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Senate Engrossed House Bill
legislators; unpaid leave of absence |
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(now: public health emergency; sovereignty; limitations)
State of Arizona House of Representatives Fifty-sixth Legislature First Regular Session 2023
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HOUSE BILL 2545 |
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An Act
amending title 26, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding sections 26-322 and 26-323; relating to public health emergencies.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:
Section 1. Title 26, chapter 2, article 1, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding sections 26-322 and 26-323, to read:
26-322. Public health emergencies; international governmental organizations; prohibition; definition
A. Pursuant to the sovereign authority of this state and article II, section 3, Constitution of Arizona, this state and all political subdivisions of this state are prohibited from using any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with a public health emergency order based on an agreement or recommendations from an international governmental organization unless the order has been ratified as a treaty by the United States senate, affirmed by a vote of the United States congress and signed into law.
B. For the purposes of this section, "international governmental organization":
1. Means an organization with a membership of countries that determine the way the organization operates, votes and manages funding.
2. Includes any agency or bureaucratic subdivision associated with the parent organization.
26-323. Public health emergencies; governor's emergency proclamation authority; restrictions; definition
A. Notwithstanding any other law, the governor may proclaim a public health emergency for not more than seven days based on hazardous public health conditions. The governor may proclaim an emergency lasting longer than seven days only on a two-thirds vote of each house of the state legislature. The governor may not impose any policy or use a public health emergency to require lockdowns or mandate business closures.
B. Subsection A of this section does not apply to a lockdown prohibition in the case of a biological or chemical weapons attack carried out against this state or a political subdivision of this state or a natural disaster that results in significant adverse public health effects due to toxic contamination, the proliferation of raw sewage or other severe disaster-related health impacts. These exceptions are limited only to the precise area of impact and may last not longer than seven days. After seven days, continued use of this temporary authority requires a two-thirds vote of each house of the state legislature to reissue. Criminal penalties may not be implemented by this state or county officials against individuals or citizens who violate this prohibition.
C. After seven days, if the governor wishes to extend the duration of a proclaimed public health emergency pursuant to subsection A of this section, the governor may do so only on a two-thirds vote of each house of the state legislature, with the extension lasting for a period of seven days. The state legislature's approval is required for each subsequent seven-day extension.
D. If the Governor does not file a request with the state legislature to extend a proclaimed public health emergency for an additional seven-day period, the emergency is assumed, for purposes of this section, to be ended. The governor's request for a seven-day extension of an emergency proclamation must be provided to the state legislature at least three days before the end of the current emergency proclamation.
E. If the legislature does not extend the proclaimed public health emergency, the governor may not proclaim a new public health emergency arising out of the same conditions for which the terminated public health emergency was proclaimed.
F. For the purposes of this section, "emergency" means an urgent, sudden and serious event or an unforeseen change in circumstances that both:
1. Necessitates immediate action to remedy harm or avert imminent danger to life, health or property.
2. May involve governmental action beyond that authorized or contemplated by existing law because governmental inaction for the period required to amend the law to address the event would likely result in immediate and irrevocable harm to the citizens or the environment of this state.
Sec. 2. Severability
If a provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this act are severable.
Sec. 3. Short title
This act may be cited as the "Preventing International Influence on Public Health Emergencies Act of 2023".