An interesting development in Arkansas could become a trend across the South if voters speak up.
There has never been anything implemented by government with as much religious zeal and cruel disregard for science and humanity as the mask mandate. As such, it will not go away on its own. We must fight back on multiple fronts. One way is to get legislatures in red states to permanently strip the governors and mayors of their ill-gotten powers to ever implement them again. Arkansas is now taking up this calling.
While Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson officially allowed his mask mandate to expire on Wednesday, the state Senate passed SB 590 to ensure that the citizens are not at the mercy of their governor or health department to be able to breathe freely. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Trent Garner, declares that any future mask mandate issued by the governor or executive departments in response to the virus "is superseded by this act on the effective date of this act."
The bill passed the Senate 20-9, with just three Republicans joining the Democrats in opposition. Then, the Senate voted 27-7 to declare this bill an emergency, which, having garnered a two-thirds majority, enables the legislation to be effective immediately upon being signed into law. Republicans have supermajorities in both houses of the legislature and should be able to sustain a veto from the governor if he so chooses. He has been silent on this bill, but did successfully veto a bill last month that retroactively zeroed out agency fines levied against restaurants under his COVID orders.
The bill now heads to the House Public Health, Welfare, and Labor Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Jack Ladyman. The legislature smartly decided to extend the session this year. With our country in crisis and our rights smoldering in the ash of executive tyranny, legislatures need to remain in session as long as possible, conduct hearings getting to the bottom of the false legalities and science undergirding COVID fascism, and pass legislation accordingly.
Senator Tom Cotton, a Republican from Arkansas, wears a protective mask while walking through the Senate Subway at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, March 2, 2021. The Senate majority leader said he wants to bring the $1.9 trillion Covid relief package to the Senate floor by mid-week, a package includes $1,400 payments to millions of Americans along with extended supplemental unemployment benefits and aid to small businesses. Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images