Dewine faces pressure to lift Ohio’s mask mandate
COLUMBUS – As governors in Texas and Mississippi lift statewide mask requirements, this Ohio lawmaker wants Gov. Mike Dewine to follow suit now.
Rep. Jena Powell, R-arcanum, promised to introduce legislation next week to lift Ohio’s mask requirement if Dewine did not act. Her proposal would prohibit another mask requirement unless approved by the state’s Gop-controlled Legislature.
“It is past time to allow Ohioans to choose for themselves whether or not to wear a mask,” Powell wrote in a Thursday letter to Dewine. “My bill supports individual freedom and allows Ohioans to make the choice of whether or not they voluntarily want to wear a mask.”
Later that day, Dewine announced a threshold for lifting all statewide health orders: 50 new cases per 100,000 residents over two weeks. On Thursday, Ohio was at 179 new cases per 100,000 residents.
But that didn’t satisfy Powell. “The goalposts keep changing and Ohioans need their freedom,” she said.
Governors in several states recently announced that they would lift mask mandates, joining 15 states without statewide requirements. President Joe Biden, a Democrat, said lifting mask requirements was “a big mistake.”
Dewine, through a spokesman, said Wednesday he would not lift the mask mandate yet.
Many Ohioans have not had an opportunity to access the COVID-19 vaccine.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told NPR Wednesday that wearing masks and social distancing remain important to avoid another surge of COVID-19 cases.
“Now is not the time to stop to stop wearing a mask,” Walensky said.
Masks have become a political flashpoint in Ohio and across the nation. Republican lawmakers have opposed requiring masks at the Ohio Statehouse, even though several legislators have contracted COVID-19 and two were hospitalized.
House Speaker Bob Cupp, R-lima, said Thursday that he would rather focus on curbing the authority of Dewine’s administration and future administrations to issue sweeping health orders with no legislative oversight.
Several proposals have been introduced to curb Dewine’s health orders. The Gop-controlled Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 22 to limit public health emergencies to 90 days unless they are extended by the Ohio Legislature. Lawmakers could also revoke specific health orders, such as a mask mandate, after 11 days.
Cupp said he wants to give “the legislature some role in the health orders, some oversight.”
The statewide mask order, which took effect July 23, has exceptions for children younger than 10, people eating or drinking and those with medical conditions or disabilities.
On the day the mask mandate took effect, Ohio reported 1,444 new COVID-19 cases and 1,104 COVID-19 patients in Ohio hospitals. On Thursday, Ohio reported 1,875 new cases and 1,009 patients hospitalized.