Texas Gov. Greg Abbot has landed in several headlines for his efforts to ban masks in public schools, a popular political point from Republicans.
While politicians outcry to give parents the option to mask their children, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released studies that saw the number of COVID-19 cases grow in schools without mask policies.
“The Lone Star State continues to defeat [the coronavirus] through the use of widely available vaccines, antibody therapeutic drugs, and safe practices utilized by Texans in our communities,” Abbott said in a release. “Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities. We can continue to mitigate [the coronavirus] while defending Texans’ liberty to choose whether or not they mask up.”
Former Sen. Donald Huffines, who’s running for Texas governor, disapproves of Abbott’s inability to ban masks.
“Abbott boasts about his executive orders banning mask mandates, yet Texan children are still being muzzled in public schools,” he said. “Abbott’s orders have no teeth because he has no interest in enforcing them. When I am Governor, I will actually ban mask mandates in Texas, and those continuing to force these oppressive masks on children will be held accountable.”
Huffines wasn’t happy to hear reports of several school districts' interest in implementing masks policies.
“It is past time for Greg Abbott and the Texas Legislature to take the necessary steps to override these mandates and impose real consequences on any local government official or bureaucrat who is trying to implement them whether they are a mayor, county judge or superintendent,” Huffines said in a release. “These attacks on Texans’ rights must end immediately.”
In July 2020, Abbott ordered all Texans older than 10, statewide, to wear masks in public buildings, businesses and outdoor public spaces. He also banned outdoor gatherings of more than 10 people unless approved by local officials.
In May 2021, Abbott issued an executive order banning government entities — including school districts — from requiring masks. According to the press release, any “attempt to impose a mask mandate or impose a limitation inconsistent or conflicting with the executive order can be subject to a fine of up to $1,000.”
In January, Travis County Texas Court of Appeals Justice Chari Kelly ruled Abbott didn’t have the authority to ban local governments from requiring all citizens to wear masks. Kelly, a Democrat elected in 2018, said the Texas legislature could pass a law banning masks, but that Abbott’s executive order banning them isn’t allowed by the Texas Disaster Act.
One week after that ruling, Chapel Hill ISD in Smith County announced it would still require masks, according to KLTV. Lufkin ISD also was enforcing masks at that time.
Dallas ISD announced in January that it would keep its mask mandate in place through spring break, which begins March 14, according to WFAA.
The Austin ISD website states that masks are required for everyone on AISD grounds.
The Houston ISD website states that masks are required inside all HISD buildings, and are encouraged outdoors.
Dr. Martin Kulldorff, a Harvard Medical School professor, biostatistician and epidemiologist, said in an interview with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, “children should not wear face masks, no. They don’t need it for their own protection, and they don’t need it for protecting other people, either.”
Elected in 2014, Abbott is currently serving as the 48th governor of Texas. Before being elected governor, Abbott was the state's longest-serving attorney general.
Huffines will face Abbott in the gubernatorial primary on March 1. From 2015 to 2019, Huffines represented Texas’ 16th State Senate District. He is the CEO of Huffines Communities, a Dallas/Fort Worth-based real estate development firm.
