resolved as “legal” but the roll up of your freedom has been compromised much more significantly in the last year.
I’m still skeptical that mayors and health departments have the legal authority to shut down and limit business under the guise of a health emergency like they have. I’m hoping that the courts limit this in the next few years.
Remember when Saturday morning cartoons had the Schoolhouse Rock “I’m just a bill” song to help kids understand how a law is written and passed? Apparently, this concept of laws died a COVID related death this year as government officials at all levels began mandating closures and limits on gathering, all in the name of “your health.” The price you paid for this “protection” was paid in basic freedoms.
Here’s hoping the state government flailing will help get some of our collective freedom restored.
Let’s be honest, many public officials are happy with this newfound “power.” Getting cheered to increase restaurant capacity and the like somehow feeds their ego. I’m not cheering any of these restored freedoms; I expect them, sooner than later.
One winner in the 2020 experience may be school choice. COVID has exposed the continued weakness in public education and bills are being introduced across the country that would allow school funding being assigned to students and their families instead of to public institutions. As these bills gain momentum and traction, it could alter the landscape of public education in the United States.
Unions that refuse to go back to work and the administrative expense explosion in schools, combined with a continued slipping of the United States comparison on a world stage in core subjects is fueling this movement. Time will only tell if the movement can withstand the institutional strength that will come from the schools, their unions and the establishment.
(Guy Speckman can be reached at gspeckman@me.com <mailto:gspeckman@me.com> or singing “I’m Just a Bill” on karaoke night at the local bar)