224963 Who holds the Police Power? Exploring local government regulatory authority to enact childhood obesity policies in 10 states

Wednesday, November 10, 2010 : 8:50 AM - 9:10 AM

Quang "Q." Dang, JD , National Policy and Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity, Public Health Law & Policy, Oakland, CA
One basic tenet of the American legal framework is that states and local governments have broad authority to act in the interest of the health, safety, and welfare of the public. This “police power” gives governments the ability to make laws and regulations that address public health issues, including those to prevent obesity. Although the police power is often discussed generically across all states and localities, individual states establish local government powers in different ways. Under the traditional “Dillon's Rule,” local government authority is significantly limited to only those powers specifically delegated to them by state law. Most states have established a greater measure of local “home rule,” which affords local governments greater autonomy to pass laws and regulations on a broader variety of subjects. However, exactly how much authority and autonomy varies from state to state. This presentation surveys local “home rule” authority in ten states (Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Texas, Washington, and West Virginia), and then analyzes the prospects for success of adopting anti-obesity food retail ordinances in these states. The prospects for success of adopting these anti-obesity ordinances in each of the surveyed states is a product of the local home rule authority analysis, as well as an analysis of potentially preemptive state laws.

Learning Areas:
Chronic disease management and prevention
Other professions or practice related to public health
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelines
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
1. Explain the authority of states to act and delegate authority under the “police power.” 2. Differentiate between the traditional “Dillon’s rule” and “home rule” models of local government authority. 3. Evaluate the effect of different state’s local “home-rule” authorities on the potential success of adopting obesity prevention ordinances.

Keywords: Law, Obesity

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am licensed to practice law in the state of California, and am a senior staff attorney and the director of legal technical assistance for the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN), which provides leaders in the childhood obesity prevention field with focused legal research, model policies, fact sheets, toolkits, and legal technical assistance and training.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.