Republican-Led States Weigh Dropping Mask Mandates…

Republican-Led States Weigh Dropping Mask Mandates Following Texas And Mississippi

Topline

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey extended the state’s mask mandate through April 9 on Thursday, but said she will lift the mandate once it expires, one of a number of Republican governors who have signaled they will not follow Texas and Mississippi by immediately dropping their mask order as the issue becomes a political flashpoint.

Key Facts

“Let me be abundantly clear, after April 9, I will not keep the mask order in effect,” Ivey said Thursday, noting she was extending the mandate so businesses could have time to implement their own policies.

Arkansas is similarly poised to end its mask mandate on March 31, though only if the state meets certain metrics for its Covid-19 test positivity rate and hospitalizations.

Many GOP governors said following Texas and Mississippi’s decisions that they are not ready to end their own mask mandates just yet: West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice told CNN Thursday he doesn’t “know what the rush is,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox pointed to July as a more realistic timeline for dropping the mandate, and governors in Ohio, Indiana, Maryland and Massachusetts all said they had no plans to repeal their orders.

Prior to Texas and Mississippi’s orders being lifted, Wyoming had already decided to keep its mandate in effect despite dropping other restrictions, and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee updated an executive order allowing localities to impose their own mask mandates, since there’s no statewide order in effect.

There are 15 states that have no statewide mask order, all of which are led by Republicans: Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee, with Texas set to join them when its mask order expires March 10.

Before Texas and Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota and Iowa had repealed their mandates in recent months.

Crucial Quote

“As we continue to vaccinate more and more and more, we’ll get rid of the masks. But I don’t know really what the big rush to get rid of the masks is,” Justice told CNN, noting “masks have saved a lot, a lot of lives.” “If we don’t watch out, we can make some mistakes.”

Key Background

Texas and Mississippi announced Tuesday they would be dropping their mask mandates and other Covid-19 restrictions, immediately sparking backlash from public health officials and political leaders. President Joe Biden slammed the moves Wednesday as “Neanderthal thinking,” while Dr. Anthony Fauci said the states’ decisions were “ill-advised” and “really quite risky,” as Covid-19 cases nationwide plateau and coronavirus variants spread, and vaccinations are not yet widely available to everyone. The repealed mandates are part of a broader trend of states easing Covid-19 measures as nationwide cases sharply declined in February, despite public health officials cautioning against doing so.

What To Watch For

Though most governors are unlikely to drop their orders in the near term, state legislatures could impose their own restrictions on mask-wearing that could result in some states’ orders still getting revoked. The Utah House passed a bill Wednesday that would get rid of the state’s mask mandate except in schools and large gatherings, and lawmakers in Kansas, Wyoming and Kentucky are pursuing legislation that would give the legislatures more control over their governors’ public health orders more generally. Wisconsin lawmakers already repealed their state’s mask mandate, but Democratic Gov. Tony Evers then immediately signed a new executive order reimposing it, which is now before the state Supreme Court. While North Dakota has repealed their statewide order on face coverings, the state’s House of Representatives passed a bill that would block local officials or schools from imposing their own orders.