ACTION ALERT: Please Ask Legislators to SUPPORT HB835 Which Prohibits the Governor from Renewing States of Emergency Without Legislative Approval
TEXT OF HB835 – States of Emergency and Catastrophic Health Emergencies – Renewals – Authorization by General Assembly or Legislative Policy Committee:
Prohibiting the Governor from renewing a state of emergency or catastrophic health emergency for more than 30 days without approval from the General Assembly by joint resolution or, under certain circumstances, by a majority vote of the Legislative Policy Committee; and clarifying that a state of emergency expires under certain circumstances.
why icm SUPPORTS HB835
- There is no state of emergency sufficient to allow the Governor to continually extend emergency powers without approval. The estimated Covid-19 infection mortality rate (IFR) is well under 1%, and approximately equivalent to seasonal influenza for Maryland residents under age 50. Asymptomatic infections, the majority of Covid cases, have a ccontagion rate under 1%.
- The only wide-scale randomized controlled study on mask use found no reduction in Covid-19 cases among masked subjects.
- States and countries which have locked down and restricted commerce, education, and religious services to not have significantly lower hospitalization or mortality rates than states with limited or no restrictions.
- Hospitalization has not exceeded capacity in the state of Maryland over the past year. Concern that critical Covid-19 cases would exceed hospital capacity was a fundamental premise for declaring and maintaining the state of emergency.
Who to contact about HB835
There will be a hearing for HB835 before the Health and Government Operations Committee on Wednesday, 3/10/21 at 1:30 PM.
URGENT: We’re asking all members to contact bill sponsor Delegate Haven Shoemaker, and call and email the members of Health and Government Operations Committee, to let them know, in your own words, why you support HB835!
Please call or email Delegate Shoemaker’s office with messages of support, and leave supportive comments on his Facebook page:
Delegate Haven Shoemaker
Phone 410-841-3359 | 301-858-3359 Toll-free in MD 1-800-492-7122 ext. 3359
e-mail: Haven.Shoemaker@house.state.md.us
If you’re a constituent of his – in District 5 – let him know!
Please copy and paste the following email addresses of the Health and Government Operations Committee members into the BCC section of your email in support of HB835:
Please call the offices of the Health and Government Operations Committee members in support of HB835:
Bagnall, Heather 410-841-3406 | 301-858-3406
Barron, Erek L. 410-841-3692 | 301-858-3692
Belcastro, Lisa 410-841-3833 | 301-858-3833
Bhandari, Harry 410-841-3526 | 301-858-3526
Carr, Alfred C., Jr. 410-841-3638 | 301-858-3638
Charles, Nick 410-841-3707 | 301-858-3707
Chisholm, Brian 410-841-3206 | 301-858-3206
Cullison, Bonnie 410-841-3883 | 301-858-3883
Hill, Terri L. 410-841-3378 | 301-858-3378
Johnson, Steve 410-841-3280 | 301-858-3280
Kelly, Ariana B. 410-841-3642 | 301-858-3642
Kerr, Ken 410-841-3240 | 301-858-3240
Kipke, Nicholaus 410-841-3421 | 301-858-3421
Krebs, Susan W. 410-841-3200 | 301-858-3200
Lewis, Robbyn 410-841-3772 | 301-858-3772
Morgan, Matthew 410-841-3170 | 301-858-3170
Peña-Melnyk, Joseline 410-841-3502 | 301-858-3502
Pendergrass, Shane E. 410-841-3139 | 301-858-3139
Reilly, Teresa E. 410-841-3278 | 301-858-3278
Rosenberg, Samuel I. 410-841-3297 | 301-858-3297
Saab, Sid 410-841-3551 | 301-858-3551
Sample-Hughes, Sheree 410-841-3427 | 301-858-3427
Szeliga, Kathy 410-841-3698 | 301-858-3698
Young, Karen Lewis 410-841-3436 | 301-858-3436
Please note: Rules for submitting written and oral testimony have changed this year due to Covid-19 restrictions, and can be viewed here. We’re asking members for phone calls, emails, and written testimony only at this time.
Please spread the word! Let’s flood the offices of Delegate Shoemaker and the HGO committee members with polite, respectful, forceful emails and phone calls. They need to hear our voices!
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