SBOH - Board Meeting
(November 9, 2020) - In Brief

The SBOH board members reviewed their four legislative priorities for the 2021 session, including a prohibition on “the sale of flavored nicotine and vapor products,” and approved their 2021 meeting schedule under an assumption that the on-going pandemic would necessitate virtual meetings through the next calendar year.

• SBOH Executive Director Michelle Davis reviewed the agency’s four priorities for the 2021 legislative session (audio - 5m).
  • Each biennium, agency staff compose a legislative statement to help guide their work with the Board’s input. Davis asked board members to review the 2019-2020 legislative statement which would form the basis of the 2021-2022 statement. Board Member Stephen Kutz saw no need for changes in focus (audio - 1m).
  • Davis reviewed the legislative calendar beginning with agency submission of proposed budgets in August and an expectation that the Governor would release his aggregate proposed budget by December 20th.  Bills would begin being pre-filed on December 1st before the first day of session on January 11th.
  • Davis noted “with COVID-19, I know that the format that the legislature is going to be utilizing is different than what we currently know.”
    • On Thursday November 5th, the Associated Press (AP) reported that the “Senate Facilities and Operations Committee met Thursday to discuss the protocols for the 105-day session that begins Jan. 11, including a remote option via Zoom for the public to join committee hearings.”
    • On Friday November 6th, Crosscut provided a copy of the Senate operations plan and indicated the “House is planning to operate almost entirely remotely.”
  • Getting into specifics, Davis noted the Board’s biennial State Health Report had been submitted to the Office of the Governor after an initial review during the SBOH Environmental Health Committee meeting on September 14th. The report included four “recommendations for the Governor and the Legislature,” the second of which was to “prohibit the sale of flavored nicotine and vapor products...to reduce the appeal and use of these products by youth and young adults.”

• The SBOH adopted its 2021 meeting schedule. Davis added, “I do want to make a note that, at this point, we have planned for all virtual meetings through 2021. If there is a change in the Governor’s Stay Safe, Stay Healthy direction that would enable us to meet in person, we could come back and amend the schedule. But for, at this time, and given the current state of the COVID-19 pandemic, our recommendation is that all meetings be virtual in 2021” (audio - 3m).

Information Set