No.123 Attendance at the House of Councilors Administrative Oversight Committee

On February 14, at the request of the National Association of Mayors, I attended the House of Councilors Administrative Oversight Committee as a witness.
The jurisdiction of this committee is administrative monitoring, administrative evaluation, and administrative investigations.
Along with me, Professor Hiroaki Inatsugu, Professor of the Faculty of Political Science and Economics, Waseda University, and Professor Kimie Tsuchiyama, Professor of the Faculty of Law, Hosei University, were called as witnesses.
I have been to the National Diet Building several times, but this is the first time I have been to the House of Councilors Annex, where committee meetings are held. I thought it would be a great opportunity to take a commemorative photo, but I could not get permission to take pictures inside the committee room or outside the building.

On the day of the meeting, the meeting opened at 1:00 pm, and we entered the spacious committee room, which was familiar to us from TV broadcasts.
From me
(1) Response to the new coronavirus infection (PCR center, actual situation of vaccination)
(2) Regarding the restructuring of public health centers (3) Regarding wide-area support in the event of a large-scale disaster (4) Regarding environmental measures, I raised the issue through examples of the division of roles between the national and local governments. 　

Regarding (1), when the testing system was inadequate in the early days of the infection, the national government announced a policy to expand the testing system, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government announced that it would open PCR centers in all municipalities. Regarding vaccination, the Minister of Health, Labor and Welfare ordered the mayors of municipalities nationwide to administer vaccinations, but medical institutions were unevenly distributed, and instructions were given. I explained that there were areas where it was difficult to implement the street. 　

(2) was reorganized in 1994 when the Public Health Center Law was revised into the Community Health Law. formulated the Second Sanitation Bureau Reform Action Plan, and explained how the number of locations was reduced from 12 to 5 as part of the administrative reform.

It is necessary to steadily promote decentralization reform in the future. However, in the reform process so far, even if the duties themselves have been transferred, there are some matters in which the transfer of authority and financial resources has been inadequate. In addition, it is not enough to let local governments handle everything, but in the event of an emergency such as the pandemic of the new coronavirus, it would be quicker and more efficient for the national and prefectural governments to have wide-area unified processing. I said that I would like you to reconsider that there are matters.
After the presentation of the opinions of the three people, questions were taken from a total of eight questioners, one from each political party, and three witnesses answered each question.
Some of the members of the committee were familiar faces, such as local elected members, former members of the Youth Mayors Association, former mayors, and members I had met at events. I was able to ask questions peacefully.

To be honest, when I first received the request, I wasn't sure if I should accept it. The secretary general of the National Association of Mayors personally asked me to attend, so I couldn't turn it down. And I thought that it might have helped increase the name recognition of Inagi City to the members of the House of Councilors.
We will continue to send opinions from local areas to prefectures and countries.