In this month’s Act for Public Health legislative update, we address recent state and local efforts to criminalize mask wearing.

In this month’s Act for Public Health legislative update, we recap recent topics and publications that have stemmed from our work racking legislative and litigation efforts…

Misinformation and disinformation can undermine community health as well as trust in public health systems, leading to harms and inequities. This guide provides an in-depth…

ChangeLab Solutions has created a resource to examine the legal authorities that can affect preparedness for and response to emerging and zoonotic infectious diseases (EZIDs)…

Public health authority is an important legal power that allows governments to take actions to protect the public’s health. However, recent changes in public health…

Understanding public health law is critical to addressing today’s public health issues, yet many education and training programs for public health practitioners — including master…

During and immediately following the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of bills were introduced in state houses limiting the legal powers of public health officials. While most…

This resource is designed to help state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments understand why improving social determinants of health (SDOH) through changes to laws…

This publication, developed with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is part of a suite of resources tailored to the specific needs…

March marks four years since the WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. In those four years, we’ve seen a rapid proliferation of laws enacted to,…

This month, we highlight how laws and policies can establish decision-making processes and accountability measures that connect closely to outcomes rooted in the public’s health,…

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO) is pleased to share our 2024 Legislative Prospectus Series as this month’s Act for Public Health legislative update. Informed…

This marks our sixth Legislative Update and fourth focused on vaccinations. Why? Because while advancements in the public’s health would not—and will not—be possible without vaccines, they…

Public health authority legislative update. This month, we look at how concepts of freedom and autonomy are used in conversations about governmental efforts to protect…

Findings and Implications from a 50-state Scan.

Act for Public Health’s October Legislative Update covered the newly released vaccine bill tracking data from the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research (CPHLR), highlighting…

New Legal Data: 2023 Bills Relating to Vaccines in Schools and Provider Scope of Practice. This month, we cover the newly released vaccine bill tracking data from the…

State laws setting the scope and limits of emergency authority are crucial to an effective public health response. Since January 1, 2021, most states have…

All 50 states and the District of Columbia require vaccinations for school entry. Since the emergence of the COVID-19 vaccine, a debate has emerged around…

Public health authority legislative update. For this month’s legislative update, we highlight bills seeking to strengthen emergency preparedness and other essential public health services by…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many communities saw an uptick in local conversations about the role vaccines play in keeping people safe. COVID-19 vaccines are estimated…

Laws expanding vaccination access were an important public health authority state legislative trend in 2022, and the trend continues. Between January 1 and May 22, 2023,…

Laws expanding vaccination access were an important public health authority state legislative trend in 2022, and the trend continues.

This new report from the Network for Public Health Law, as part of the Act for Public Health Initiative, examines laws and policies being enacted…

This report collects and categorizes policies that strengthen public health. It is neither a comprehensive policy surveillance exercise nor a legal epidemiology analysis; rather, it…

Published in the American Journal of Public Health, this article written by staff at the Center for Public Health Law Research identifies and categorizes US state…

To strengthen response to current and future pandemics, local policymakers and public health officials need to cut through red tape. Here are three things that may impact…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, officials in the United States at all levels of government utilized their legal authorities to impose a wide range of measures…

State laws setting the scope and limits of emergency authority are crucial to an effective public health response. This suite of legal data captures details…

As part of the Act for Public Health initiative, Public Health Law Watch is tracking public health authority-related litigation. We send out weekly updates, which…

Dissatisfaction and anger at perceived overreaches by governors and public health officials in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an onslaught of legislation…

How to resist policy efforts to limit public health authority? Public health is best served when decisions are driven by experts and experience rather than…

We know that public health interventions work. Yet, in the wake of COVID-19, more than half of U.S. states have passed legislation that restricts public…

How does our government balance public health powers with civil liberties? Who has the power to create and enforce laws affecting public health? Understanding the…

Eleven months after the first pandemic lockdown, a legal tool little known to the public is limiting public health responses that affect millions of Americans. Preemption — a doctrine that allows one level…

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, backlash against public health authority is significantly limiting the ability of public health officials to do their job. Public health leaders…

In the United States, preemption is a legal doctrine that allows upper levels of government to restrict or even prevent a lower-level government from self-regulating.…

This longitudinal dataset provides an overview of laws that limit the authority of a governor, state health agency, or state health official, regarding public health emergency orders. The dataset covers all…

State and local public health agencies are commonly described as the “backbone” of the public health system. Although these agencies, along with local boards of…

Findings, Opportunities, and Next Steps from a Feasibility Study to Strengthen Public Health Advocacy. Public health’s ability to protect and promote healthy communities is being…

In its pervasive scope, its high rate of asymptomatic spread, and its economic impact, the COVID-19 pandemic has been unprecedented in the United States and…

In recent months, at least 15 state legislatures have passed or are considering measures to limit severely the legal authority of public health agencies to…

In their regular 2021 legislative session, many states introduced or passed laws that restricted the ability of state and local public health officials, governors, and…

Newly updated data released today by the Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research on LawAtlas.org captures details of laws in 21 states that…

Public health professionals are trained to protect people’s health—from controlling the spread of infectious disease to ensuring the water, air, and food are safe. When…

Mounting legal challenges to pandemic public health rules — and judges’ increasing willingness to overrule medical experts — threaten to erode the influence of the…