NC Senate passes bill restoring mask restrictions
RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) – The state Senate on Wednesday passed a bill that would bring back pre-COVID restrictions on wearing masks.
The bill, titled “Unmasking Mobs and Criminals,” passed along party lines by a margin of 30-15 and comes amid recent protests on college campuses. Republicans say the aim is to stop people from wearing masks to conceal their identities while committing crimes.
However, the bill goes further than that and would repeal an exception that’s been in state law since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic that allows people to wear masks for health and safety reasons. Doing so would become illegal again.
“If I were not permitted to wear a mask in public, it would greatly limit which spaces I could visit. And, for me, this is an access issue,” Quisha Mallette, of the North Carolina Justice Center, told lawmakers as she urged them to oppose the measure.
During debate on the Senate floor, Democrats raised concerns about the impact on people who are immunocompromised who may want to continue to wear masks.
Sen. Buck Newton (R-Wilson) accused Democrats of trying “to scare the bejesus out of everybody.”
Referencing the recent protests, he said, “There’s a whole crowd of people running around out there taking advantage of this mask hangover from the pandemic.”
Republicans voted down three amendments Democrats offered, including one by Sen. Sydney Batch to allow an exception to wear masks for preventing the spread of contagious diseases.
“You’re plowing down this field without really knowing what all the implications are,” said Sen. Dan Blue (D-Wake).
The bill contains other provisions including increasing penalties for people who wear masks while committing other crimes and could lead to people who block streets or highways more than once being charged with a felony. It also makes protest organizers liable if people block streets and prevent emergency vehicles from getting to someone in need, resulting in injury or death.
The bill goes to the House next.
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