ENROLLED
2020 Regular Session
HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 44
BY REPRESENTATIVE CREWS
A RESOLUTION
To direct the governor to ensure that the individual liberty and rights of the citizens of
Louisiana are protected as the state administers the public health function known as
contact tracing.
WHEREAS, the Louisiana Health Emergency Powers Act, R.S. 29:760 et seq.,
bestows upon the governor of Louisiana extraordinary powers during a public health
emergency that he declares; and
WHEREAS, the governor has exercised his emergency powers in extreme measure
during the COVID-19 public health emergency; and
WHEREAS, the governor has declared that the state will administer a public health
function known as contact tracing as businesses and public places reopen after their period
of forced closure; and
WHEREAS, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (CDC), contact tracing involves public health workers communicating with a
patient diagnosed with an infectious disease to help that person recall everyone with whom
they had close contact during the time in which they may have been infectious; and
WHEREAS, the CDC indicates further that after this communication occurs, the
public health staff performing contact tracing then contact the individuals identified by the
patient and warn them of their potential exposure to the infectious disease; and
WHEREAS, in considering information that the governor's administration has issued
regarding the state's rapidly developed contact tracing program, many Louisiana citizens
have serious concerns about how contact tracing will impact their liberty, right to privacy,
and other basic rights.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the
Legislature of Louisiana does hereby direct the governor to ensure that the liberty and
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individual rights of the citizens of this state are protected as the state administers the public
health function known as contact tracing.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby direct the governor to require that the personnel who conduct
contact tracing disclose to all persons whom they contact that participation in contact tracing
is entirely voluntary before requesting any information from those persons.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby direct the governor not to authorize or otherwise impose any
penalty for refusal by a person to participate in contact tracing.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby direct the governor to strictly prohibit all of the following:
(1) Tracking of any person's movements through mobile phone geolocation or any
other means, electronic or otherwise, in contact tracing.
(2) Any data mining that would facilitate the tracking of a person's movements.
(3) The collection of personal identifying information through contact tracing.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby direct the governor to give absolute assurance to the people of this
state that contact tracing will not entail the compulsory separation of family members or the
prohibition of willing association among individuals.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the House of Representatives of the Legislature
of Louisiana does hereby direct the governor not to authorize or otherwise impose any
mandate that any individual be tested for the novel coronavirus or antibodies to the virus.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
governor and to the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health.
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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