Alabama House committee approves bill banning mask mandates

Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, listens to a budget presentation in the Alabama Statehouse on Feb. 6, 2024 in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

The Alabama House Health Committee Wednesday approved a bill that would prevent the Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) and certain state government entities from enacting mask mandates.

HB 158, sponsored by Rep. Brock Colvin, R-Albertville, would bar governmental entities and the state health officer from imposing a “face mask mandate to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or any variant of COVID-19.”

“My goal with the bill was to restrain government power, not going after the private sector — not my intention. This bill is strictly holding the government accountable on what they can and can’t do in terms of overreach,” Colvin said in an interview after the committee meeting.

State and local governments, as well as public K-12 schools and charter schools, would be prohibited from implementing mask mandates under a proposed bill. The legislation includes exemptions for medical facilities licensed by the ADPH and state and local detention centers.

Medical and dental facilities licensed by ADPH and state or local detention centers would be exempt and would be allowed to enact mask mandates. An amendment added in committee added universities to exempted entities. It also does not prevent private businesses from enacting mask mandates if they wish.

The COVID-19 virus has killed over 23,060 people in the state since the first Alabama case was confirmed on March 13, 2020. At its peak in the state in the fall of 2021, up to 3,000 people were hospitalized each day for COVID.

Wearing an N95/KN95 respirator or a surgical mask lowers the chance of testing positive for COVID-19 compared with not wearing a mask, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Rep. Laura Hall, D-Huntsville, asked why the bill was needed.

Colvin said a student approached him and asked what the state can do to prevent having to be masked in a classroom setting.

“I’m really here today to stand up for those students who just want to go to school and learn. I thought this bill would accomplish my goal,” he said.

The bill does not include any penalties for non-compliance.

Some states, primarily those with Republican majorities, such as Arizona, Florida, and Texas, have passed laws against mask mandates in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Arkansas previously enacted a similar restriction, later overturned by a state judge in December 2021. Tennessee and Georgia have laws permitting parents to opt their children out of wearing masks.

The proposed legislation extends beyond a bill introduced in the 2023 legislative session. The prior bill aimed to grant parents the authority to exempt their children from wearing masks in public K-12 schools. Although it cleared the House Health Committee, it did not reach a vote on the House floor.

The bill moves to the full House of Representatives for consideration.

This story was updated at 4:36 p.m. to clarify the bill would ban face masks mandate to prevent the spread of COVID-19 or any variant of COVID-19, not any other communicable disease.

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