Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said this week he will not distribute any federal funds to local governments that mandate the use of face masks.
Ricketts, a Republican, said county and city facilities cannot require their “customers” to wear a face mask if they want any part of the $100 million in federal COVID-19 aid that the state received earlier this year. His office argued taxpayers should not need to wear a mask while obtaining services from the state inside government-owned buildings.
“The governor encourages people to wear a mask but does not believe that failure to wear a mask should be the basis for denying taxpayers’ services,” said Taylor Gage, a spokesman for the governor.
“Counties are not prohibited from requiring masks, but if they want CARES Act money, they have to be fully open, and that means they cannot deny service for not wearing a mask,” he added.
Some local leaders were frustrated with Ricketts’s decision to block aid to any municipality that mandates the use of face masks. Deb Schorr, a longtime Lancaster County board member and past president of the Nebraska Association of County Officials, argued that local leaders have a better understanding of the needs in their communities. She said local governments should decide what is right without the state’s influence.
“We’d like to have a little bit more ability to call the shots in our courthouse, but we realize that he has the right to set the rules,” Schorr told the Omaha World-Herald.
Dakota County Assessor Jeff Curry noted that his region of the state is struggling with the coronavirus because of an outbreak at a Tyson meat processing plant. He said the county was enforcing the use of masks and requiring temperature checks at the door before Ricketts made his announcement.
“It sure would have been nice to be able to sit down with our health director and county board and have a conversation about what to do, without being mandated to do it,” Curry said.
Dakota County has since revoked its mask policy and implemented a strict capacity limit in its place. Curry said that the changes now force residents to wait outside in the summer heat, prompting the county to have to buy tents and water for those stuck outside.
Nebraska has had 234 coronavirus-related deaths since the pandemic began.
