Texas Local Authorities Rebel Against Gov. Greg Abbott’s Mask Mandate Ban

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As Texas students too young to get vaccinated return to school as the highly contagious delta variant threatens to overwhelm hospitals, a growing number of local government officials have imposed masks in an effort to slow the disease. spread of COVID-19 – defying Governor Greg Abbott.

This week, officials in Dallas and Bexar counties successfully sued the right to re-demand masks in public schools and many government buildings – at least temporarily. Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins went further on Wednesday and demanded that daycares and businesses must also require employees and customers to wear masks.

“We are all a public health team and the enemy is the virus,” Jenkins said. “Right now the enemy is winning.”

Other officials did not bother with a legal battle. Travis County officials went ahead Wednesday afternoon with an order requiring masks to be worn in public schools. Some of the state’s largest school districts – Austin, Houston and Fort Worth – are already planning to require students, teachers and staff to wear masks.

“The rebellion is spreading across the state,” Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said.

Abbott – under intense pressure from some over his right to hold the line against local officials who want to demand masks – is now trying to quell this rebellion.

Hours after Jenkins signed his warrant, Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton announced they would go to court to block Dallas County’s top official – asking the 5th Court of Appeals to overturn the ruling from the state district judge who got Jenkins forward. The two men threatened to prosecute any government official who defied Abbott’s order.

“The way forward is based on personal responsibility – not government mandates,” Abbott said in a statement.

Speaking to Lubbock radio host Chad Hasty, Paxton predicted the Texas Supreme Court would hear the case by the end of the week.

“If we have local officials who defy the law because they feel like they know better, then we end up with little dictators all over the state and we have no rule of law and we lose our government. representative we vote for, “Paxton told Hasty.

For some local officials, they have no choice but to try to reclaim power to pass measures like mask warrants – powers Abbott took away – in the face of skyrocketing hospitalizations COVID-19 and a shortage of nurses to treat the sick. Rarely willing to clash with Abbott earlier in the pandemic, city, county and school district leaders now risk his wrath and lengthy legal battles.

Jenkins said the requirement to wear masks is an attempt to relieve hospitals, but the best way to do it is for more people to get vaccinated.

“We’re trying to save time for our hospitals by doing whatever we can to overcome this,” Jenkins said.

For far-right conservatives, Abbott had done little until Wednesday to fend off the wave of locals challenging his authority.

For comparison, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, has pledged to punish school districts that require masks by withdrawing their funding – a step Paxton said earlier Wednesday could be taken in Texas.

One of Abbott’s main challengers, Don Huffines, called on the governor to “stop surrendering to local masked tyrants”.

“While Greg Abbott brags about banning mask warrants in Texas, the state’s largest and most populous counties are forcing them on citizens,” Huffines, a former Dallas state senator, said. adding that “it is high time” for Abbott and the legislature. go beyond local requirements and “impose real consequences”.

Matt Rinaldi, the new Texas GOP chairman, tweeted Tuesday night that Abbott should add the issue of rogue local leaders to the list of issues state lawmakers should address in the current special session.

Abbott could also face pressure from the White House. President Joe Biden on Wednesday raised the possibility of intervening in states where governors prohibit mask mandates.

Meanwhile, the rush of local authorities to re-demand the wearing of the mask has resulted in a patchwork of warrants across the state. Beginning at midnight Wednesday, Dallas residents will be required to wear masks when shopping or dining out. Not so four hours south in San Antonio.

In Bexar County, most school districts appeared willing to comply with the local health authority’s order requiring masks in schools, according to the San Antonio Express-News.

But some are holding up. Most of the schools in Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD are located in a neighboring county. As a result, officials have decided to keep the masks optional, Superintendent Clark C. Ealy said on Wednesday.

Northside ISD, the county’s largest school district, is also resisting – a move by Superintendent Brian Woods to “avoid a day-to-day flip-flop” as the county’s legal fight against Abbott continues.

“There is still a lot of legal and political wrangling to come,” Woods told district employees in an email.

Bexar school districts that do not comply with the order of the health authority are not at risk of being punished for doing so. San Antonio City Attorney Andy Segovia said Wednesday he had no plans to attack the two school districts.

“Unfortunately, failure to comply with this mask mandate only increases the possibility that those in their care will be infected with the virus when it is clear that we know it can be avoided,” said declared Segovia.

Wolff agrees that this is the right approach.

“Frankly, the only real law enforcement tool is school districts,” Wolff said. “If they choose not to do it, well, what are you going to do?” Send a policeman to each class? I do not think so.

But school districts violate order with risk, he said.

“They’re putting their kids in danger, I’ll say it,” Wolff said.

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