Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron announced Wednesday a filing before the state Supreme Court challenging Tuesday's executive order from Governor Andy Beshear requiring that face masks be worn in all public and private schools, regardless of vaccination status, as a mitigation effort against rising positive COVID-19 cases and related hospitalizations.
Cameron said that Beshear's order violates laws adopted by the General Assembly this year and a Boone Co. Circuit Court injunction.
“A Kentucky Circuit Court judge issued a binding injunction against the governor and said that he must follow the laws passed by the General Assembly," Cameron said in a statement. "Yesterday, the governor directly ignored the court and engaged in an unlawful exercise of power by issuing his executive order. The legitimacy of our government depends on the governor respecting the judicial power of the courts and the law-making power of the legislature, and right now he is disregarding both.
"The governor does not have to choose between following the science and following the law. The two can and should work together. If he believes that the science requires a statewide mask mandate for schools and childcare centers, then he needs to do what the law requires and work with the General Assembly to put the necessary health precautions in place."
A copy of the Attorney General’s filing is available here.
Beshear's executive order was applauded by state business and education leaders during a news conference in Frankfort on Tuesday.
However, Republican lawmakers were angered.
Senate President Robert Stivers (R) said that his caucus fully supports Cameron's challenge to the executive order.
“By issuing another blanket mandate concerning the use of masks in our educational and child care facilities, the governor is once again proclaiming to Kentuckians that he is above the law," Stivers said in a statement. "The General Assembly passed several important pieces of legislation during the 2021 session reaffirming the right of local entities to make appropriate decisions for their communities. We have witnessed these types of actions in recent days – school systems that determined that returning to the classroom without masks was not appropriate due to rising COVID cases quickly made adjustments without a command from the governor. It is clear that he lacks any respect for local school officials’ decisions to provide the best education possible for their students based on the circumstances within their communities.
"If Governor Beshear feels so strongly that action needs to be taken, he can call the General Assembly into a special session under Section 80 of the Kentucky Constitution."
Democratic caucus leaders in the House of Representatives issued a statement in support of Beshear's executive order.
“If we want our children in school instead of learning online, and if we actually want to follow CDC guidelines as this year’s House Bill 1 calls for, then Governor Beshear’s statewide mask mandate for students and school staff alike is the only appropriate step to take. The CDC recommends universal masking for everyone in a school setting, regardless of vaccination status," said Democratic Representatives Joni Jenkins, Derrick Graham, and Angie Hatton in a joint statement.
“The idea that children are not affected by this virus is wrong. The American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association report that more than 77,000 Kentuckians 19 and younger have been infected since the start of the pandemic, and many potentially face a lifetime of health issues we are still learning about. They appear to be even more at risk because of the Delta variant.
“If we do not act prudently now, we will have no choice but to act drastically later. We cannot just wish this pandemic away, because it endangers us all.”
-Staff report
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August 12, 2021 at 06:06AM
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