When will Ariz. end state of emergency?
Two years ago last Friday, when just nine Arizonans were sickened by what was then a new coronavirus, Gov. Doug Ducey declared a public health state of emergency — a “procedural step to stay ahead of the virus,” he said at the time.
That was before COVID-19 became part of the world’s lexicon, before several new variants sent case counts climbing, before more than 28,000 Arizonans died after they were infected by the virus. The declaration gave the governor extraordinary power to do things like close businesses to stop the spread of the virus, and track and manage the crush of patients at Arizona hospitals.
Today, daily life for many looks similar to pre-pandemic routines. Yet Arizona remains under the emergency declaration, which raises a few questions: Why? And, will it ever
end?
Ducey administration officials say there are administrative reasons to leave the emergency in place, like hospital capacity reporting requirements and staffing allowances, though discussions are ongoing about formally ending it.
“Repeal of the emergency declaration is imminent,” Ducey spokesperson C.J. Karamargin said. “It’s a matter of days, not weeks. Just look around, life is back to normal in Arizona. It has been for a little while and that is a very good thing.”
Ducey’s most recent executive order using his emergency authority, issued Feb. 18, required hospitals to report public health data, like emergency and intensive care bed use rates. It extended similar orders that expired every 60 days, and while those largely require information sharing, they were also touched by pandemic politics.
The nine-page orders decree in a single line that vaccination mandates are not allowed in the Grand Canyon State.
Arizona hospitals this past week continued to report nearly full emergency rooms and intensive care units, but there’s another health care related reason that has prevented the governor from lifting the state of emergency so far.
Staffing shortages plagued hospitals during the pandemic, compounding increased patient volumes. Ducey in January
earmarked $28 million to help with those shortages.
Now Ducey wants to find “permanent fixes to make sure our hospitals don’t lose the staff that is so essential,” Karamargin said.
A bill working through the Legislature would extend the term of temporary licenses issued by health care related boards beyond the end of a state of emergency until Jan. 1, 2023. The governor’s March 11, 2020, order allowed the Arizona Department of Health Services to waive licensing requirements if there is increased demand, but those permissions would expire when the emergency is lifted.
“We’re going to be championing that bill to make sure we achieve this goal, making sure our hospitals don’t lose critical staff,” Karamargin said. If the emergency ended without the bill in place, over 2,000 health care workers — about 1,200 of which are nursing staff — couldn’t work, according to Christina Corieri, senior adviser to the governor.
Sen. Nancy Barto, R-Phoenix, sponsored Senate Bill 1309. Because the bill includes an emergency clause allowing it to go into effect immediately, it needs approval from two-thirds of both chambers of the Legislature before it heads to Ducey’s desk to sign into law.
House Speaker Rusty Bowers, R-Mesa, said he hadn’t been “noodling” on the bill, but he was glad to hear about it. Bowers’ position allows him to dictate what bills get heard, and when, making him a key gatekeeper in the legislative process.
He also is among the many who has questioned why Arizona remains under the emergency declaration.
“I’ve thought of calling the governor and saying, ‘Hey, can we lift things? Are we OK now?’” Bowers said.
Humble: ‘I say get rid of it’
Even one of Ducey’s fiercest pandemic-related critics said the governor could rescind the emergency declaration, noting that hospital reporting could continue under other legal authority or voluntarily and pointing to Ducey’s other orders that were more controversial and remain in place.
In August, for example, Ducey issued an order stopping cities from implementing vaccination mandates, his bigfooted response to Tucson’s vaccination order. That order would end if the state of emergency ends, too.
“On balance, I say get rid of it,” said Will Humble, the executive director of the nonprofit Arizona Public Health Association.
Governors across the nation declared states of emergency in spring 2020 as they grappled with how to respond to COVID-19. As of March 8, 21 states still have COVID-19 related emergency orders in place, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy, a nonpartisan group of state government officials that studies health policy.
Orders issued under the vast emergency powers, like mask mandates and business closures, became some of the most politically fraught turf of pandemic response, in Arizona and elsewhere.
The fallout continues in the form of legislation that would limit how the governor and local leaders can respond to future public health emergencies.
GOP Senate members passed a bill that would limit the length of an emergency to 120 days, unless the governor gets legislative approval to extend it. That bill, which needs a vote in the House, wouldn’t take effect until after Ducey leaves office.
Another measure would preempt local authorities like mayors and boards of supervisors from closing businesses during an emergency response. That bill passed the House in February and is awaiting a Senate vote.