Arkansas Governor Expresses Regret Over, Statewide Mask Ban.
On Sunday, Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson
continued to express regret over his decision to prohibit citizens
from protecting themselves against COVID-19.
The Republican governor said
that his decision in April 2021
to sign a statewide law banning
mask mandates was “an error.”.
Everything has changed now … And yes, in
hindsight, I wish that had not become law, Governor Asa Hutchinson, via 'Huffpost'.
Although “cases were low” at the time of his signing,
Gov. Hutchinson acknowledged that the situation has since
“roared back” to dangerous levels, due to the delta variant. .
Whenever I signed that law, our cases were
low, we were hoping that the whole thing
was gone, in terms of the virus, but it roared
back with the delta variant, Governor Asa Hutchinson, via 'Huffpost'.
Gov. Hutchinson went on to say that he has asked
the legislature to at least “redo” the portion of the law
that extends the ban to school districts. .
I realized that we needed to have more
options for our local school districts to
protect those children. And so I asked the
legislature to redo the law that prohibited those
requirements or those options for the school
districts to protect the children, Governor Asa Hutchinson, via 'Huffpost'.
There is currently a temporary block in place on the
enforcement of the state’s mask mandate ban in schools. .
Pulaski County Circuit Judge Tim Fox made his
decision to block the law on August 6, in response to a
number of lawsuits filed by parents and a school district. .
He issued the preliminary
injunction just shortly after
the state’s General Assembly
gathered, yet failed to
amend the law. .
According to Judge Fox, the law “cannot be enforced in
any shape, fashion or form” while the lawsuits continue.