PHOENIX – A House committee has passed a Republican-sponsored bill that would allow Arizona business owners to decide whether to enforce mask mandates for employees and customers, a move supporters say promotes freedom and critics call a threat to health and safety.
“It’s a simple bill – it restores the freedom and the liberties back to the individual, and the individuals that own a business, to make their own decisions,” said newly elected Rep. Joseph Chaplik of Scottsdale, a sponsor of House Bill 2770.
The House Commerce Committee on Tuesday voted 6-4 along party lines in favor of the bill, which runs counter to many city and county government requirements to wear a mask to combat the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. Gov. Doug Ducey has not issued a statewide mask requirement but last year allowed local governments to establish such rules.
Chaplik, who spoke while wearing a face shield, referred to emails of support he has received.
“Anything can be made into a mask, so it’s not about safety, it’s about compliance,” one read.
“Private businesses should have the freedom to enact their own health protocols,” read another. He said most emails he received support the bill, and he did not read any opposition emails.
Chaplik’s fellow Republicans did not explain their “yes” votes, but Democrats spoke up.
“We are wearing our masks, we are trying to be safe, and I really resent that this bill is being put forth today,” said Rep. Charlene Fernandez of Yuma.
Rep. Robert Meza of Phoenix offered a personal reason.
“I had two cousins die, one of 53 years of age, one 70 years of age, of COVID,” he said. “And with that, I vote ‘no.’ ”
Several organizations, including the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry and Arizona Medical Association, encourage mask wearing, as do most Arizona businesses. But some business owners, who have faced state-ordered temporary shutdowns and limited traffic during a nearly yearlong pandemic that has decimated small businesses and the U.S. economy, are pushing back against restrictions.
Chaplik proposed HB 2770 in early February, when new cases of COVID-19 began to fall after months of escalation. Vaccinations also are increasing daily, with 1.15 million Arizonans now vaccinated with at least their first dose but thousands more still awaiting their turn.
Health experts warn that guidelines must continue to be followed for everyone’s safety, including wearing masks. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, even those who have been vaccinated still might be contagious, and it’s important to continue taking safety precautions until there is more knowledge about the vaccines.
The CDC recently updated its mask guide to include information about how to properly “double mask,” as new research suggests two masks offer greater protection against the disease.
In the absence of a statewide mask mandate, multiple Arizona cities have full mask orders in place, including those in the state’s most populous counties, Maricopa and Pima. In Tempe, police officers are hoping to work with the community and local businesses to enforce wearing masks.
Since the pandemic began to alter daily life in Arizona nearly a year ago, some businesses and customers have defied orders about wearing masks or how to operate. Although some owners contend they’re acting on principle, for others, defiance is necessary to stay in business.
According to The Arizona Republic, there were more than 3,500 complaints made to metro Phoenix police and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office regarding businesses not following guidelines, yet fewer than 75 businesses were cited or referred.
On Chaplik’s campaign website, he states that “while there was a lot of uncertainty early on with COVID, a lot more is known today and it is time to get Arizona on the road to recovery.”
In an interview Tuesday with KNST-AM’s Garret Lewis before the committee vote, Chaplik said the bill takes “law enforcement out of the private businesses” and restores “freedom and liberties for individuals to make their own decisions.”
Chaplik said he isn’t opposed to people choosing to wear a mask, but the government should not “force everybody, including the healthy, to wear the mask.” Masks, he contended, shame and dehumanize people and cause depression.
The CDC has cited numerous reports that conclude the effectiveness of masks, especially N95 masks, in fighting the coronavirus. It says more research is needed into how cloth masks work in terms of materials, layers and other factors.
The measure still needs to move through several votes in the Legislature.
This article appears in Feb 18-24, 2021.
Monumentally Stupid.
Not quite, Larry. Perhaps you should research “Bacterial Pneumonia” on the rise w/advid MASK wearers. Matter of fact, physicians are now exposing the cases of all ages being hospitalized due to Bacterial Pneumonia which is resistant to antibiotics. One physician almost lost a 4 year old because of Bacterial Pneumonia and his parents said the child consistently wore his MASK. Research Oklahoma Press Conference or Global Research 1/23/21.
While you research, note the poisonous, highly toxic petrochemicals in the MASKs commonly worn especially in the popular N95 MASK, such as formaldehyde, petrochemicals as “dibromodicyanobutane”, a combination of bromine, cyanide and butane, listed as acutely-toxic, irritant, corrosive agents, environmental toxins and could be fatal if swallowed. Now consider MASK wearers running, bicycling, walking w/warm breath going in and out carrying the poisonous toxic chemicals into their throats, esophagus and lungs . . . and you’ve got “Bacterial Pneumonia”;
furthermore, when people find out it was the MASK mandates, lawsuits will be in record number.
