Kentucky legislator pre-files bill prohibiting masks in day cares, K-12 schools and colleges

Bill wont go to Floor Until Jan 2022

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Days after Governor Andy Beshear and the Kentucky Board of Education approved a school mask requirement due to rising COVID-19 cases, a state lawmaker has pre-filed a bill seeking to prohibit them.

Republican Rep. Lynn Bechler filed Bill Request 359 on Monday.

The bill would give parents the right to refuse masks on behalf of their children if they are enrolled in licensed, certified or publicly funded child care facilities without retribution.

It would also create a new section of the Conduct of Schools, prohibiting masks on any public school premises, school-sponsored transportation or at any school-related event.

The Kentucky Board of Education approved their emergency mask regulation last week, after the delta variant continues to drive up cases of COVID-19 statewide.

Officials said the regulation could last for 270 days but could be lifted earlier if cases should ease.

The bill doesn’t stop at public schools, Rep. Bechler also wants the same for Kentucky colleges and universities. It would create a new section in KRS 164 and that would prohibit masks on properties owned, leased, or operated by postsecondary institutions but provide exceptions for health care licensing board requirements imposed prior to January 1, 2020 and clinical research settings.

On Friday, Kentucky reported 4,000 cases of COVID-19 with children under the age of 18 accounting 929 of them.

This bill would likely be heard during the next legislative session in January.