8/5/21 Arkansas' Governor Regrets Mask Mandate that He Signed. Will Other Anti-Vax Governors Change Their Minds Too?

by Sue Preston and K. C. Gagne

Asa Hutchinson has a message for Arkansans: "Oops!"

Back in April, when Covid cases were in decline, Hutchinson signed a piece of legislation that he didn't entirely agree with. It was a ban on mask mandates within the state.

Hutchinson says, “I knew it would be overwritten by the legislature if I didn’t sign it.” So he wasn’t really being an anti-vaxer, but he got credit for being one.

Since then, the Delta variant has decided to take over the world, and "In hindsight, I wish that had not become law,” Hutchinson says.

Hutchinson wants a do-over. He has called a special session of the Republican-dominated legislature to try to negate the bill. At stake is the health of Arkansas' schoolchildren, who return to school shortly. Hutchinson's goal is to let local communities set their own school mask mandates.

Problem is, both houses of the state legislature would have to vote 2 to 1 in favor of abolishing the law. Considering that Hutchinson expected a veto override in April, the chances are slim. This is a state that elected right-wing wacko Tom Cotton as a senator. You can't expect a whole lot of people to take a stand that's anti-Trump and vaguely pro-Biden.

A simple majority can abolish the law, but only after a 90-day waiting period, which would end almost three months into the school year.

Let's hope that the legislature can see beyond the next election to keep little Arkansans safer.

Looking beyond Asa Hutchison, there are other Republican Governors who have been acting like anti-vaxers. Florida’s Governor DeSantis, for example, is chanting “Don’t Fauci My Florida!” Texas’s Governor Abbott has also made mask mandates in Texas illegal.

Guess which states are suffering from major increases in COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths?

Hutchison is trying to change his mind, do an about face, and perhaps embrace caution in the face of COVID disaster.

Will another Republican Governor do an about-face and support masks or vaccines soon? What do you think the public can do to persuade them? (Note: You can't say "die faster.")  


https://www.huffpost.com/entry/arkansas-governor-mask-mandate-covid_n_610acc48e4b0552883e87369