Governor urges lawmakers to let schools decide if students should mask
Gov. Asa Hutchinson held a COVID-19 press conference Tuesday, where, along with discussing the rise in virus cases, he urged state legislators to give school districts the power to decide locally whether masks should be mandated within their schools.
Last week, Hutchinson announced that he would be reinstating the State of Emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Arkansas. He said he planned to call a special legislative session to give lawmakers the opportunity to amend Act 1002, which disallows government entities, including local school boards, from requiring masks.
On Tuesday, he said the state General Assembly had already affirmed his proclamation declaring the State of Emergency.
“In the last legislative session, the Assembly changed the law to accept an equal responsibility in managing the state’s response to the current public health crisis,” he said. “As a result of that new law, the General Assembly met today and affirmed my more recent renewal of the public health emergency, and I’m grateful for the quick action.”
Today, the Legislature will meet again to consider at least two more items related to the pandemic: one, considering amending Act 1002 to give local school districts “flexibility to add protection for children under 12,” who are not eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19; and two, to address a recent state court ruling regarding federal unemployment payments to those who lost their job as a result of the pandemic.
Schools and masks
In April, state Sen. Trent Garner, R-El Dorado, sponsored Senate Bill 590, “An Act to end mandatory face covering requirements in the State of Arkansas.” The bill stated that a “a state agency or entity, a political subdivision of the state, or a state or local official shall not mandate an individual in this state to use a face mask, face shield, or other face covering,” leaving it up to the state Legislature to enact such measures for those entities. Limited exceptions include state-controlled health care facilities.
The bill received 20 “yeas” in the state Senate and 69 in the House of Representatives, out of 27 and 100 members in the respective chambers. It was signed into law on April 28 by the governor.