Vermont masking bill becomes law
A view from River Street in Woodstock, Vt. (Gareth Henderson)
Vermont municipalities can now create their own mask ordinances for indoor public spaces, if they so choose.
On Monday, the Legislature passed a bill granting this local authority on masks, and Gov. Phil Scott signed it into law Tuesday. The bill removes this authority on April 30, 2022, meaning any local mask mandates put in place under this new law will end on that date.
Scott has been under pressure from lawmakers for weeks to reimpose a statewide mask mandate, given the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Vermont. The governor, wary of bringing back such statewide measures, offered the special session and the locally-focused masking bill as a compromise, with the caveat that this authority be temporary. Legislative leadership took him up on the offer, while criticizing Scott for not using his authority to require masks statewide amid the large increase in cases. They also worried the town-by-town approach would be divisive. Meanwhile, in Tuesday remarks, Scott repeated the argument that broad, statewide restrictions are not needed, given Vermont’s success in COVID vaccination and testing, and its low fatality and hospitalization rates.
As for the new law, it does not require anything of municipalities; it just gives them the option of creating their own local mask mandates. If a town or city imposes a mask mandate, the ordinance can apply to indoor public spaces, but the law leaves it up to local officials to define “public space” under their ordinance, according to Vermont Public Radio. Also, municipalities are allowed to enact penalties for non-compliance if they so choose, VPR added. However, the ordinance can’t apply to schools, as local school boards still have jurisdiction over school district mask policy.
So far, Burlington and Montpelier are reportedly planning to enact mask mandates, but some other communities are not doing so. Woodstock Village, which had a mask mandate for about a year until this past June, is not planning to reinstate one at this time. Village Trustees have said the mask policies already in place at local businesses and organizations are sufficient at this point, but they’ll review this decision in December.
Welch to run for U.S. Senate
U.S. Rep. Peter Welch will run for the U.S. Senate in 2022, according to media reports.
VPR reported on Monday that Welch plans to seek the Senate seat that will open up after Sen. Patrick Leahy’s announced retirement. Leahy said last week he will not run for reelection, after nearly five decades in the Senate.
Welch, 74, is Vermont’s lone congressman and has served eight terms in the U.S. House. On Monday, he told VPR that the priorities highlighted in the “Build Back Better” bill, which the House recently passed, will be key to his Senate campaign.
Welch, originally from Massachusetts, has a political career spanning over four decades. After graduating from law school at the University of California, Berkeley, in 1973, he settled in White River Junction, Vermont. There, he worked as a public defender and later founded a small law practice. Welch was first elected to represent Windsor County in the Vermont Senate in 1980. In 1985, he was unanimously elected by his colleagues to lead the chamber, becoming the first Democrat in Vermont history to hold the position of president pro tempore.
In 2006, Welch was elected to Vermont’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. He serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.
— Gareth Henderson
