GOP Lawmakers Call for Action Against School Districts Violating Mask Mandate Ban

State Representative Jake Hoffman, R-Queen Creek and 25 other Republicans legislators issued a statement against school districts requiring masks in opposition to state law, arguing that under the Arizona Constitution, “local governments do not have the authority or power to usurp state law simply because they disagree.”

They compared the local governments’ actions to “anarchy” and said their violation of state law “destabilizes the very foundation of our society.”

They referenced the decision of Gov. Doug Ducey and the Arizona legislature to prohibit mask mandates in the Fiscal Year 2022 state budget in order “to protect Arizonans and Arizona children from the threat of government mandating them to wear a mask or be injected with a vaccine.”

The legislators on Wednesday implored Ducey to hold the dissenting local governments accountable for their actions. They said that they appreciated Ducey’s conversations with them and publicly called him to take “swift action” against the school districts’ “gross miscarriage of governance” before it was too late.

“Stated plainly, the legislature did its job by passing common-sense laws to protect the children and students of Arizona from anti-science mask and vaccine mandates,” the legislators stated, “now we are eager to see the executive branch do its job to ensure that those laws are faithfully executed by the various levels of government within this state.”

School districts that have decided to mandate masks have said the law doesn’t take effect until late September, even though the state budget included language indicating it took effect earlier.

The lawmakers called for Ducey to withhold federal funding from school districts that violate state law, authorize temporary Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESAs) for students in school districts with mask mandates, notify families of their rights and choices, and initiate legal action against schools that do not comply with the law.

These requests mirror those of Republican gubernatorial candidate, Steve Gaynor, who called on Ducey to issue an executive order in a statement on Monday. Gaynor asked for ESAs to be provided to students in school districts with mask mandates and for parents to be informed of their rights and school choice options.

“The blatant disregard for the State of Arizona’s authority exhibited by the non-compliant local governments is an affront to the very core of our state and nation’s form of government,” the coalition of nine senators and 17 representatives wrote. “A resounding message must be delivered to any local government or subdivision of the state considering defying state law—lawlessness will not be tolerated.”

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This article was published on August 14, 2021 and is reproduced with permission from The Center Square.