North Carolina state senators passed a bill that would undo a COVID-19-era provision allowing for the broad use of masking for health and safety purposes.
Proponents of the bill have argued the provision has been abused by criminals seeking to hide their identities and that, with the end of the pandemic, it is obsolete. The bill passed in the state Senate in a 30-15 vote along party lines, with Republicans favoring the legislation.
The bill would remove exceptions for “the purpose of ensuring the physical health or safety of the wearer or others” in various instances in which a person may be required by law to remove a mask obscuring someone’s face. It would also enact tougher penalties for those who commit crimes while “wearing a mask or other clothing or device to conceal or attempt to conceal the defendant’s identity.”
Democrats in the chamber accused the GOP of seeking to criminalize people using masks for health concerns.
“You’re making careful people into criminals with this bill,” Democratic state Sen. Natasha Marcus said Wednesday, per the Associated Press. “It’s a bad law.”
Face mask effectiveness during the pandemic came under increased scrutiny as the health emergency continued, with most governments ditching mask mandates in 2022. Republican state Sen. Buck Newton, who spearheaded the effort, accused Democrats of politicizing the legislation and argued the bill would only affect criminals.
“I smell politics on the other side of the aisle when they’re scaring people to death about a bill that is only going to criminalize people who are trying to hide their identity so they can do something wrong,” Newton said, per the outlet.
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The legislation will have to pass through the state House of Representatives before going to Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D-NC) desk. Republicans hold supermajorities in both chambers of the state legislature, meaning they could bypass a veto by the Democratic governor.
The reinstatement of face mask bans that were repealed during the coronavirus pandemic has been discussed in other states, including New York.