The state Senate gave final approval on Monday to shift Gov. Ned Lamont’s authority requiring students to wear masks to local school boards. While his emergency powers under executive orders expire today, Lamont announced plans to end the statewide mandate on Feb. 28.
The vote extends Lamont’s remaining COVID-related executive orders, which passed in the House last week. Senate lawmakers also rejected two Republican-proposed amendments that would let parents decide if students should wear masks and make the Feb. 28 mandate lifting date official.
Republican State Sen. Heather Somers said just because Lamont says it’ll be lifted, doesn’t mean it will.
“Mandating masks by government control and proxy is wrong at this point, and it’s cruel. Families should decide what makes them feel comfortable,” she said.
During floor debate, Democratic State Sen. Matt Lesser emphasized by extending the 11 executive orders, it doesn’t give Lamont any additional powers.
“By codifying it [the executive orders], we are reclaiming the legislature’s authority. Because if passed into law and signed by the governor, the governor would not have any authority to amend any of these or to revoke any of these,” said Lesser. “These would simply be the law of the land in Connecticut, for varying periods of time.”
Democratic members said they’re confident that the school mask mandate will be lifted at the end of the month. Once the mandate is lifted, the state Department of Public Health and state Department of Education will give guidance to local schools.
Under the approved bill, the education commissioner, in conjunction with the public health commissioner, have the authority to reinstate a statewide school mask mandate until June 30.
Republican State Sen. Rob Sampson said masks have adverse impacts on the quality of education, especially on young students.
“We are teaching them something that I just don’t think should be taught, about COVID or anything else, and that’s the notion that they should be afraid,” he said. “There’s no question to me that there is a time to end the mask mandate, and that time is now.”
Democratic State Sen. Saud Anwar said the discussion on the controversial mask mandate has lost focus and continues to divide lawmakers.
“Let’s come together. We’ve done so well. This is not the time to divide, this is the time to unite. This is the time for us to stay the course, make sure we protect the people, make sure we work together. The small, little areas of the executive orders that we need to address and fix, let's fix them,” he said.
On his expired powers, Lamont said Tuesday that it is not a declaration that the COVID pandemic is over and legislative collaborations on policies will continue.
“Going forward, while our authority to issue these emergency orders is expiring, I have no doubt that we will be able to faithfully continue collaborating with the legislature to enact policies that keep our state safe to the greatest extent possible,” said Lamont.
