MOBILE — State Rep. Shane Stringer (R-Citronelle) says he will push legislation for public accountability in the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Stringer was the keynote speaker Wednesday at the West Mobile Republican Women’s Club. He told the 40-plus attendees at Mobile’s Woodridge Baptist Church that the present health department is not accountable to the people.
The Medical Association of the State of Alabama (MASA) currently selects the state health officer with no other input or method of confirmation.
After the meeting, Stringer said one option is to make the state health officer appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state senate.
Stringer said the issue is personal to him.
“I have two family members who lost their jobs because they refused to take the COVID vaccine,” Stringer outlined.
Some employers had mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020-2021.
There is some speculation that a strain of COVID may return to the United States and that mandates for vaccinations and masks may return.
Stringer says he will likely ask the Legislative Services Agency to draft a bill requiring accountability in the state health department.
The next scheduled legislative session is the regular session of 2024, which starts February 6, four months from now.
Stringer was elected to House District 102, covering northern Mobile County, in 2018 and re-elected with no opposition in 2022. He is scheduled to serve until November 2026.
Stringer’s career has been in law enforcement. He is currently the director of public safety in Creola, which is not in his house district. He previously served as police chief in Satsuma and Citronelle, Alabama.
He is married to Dr. Jaclyn Stringer, assistant principal of Saraland High School.
Jim Zeigler is a retired Alabama Public Service Commissioner and State Auditor. He can be reached for comment at ZeiglerElderCare@yahoo.com
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