The House approved a bill allowing the Legislature to strike down parts of the Governor’s COVID-19 public health orders pertaining to limitations on in-person visitation at nursing homes.
Prairieville Representative Tony Bacala brought the bill after speaking to frustrated constituents and the Alzheimer’s Association.
“They feel like people with Alzheimer’s are dying early because of the lack of interaction with family members they degrade quickly, so this is about lives saved but perhaps lives lost,” said Bacala.
Under the bill, a restriction could be eliminated if both the House and Senate Health and Welfare Committees vote to do so. Any restrictions ordered by federal agencies could not be overturned.
There were concerns in committee from members like Kenner Representative Joe Stagni that the Legislature is not equipped to make these kinds of decisions.
“We are ill-prepared to handle the information overload that you would get if a disaster were declared,” said Stagni.
Natchitoches Representative Kenny Cox said the bill may restrict the Governor from re-implementing restrictions on nursing homes should we be hit with another wave of COVID.
“This kind of scares me because the Governor is like our general and if he can’t make a decision and it is isolated in a nursing home then you take away his ability to stop something possibly early,” said Cox.
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