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Committee introduces bill to bar government mask mandates, exempts medical and safety uses
Summary
RS31857, introduced in the House State Affairs Committee, would prohibit government officials from imposing mask mandates to prevent transmission of infectious diseases; the sponsor said the bill exempts medical and occupational safety requirements. The measure was introduced for committee consideration.
A measure that would bar government officials from imposing mask mandates to prevent transmission of viruses and infectious diseases was introduced in the House State Affairs Committee on Thursday.
Representative Bieswinger (phonetic in transcript), sponsor of RS31857, said the bill "will simply prohibit any government official from posing a mask mandate for the purpose of preventing the transmission of viruses and infectious diseases." He told the committee the draft exempts health‑care workers and occupational safety uses such as welders or workers exposed to dust.
Committee members noted the bill had been considered in a prior session and did not pass the Senate. Representative Kiely expressed concern about the measure’s scope and requested that medical and public‑health professionals be invited to a future hearing so the committee could hear their perspective.
Representative Palmer moved to introduce RS31857 for committee consideration; the motion carried by voice vote. Committee members did not record individual roll‑call tallies in the transcript. The measure will return for a future hearing if reintroduced to committee.
