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“All we ever wanted in this process was, ‘Hey, we need to work together and get through this,” said Rep. Since the pandemic began, Republicans have been at odds with the Democratic governor over emergency orders he has enacted to mitigate spread of the virus, including issuing a statewide mask mandate that was in effect for almost a year. The vote was 91-2.īeshear called for the special session on Saturday, in keeping with a recent Kentucky Supreme Court decision that said the legislature must approve emergency orders that Beshear had, up until last month, been issuing on his own. The House also gave final approval to Senate Bill 5, which would spend more than $410 million in incentives to try to attract economic development projects with investments of more than $2 billion. It allows the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services to increase COVID-19 testing and help providers with monoclonal antibody treatments. It also allows certified paramedics to work in hospitals and prohibits bans on some nursing home visitors.Īnother major bill the House gave final approval on an 84-8 vote and sent to Beshear for his consideration was House Bill 3, which would earmark more than $69 million in funds from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to address the pandemic. That’s a subsection of the bill Senate President Robert Stivers said was drafted, in part, because Beshear and Public Health Commissioner Steven Stack have “desensitized” Kentuckians on these issues by updating them so often on coronavirus. It also outlines a media strategy to publicize the voices of community leaders on the dangers of the virus and the importance of the vaccine. SB 2 also codifies that residents in long-term care facilities be allowed one “essential compassionate care visitor,” who can visit them in person even if facilities limit visitation as community spread worsens across Kentucky. This form of therapy is often administered to people at risk of severe coronavirus infection who test positive as a way of staving off a severe infection that would require them to be hospitalized. That same bill also requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to work with local health care providers to set up regional monoclonal antibody treatment centers across Kentucky.
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Updated | Sources: Local media reports, Education Week reporting | Learn more here A bill that would have banned mask mandates was vetoed by Gov. There’s disagreement over whether districts still have the authority to require masks, but at least one district changed its policy in response. Soon after, the department advised districts that the mandates “are inconsistent with” their rules.
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23, 2022, New Hampshire’s governor announced the state was no longer recommending universal indoor masking and therefore schools have to end mask mandates, arguing they violate state education department rules. On Schmitt announced new lawsuits against several districts that had reinstated mask requirements. In mid-March, Schmitt began dropping lawsuits against school districts that no longer required masks.
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(The ruling was interpreted differently by different districts.) The state’s treasurer announced he would also crack down on schools with mask mandates. In January 2022, the Missouri attorney general, Eric Schmitt, sued some school districts that required masks, citing a November ruling by a county judge that said local health orders tied to COVID-19 were illegal.
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