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, actualizing the value that all people deserve a fair opportunity…

Join the American Public Health Association and Act for Public Health for a one-hour webinar to discuss public health priorities for this year’s legislative sessions. On Wednesday, February 28, at 12:30pm PT / 3:30pm ET, Public Health Priorities in 2024 State Legislatures will provide an opportunity for you to tell us what your priorities are and hear…

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 and improve people’s health and well-being in our communities. We…

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 trends and examples across the widespread legal activity surrounding vaccine…

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 Temple University Center for Public Health Law Research (CPHLR), highlighting trends and…

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 enacted laws addressing authority to respond to public health emergencies….

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 compulsory vaccinations for school-age children and parental rights. In some…

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 improving public health data collection and sharing. Data are central…

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, 66 bills expanding vaccination access have been introduced in 28…

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 across the U.S. in several key areas that serve as…

How can we empower the public health workforce amid the current climate of challenges to public health authority? The rollback of public health authority catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the workforce training and…

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 legislation introduced between January 1, 2021, and May 20, 2022…

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 their ability to do so this year.

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 designed to control the spread of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory…

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 of legislation — bills that were enacted and those that…

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 you can read below. Sign up to receive weekly litigation…

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 to limit the authority of public health to act to…

How can public health practitioners engage in advocacy even when faced with restrictions on lobbying? This one-hour webinar, hosted by the American Public Health Association and ChangeLab Solutions, aims to help new and seasoned advocates…

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 politics, but in the wake of COVID-19, some state legislatures…

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 health officials from taking actions to protect the health of…

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 scope of public health authority helps practitioners stay within 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 of government to limit or eliminate the power of a lower level of…

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 have experienced personal threats, and many state legislatures have approved…

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. While it is often thought of in the context of…

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 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia and includes laws that were enacted since January…

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 health, are all administrative bodies committed to public health, their…

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 directly impacted by the politicization of once-widely accepted practices such…

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 the world. Initial analyses have revealed both strengths and areas…

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 protect the public from serious illness, injury, and death. Other…

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 others to respond to the immediate threat of COVID-19, as…