Hoosier State Today

Rep. Bob Morris of Fort Wayne has introduced HB 1519 which would put limits on state agencies and political subdivisions regarding imposing restrictions on businesses' hours of operations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said that federal and local authorities have gone too far in implementing restrictions, NBC 5 Chicago reported.

Morris also included in the bill rules preventing authorities from imposing capacity restrictions on businesses, disallowing churches to provide services, or requiring restrictions on attendance during religious gatherings, including weddings and funerals.

“I don’t feel that government should tell someone how they worship and what they wear and how they do it. And that’s really what our Constitution states as well,” Morris said. “So, we can recommend things, but to actually tell the church what they can and cannot do, I don’t feel that that’s correct.”

Limiting the number of patrons at a business has cut into profits, with some businesses merely surviving and others having no option but to close, leaving employees out of work.

Indiana ranks eighth on the list of states with the biggest increase in unemployment claims since the COVID-19 pandemic began, according to WalletHub. It has recorded a 1141.82 percent increase in the number of initial unemployment insurance claims between the weeks of March 16, 2020 to January 4, 2021 compared to the weeks of March 18, 2019 to January 6, 2020.