USING GUBERNATORIAL EXECUTIVE ORDERS TO ADVANCE PUBLIC HEALTH

• Published in: Public health reports (1974) Vol. 128; no. 2; pp. 127 - 130
• Main Authors: Gakh, Maxim, Vernick, Jon S., Rutkow, Lainie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Association of Schools of Public Health 01.03.2013; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Administrative agencies; Arsenals; Authority; Biological and medical sciences; Climate change; Executive branch; Executive orders; Executive power; Government mandates; Governors; Health care administration; Health care policy; Health legislation; Hydraulic fracturing; Law; LAW AND THE PUBLIC'S HEALTH; Legislation; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Political power; Public health; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Public health
• ISSN: 0033-3549; 1468-2877
• DOI: 10.1177/003335491312800208

The gubernatorial executive order (GEO) is an increasingly visible legal tool within the public health arsenal that may blur some of the traditional lines created through the separation-of-powers framework. At the federal level, executive orders are rooted in the President's constitutionally granted "executive power." GEOs are also significant sources of law in every state. However, the meaning of "executive order" and the basis of a governor's executive order authority varies by state. One of the most important legal issues arising in public health policy is the source of legal power to address issues affecting the public's health. Here, Gakh et al examine the question of gubernatorial executive power, an increasingly important source of power in the case of laws that protect and advance public health.