5/20/21 This is fantastic!! Way to go Governor Reynold's! She makes me proud to be an Iowan and proud to have a Governor that stands up for what is right. Washington (CNN)Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed legislation into law Thursday that blocks mask mandates from being implemented in K-12 schools and prohibits cities and counties from requiring facial coverings in businesses. Under the new law, public and private schools cannot enforce or implement a policy requiring school employees, students, or visitors to wear a facial covering while on the premises -- unless for a "specific extracurricular or instructional purpose" or as required under existing Iowa law for eye and ear protective devices. Masks can still be worn optionally. Cities and counties will not be allowed to require property owners to have a mask policy "that is more stringent than a policy imposed by the state." While states are starting to relax mask policies in the wake of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance released last week allowing vaccinated people to go maskless in most cases, Iowa joins a small set of GOP-led states going further in pressuring localities to lift their mask requirements and ensuring that masks mandates won't be enforced again after the pandemic. "The state of Iowa is putting parents back in control of their child's education and taking greater steps to protect the rights of all Iowans to make their own health care decisions," Reynolds, a Republican, said in a news release Thursday about the legislation. "I am proud to be a governor of a state that values personal responsibility and individual liberties." The new mask provision was part of a larger education bill, HF 847, related to open enrollment and expanding tax programs. The bill was passed on party-line votes by both Republican-majority chambers of the Iowa legislature Wednesday, the last day of the legislative session, and House Speaker Pat Grassley posted a video to Twitter after midnight that showed him delivering the bill to the governor for her signature. I had to add the photo of the twins with their bold shirts.
Halleluiah!!
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