Arkansas state senators voted on Wednesday to end mandatory face-covering requirements in the state.
The bill, filed by Republican state Sen. Trent Garner and passed by the chamber in a 20-9 vote, declares “the requirement of face coverings is no longer necessary to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Arkansas and is a burden on the public peace, health, and safety of the citizens of this state.”
The vote came a day after Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced he was lifting the state’s mask mandate, which he first instituted in July 2020.
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“This was an individual right being changed, where you as a person had to do this, up to a $500 fine, and so that is what concerned me," Garner said of Hutchinson’s mask mandate in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
“That executive order was poorly written, was largely unenforceable, and local police departments said they would not enforce it or could not enforce it as written,” Garner continued, adding that the state Legislature should have had an opportunity to write and debate such a measure.
"The bill is pointless except it would prohibit private businesses, schools and hospitals from requirements for face coverings. This is not a good idea, and I would veto the bill in its current form,” the governor's office told the Washington Examiner in a statement.
Responding to that argument, Garner said, “My reading of it is that it won’t,” further explaining that he has an amendment ready for when the House takes up the bill that will clarify that it will not preclude localities from passing mask orders.
Hutchinson announced in a February press briefing that his goal was not to renew his mask mandate, which expired on Wednesday.
“The removal of the mask mandate is not a statement that we do not need to mask," Health Secretary Jose Romero said at the same briefing. “You need to continue to mask when you leave your home, you need to continue to avoid large gatherings, you need to follow the recommendations of the CDC. Only that way can you keep the numbers low as we're seeing them.”
The end of Arkansas’s mask mandate puts it on the same page as a number of other states. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced an end to his statewide mask mandate earlier this month, as did Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey will not renew the state’s mandate, which ends April 9.
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President Joe Biden urged all states to reinstate mask mandates during an address on Monday.
