LINCOLN- At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, local public health directors alongside state and local governments issued directed health measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. According to several nurses, including Julia Keown, these health measures alleviated a substantial amount of strain and stress on health care workers. "When directed health measures were announced, there would be a collective sigh of relief amongst bedside clinicians, myself included," Keown told the Health and Human Services Committee during a Wednesday hearing, "We would actually cheer because we knew it was going to work, and it did."

However, despite the alleged success of these directed health measures, Sen. Kauth, through LB421, seeks to require county board or city councils to approve these public health director-recommended measures before they can be implemented. "It maintains the importance of the education and experience brought by public health directors but redirects the responsibility of restricting liberties," said Sen. Kauth in defense of LB421, "This should also serve to redirect the ire of the public from the public health director to elected officials where it belongs."

Sen. Kauth went on to state that the bill was drafted following backlash in Omaha and Lincoln directed towards public health officials after Covid-19 measures were implemented. During the hearing, State Sen. Lynne Walz, as well as several opponent testifiers, expressed concern over how this bill will affect smaller communities in Nebraska.

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