New York’s Republican congressional delegation said it’s time for Gov. Kathy Hochul to scrap the “onerous” school mask mandate amid plummeting coronavirus infection rates.
Long Island Rep. Andrew Garbarino and seven other GOP House colleagues sent a joint letter to Hochul saying New York should not be lagging surrounding states in lifting the mask-wearing requirements for students.
“In light of the announcements by the Governors of New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware, we write today to urge you to immediately rescind the onerous and unconstitutional mask mandate in New York State’s schools,” the House members wrote on Tuesday.
“We have heard from countless families throughout our districts expressing their concerns with the mandate, and how it has negatively impacted their child’s experience in the classroom. The time is now to put an end to this unlawful mandate and to allow our children to get back to being just that, children.”
The letter was co-signed by Garbarino and Reps. Nicole Malliotakis, Elise Stefanik, Lee Zeldin, Chris Jacobs, John Katko, Claudia Tenney and Tom Reed.
The COVID-19 positivity rate in New York has dropped to four percent, a steep decline following the worst of the Omicron wave.
Hochul is expected to announce Wednesday that she’ll lift a separate mandate requiring businesses without vaccination requirements to compel workers, customers and visitors to wear face coverings in public spaces.
The governor told a group of teachers, administrators and parents Tuesday that she wants to wait until after the upcoming school break the week of Feb. 21 before making a final call on the mask edict. She has complained about the low the vaccination rates for kids ages 5 to 12.
But the GOP lawmakers argued the hesitancy in lifting the mask rule is unwarranted.
“After years of abiding by public health safety guidelines, children are itching to be able to return to some semblance of normalcy,” the GOP House members told Hochul in the letter.
“Knowing that the risk of transmission among children is extremely low, it is counter-intuitive to keep this ill-conceived mandate that does little to improve the wellness and safety of our state’s children. For these reasons, we urge you to end these punitive measures for once and for all.”
