Vt. lawmakers to take up masking bill in special session
The Ottauquechee River in Woodstock, Vt. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
The Vermont Legislature will convene a special session next week to take up a bill that would allow municipalities to implement local mask mandates.
In recent weeks, legislative leaders have repeatedly asked Gov. Phil Scott to reinstate a statewide mask mandate due to Vermont’s recent surge in COVID-19 cases. But the governor has declined, saying he did not want to reimplement a state of emergency, which would be required to install the statewide masking rule. However, this week he offered the above compromise — the special session and a locally focused bill — and legislative leaders are moving forward on that basis.
Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint said the plan is to have the special session on Monday, and the only legislation taken up will be the masking bill suggested by the governor.
“We will only be doing a narrow bill that addresses the issue of giving towns the authority to pass their own ordinances,” Balint said in an interview.
But she added legislative leadership is not satisfied with this, and would still prefer a statewide mask mandate. Balint said that mandate proved to be an effective tool for limiting the spread of COVID-19 while it was in effect earlier in the pandemic, and said it could help stem the recent surge of the Delta variant. Furthermore, Balint said she and other lawmakers have heard from health care workers and teachers worried about the ongoing increase in cases.
“They would like to see us go back to an indoor mask mandate, and it’s disappointing the governor will not take that step,” Balint said.
Also on Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Alison Clarkson said it makes more sense to have a statewide policy for masks, rather than having it be a town-by-town decision.
“Doing this as a state would be clearer, would be simpler, it would take less time, and it would be less divisive,” Clarkson said. “We should all be all rowing in same direction.”
At a Tuesday press conference, Scott reiterated his position and said he didn’t like the idea of returning to a statewide mandate, but he was comfortable with lawmakers giving the authority for local mask mandates. He has asked for that authority to end April 30, 2022, and requested that municipalities who implement mask mandates have to re-vote on those measures every 30 days. The governor also said he won’t support the passage of any other laws during this session.
“I’ve been clear with them that this is as far as I’m willing to go, and I will veto anything else, because I do not think mask mandates will move us toward our goals, and I think we need to move out of a perpetual state of mandates,” Scott said.
On Tuesday, State Rep. Charlie Kimbell, who represents Woodstock, Reading, and Plymouth, said he’s not sure how he’d vote on the new masking bill yet.
“At this point, there appears to be little support for this idea among the governing boards of the towns I represent,” he said. “I’m not sure what the final bill will look like, so I can’t say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ on it at this point. But I have clear feedback from the local boards.”
Woodstock Village implemented a statewide mask mandate last year which it suspended in June when the state’s emergency order ended.
On Tuesday evening, Village Trustees Chair Jeff Kahn said all five trustees weighed in on this issue that day.
“By a vote of 4-1, the trustees do not want to create a mandatory mask mandate for the village at this time,” Kahn said. “We believe the businesses and organizations that currently have their own rules are sufficient for the current situation.”
He also noted that vaccines were not available when the village’s prior mask mandate went into effect in 2020.
That said, the trustees plan to look at this issue again at their regular meeting on Dec. 14, and Kahn added that the board could meet at any time if needed.
“We want to definitely be proactive if the situation changes,” Kahn said.
Though Vermont’s COVID hospitalization and death rates remain low compared to other states, it’s experienced a surge in its COVID case rate, giving it one of the highest case rates in the country as of Monday. Vermont saw a total of 2,500 cases last week, a 42% increase statewide. This week’s case load is up by 260 cases, or 16%, showing a smaller weekly increase as of Tuesday.
“So, a little bit of a slowing down, but cases (are) still high and still increasing, even though we did see a little bit of a slow-down over the last three days,” said Michael Pieciak, Vermont’s commissioner of financial regulation, who has overseen the state’s COVID data.
As of Tuesday, 91.9% of all eligible Vermonters have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine, and 81.7% are fully vaccinated. Also on Tuesday, Scott repeated his plea to unvaccinated Vermonters to get immunized, and for all eligible Vermonters to sign up for their COVID booster shots.
“Vermont currently leads the nation in boosters amongst those over the age of 65, but we can — and need to — do better, because it’s already had a positive effect,” Scott said. He added there are some indications that the high number of elderly Vermonters who have gotten their boosters has helped keep hospitalizations low.
— Gareth Henderson
Update — 11/17/21, 6:30 p.m. : Gov. Phil Scott has officially called the Legislature back for a special session to convene on Monday, “for the sole purpose of passing legislation narrowly tailored to grant municipalities the authority to implement time limited mask mandates, if they choose,” as stated in an official announcement.
