Two bills that have recently sailed through their respective chambers in South Carolina’s state legislature with support from Republicans would create an Anthony Fauci-like health czar for the state with the power to declare martial law for a medical emergency and no accountability to the governor.
Instead of outlawing the lockdown and shelter-in-place orders that had devastating effects on American households and businesses four years ago, the Palmetto State is getting ready to make the law worse. If passed, the new bill would give more power to unelected medical bureaucrats and allow them to override local sheriffs to enforce medical restrictions.
Remarkably, the Republican-controlled state legislatures did not stop the massive government overreach in 2020. On the fourth anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdowns, few states have changed their laws to prevent a repeat of the pandemic hysteria and rampant violations of American freedoms.
South Carolina is going a step further. Not only has the Palmetto State failed to pass medical freedom laws in the aftermath of 2020, but may give a new healthcare czar the power to declare medical martial law.
South Carolina just went full totalitarian regime. The SC National Guard can enforce the dictates of a state health czar next time there is a pandemic? This is madness the communists in California only dreamed of. https://t.co/yxQwRHmCtH
— Tara Servatius (@TaraServatius) February 29, 2024
Two bills — H. 4927 and S. 915 — could create a state Executive Office of Health and Policy in South Carolina run by a Fauci-like health czar. The new role would assume the powers of the current Department of Health and Environmental Control. Only the South Carolina Freedom Caucus has opposed it. In February, H. 4927 passed the House in a vote of 91-18.
An excerpt from the House bill reveals what the new office would be like if it passes into law, “All sheriffs and constables in the several counties of this State and police officers and health officers of cities and towns must aid and assist the Director of the Department of Public Health and Environmental Control and must carry out and obey his orders.”
The bill specifies this would apply in cases like the 2020 lockdowns “to enforce and carry out any and all restrictive measures and quarantine regulations that may be prescribed.”
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Bill Herbkersman (R), could not give a number when asked how much the bill would cost.