Greg, You are supposed to change or wash you mask every day.
Ask your MD or a Nurse.
Why do Republicans hate their constituents so much? Honestly!
This is really dumb. But so are the people who vote for these idiots. It wouldn’t surprise me if one of these trump-supporting morons presented a bill to shoot mask wearers and then blame it all on antifa if it really happened.
Larry, you’re oxygen-starved from your MASK. If you’re only willing to throw slings and refuse to research, here are 3 sources out of many. This info may be helpful to some who are open to critical thinking and don’t stoop to Republican vs Democrat nastiness. BTW, physicians call Staphlyococcus (Staph Infection) caused from persistent MASK wearing, “MASK mouth.”
▶Medical Doctor Warns that “Bacterial Pneumonias Are on the Rise” from Mask Wearing ~ Global Research ~ 10/6/20 ~ https://www.globalresearch.ca/medical-doct…
▶Twenty Reasons Mandatory Face Masks are Unsafe, Ineffective and Immoral ~ Global Research ~ 1/23/21 ~ https://www.globalresearch.ca/twenty-reaso…
▶Long-Term Mask Use May Contribute to Advanced Stage Lung Cancer, Study Finds ~ 1/20/21 ~ https://sarahwestall.com/long-term-mask-us…
Kathy, if you’re referring to a cotton MASK, granted you must wash it daily. However, if a synthetic MASK, which most people wear, then it cannot be washed. These MASKs are made w/harsh crude oil-based synthetic petrochemical complexes which cause allergic toxicity and lung tissue poisoning. [see Lung Cancer link] in previous post.
Furthermore, it would be shocking to discover the obscene amount of Bacterial Growth in a petri dish only after 20 minutes of wearing a MASK.
Reading a poster’s comments here reminds me of a cartoon I recently saw…
A man sitting at his computer yells to his wife, “Honey come quick, I just found an article all the scientists and the experts missed!”
Please don’t tell me this has enough support to go through. I don’t know why the MAGATS of Tucson picked this hill to die on, you literally die on this hill. Like, you can end up on a ventilator and you die. I always see comments like Greg above, and that tool at Viva Coffee, and I have to wonder – how have you gotten through life without developing empathy in other people? It’s sickening. A mask doesn’t hurt you but it can save many lives, stop being selfish asshats. And Pima, keep citing Viva, they are never going to be done with their bull, it’s pretty clear they think they are ‘winning.’
This is just stupid.
To Greg, the guy who doesn’t wear a mask because he might catch bacterial pneumonia….There are articles on the internet that say flying monkeys are real. Most of us learned in grade school not to believe everything you read.
Warms my heart to see all the love and tolerance spouting liberals call republicans names. You truly don’t know the meaning of love and tolerance. I haven’t worn a mask yet and I’m not going to. I already had the COVID. It was 5 days of a bad head cold. People die from it because they don’t try to take care of themselves at home. They wait too long to go to the ER. If you have it you should always be checking your oxygen. The news never talks about how to help yourself at home. When you get a positive diagnosis, your first job should be to contact your family physician. They can tell you what you could do that is correct for YOUR body. They will also tell you the warning signs to look out for. Waiting until you can’t breathe means you’ve already got pneumonia. Other people wearing masks doesn’t protect anyone except them. Go ahead wear 2 or 3 or 4 masks. That’s your choice.
The CDC also did a study back in July 2020 using both test and control groups, the gold standard for obtaining accurate numbers. They found that 70% of those who contracted COVID wore masks “all” the time or “almost all” the time. Those who “never” wore masks were 4% of those who got the disease.
They’ve been contradicting themselves ever since and this double masking is only likely to create hypoxia – which I grant could cure the disease – but won’t do much else.
To all those who THINK, they know what’s going on. Science has proven that this virus is INFLUENZA A and B with 2 RNA strands manually added. Masks cause the body to become Hypoxic after 30 minutes of continuous wearing. This lowers your Oxygen to dangerous levels along with damaging you immune system, there by making you MORE susceptible to getting sick and or DIEING. STOP listening to the Media and those who demand you wear one.
Masks don’t work against the virus unless you wear the ones the drs wear. Cloth are useless and the cheap medical ones are not any better. All only keep out 5% and only for about 20 minutes. You can still get it thru your eyes and on you skin. You would have to put antibacterial all over your body and wash your cloths in hot water every time you left your house and all for a virus that is 99.8% recoverable. Shame some are willing to loose their freedom and follow like sheep from the fear mongering of those controlling you.