A bill seeking to provide relief to businesses that have violated COVID-19 health orders was introduced in the Ohio House of Representatives in mid-February.
If signed into law, House Bill 127, sponsored by Rep. Derek Merrin of Ohio’s 47th Congressional District, would reverse many of the penalties placed on businesses for failing to adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols.
According to the bill, all violations or sanctions imposed on a business from March 14, 2020, through the date of the bill’s passage into law would be vacated. Additionally, all fines administered to businesses by state agencies since March 14, 2020 will be refunded, as well as fines administered by a board of health since March 4, 2020.
Any record of a violation by a business will be expunged, and any privileges revoked on the grounds of violation of a COVID-19 health order will be restored. Further, any disciplinary action that has been initiated but not yet completed by a state agency or board of health between March 14, 2020 and the date of the bill’s passage will also be vacated.
Finally, H.B. 127 bars state agencies and boards of health from disciplining businesses for COVID-19 health violations through Oct. 1, 2021, as long as the discipline is a direct result of an order violation and the business was complying with its licenses and permits at the time of the violation.
In Athens — home to many favorite businesses of Ohio University students, faculty, staff and other community members — the bill could lift a large weight off of the businesses’ shoulders. It could be especially helpful to those that have already been given penalties, including The J Bar’s, which recently received a citation March 21.
The Crystal, a popular bar on Court Street, could also stand to benefit. Like many other establishments during the pandemic, The Crystal has had to limit capacity, restrict patrons to only drinking at its booth and enforce a mask wearing policy when customers are not drinking, Ben Gebru, a junior studying marketing and a bartender and bouncer at The Crystal, said.
Despite those measures and enforcement by employees of The Crystal, Gebru said it’s difficult to immediately control customers who don’t abide by the guidelines.
“We’re still enforcing (the measures). We're still saying, ‘yo, sit down, put a mask on, you can’t walk around with your drink,’ but all it takes is for (a liquor patrol agent) to take one picture and it just looks so deceiving,” Gebru said. “It’s not like (the bars) are just allowing people to do these things, it's just what people are doing out of their own free will, but we're still correcting it. I don't think the penalty should be as harsh.”
Jack Pepper, administrator at the Athens City-County Health Department, said the passage of H.B. 127 would carry little weight in regard to the health department’s efforts due to lowered COVID-19 infection numbers.
“The Governor has set a target number of 50 cases/100k people at which point he will rescind all public health orders around the state. It would appear that we are trending towards that number and the passage of HB127 will have little (effect) on our COVID-19 efforts,” Pepper said in an email. “Our efforts have been targeted towards education and reinforcing the science supporting the public health protocols that were put into place to protect the public at those business locations.”
Athens Mayor Steve Patterson said he is glad there is a pathway for businesses in Athens and all over Ohio to continue to operate after one COVID-19 violation, as long as there is also accountability.
“It's like creating a second chance for some of these businesses,” Patterson said. “I think it's an interesting path forward, as long as there is a follow-through with making sure that the businesses that were in violation, and possibly repeat violations, that they are now adherent to a mandate that is still in place.”
