HARTFORD, Conn — House lawmakers debated and voted to pass the extension on 11 of Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive orders that were initially set to expire on Feb. 15.
The chamber vote was 86-62-1. It now goes to the Senate for a vote. If the Senate votes in favor, it can then be signed by the governor to be extended to Feb. 28.
The state commissioners of education and public health, however, have the ability to reimpose the mandate to June 30 if they feel it is necessary, such as if COVID cases see a drastic rise again.
Republicans and Democrats were expected to generally find consensus to extend about nine of those executive orders, but there are two that will spark fierce debate. The most controversial is the state-wide mandate requiring masks in school.
"I think the majority of parents and children are ready to get rid of these masks - they've had enough. But I do think there is a population of parents that have a lot of anxiety and want to continue the mask mandate. What this will do though is they can continue to have their children wear a mask if they choose to but I think it's important in Connecticut, for us to begin to learn what that impact is on their learning and their socialization," said House Republican Leader Vincent Candelora after the vote to extend the 11 executive orders, which included the school mask mandate.
House lawmakers also voted Thursday to extend the state’s health emergency declaration through June 30, effectively preserving tens of millions in federal reimbursement funding for Connecticut.
The vote on the resolution passed by an 89-56 vote on Thursday. Three Democrats joined Republicans in opposition. Supporters said the resolution doesn't extend Lamont's powers but will allow the state to keep receiving federal pandemic relief funds.
The Senate is scheduled to vote Monday on the two measures.
During Thursday’s debate, House Republican leader Vincent Candelora invoked the words of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“None of this has anything to do with science and I think as Gov. DeSantis said this has more to do with political science than real science,” he said. “It is an absolute joke to think that these masks that are falling off their faces half the day because they don’t even fit provide any level of protection.”
Democrats fired back.
“They have a handful of members who think the COVID vaccine puts a chip in your arm, so I don’t really follow their lead on science,” said House Speaker Matt Ritter.
Here’s the way it could work. Masks stay on until Feb 28. Then, lawmakers could either shift the power to the commissioners of the Departments of Public Health and Education or to the local districts. Republicans oppose both ideas.
“The time has come for our children to get back to a normal life,” said Candelora.
But Democrats say the decision is more nuanced than just saying “my body, my choice.”
“I don’t think that certain public health measures can be solely left to parents when what your decision does could impact others,” replied Ritter.
Republicans also voiced their concerns about a provision to waive the 180-day school requirement and allow for up to five days to be designated as COVID relief days for use during an outbreak or staff shortage.
“To just carte blanche allow districts to cancel school days because they want to even if it’s for COVID. We have to have a deeper conversation,” said Candelora.
Democrats concede they are willing to have that conversation.
“We’ve heard complaints,” said Ritter. “There will be a tweak to that. We’re going to caucus it. There’s probably some language that may work better for everybody."
Lamont has asked the General Assembly to extend 11 orders. They address issues ranging from the required vaccination of long-term care workers to the modification of state contracting rules to make it easier to buy items in an emergency.
Matt Caron is a reporter at FOX61 News. He can be reached at mcaron@fox61.com. Follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Carmen Chau is an anchor and reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at cchau@fox61.com. Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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