The General Assembly on Friday adjourned the special session called by Gov. Asa Hutchinson to address lawmakers’ ban on mask requirements from public schools and other public entities.
Two Republican-sponsored bills were heard Thursday but voted down in committee. Each would have amended Act 1002, passed this spring by the overwhelmingly GOP legislature, and eased the prohibition on mask mandates. Two lawsuits, one from the Little Rock and Marion school districts and another from Rogers attorney Tom Mars on behalf of Rogers parents, have been filed challenging the law.
Opponents of Act 1002 say the law puts students at risk. Proponents say parents should make the choice concerning their own children. The bills were defeated largely on party lines. Hutchinson said he now regrets signing the law, which he did when COVID-19 numbers were declining.Â
Little Rock city officials on Thursday reinstated a mask requirement on public property, seemingly at odds with the state law.
The only action taken during the special session was legislation backing Hutchinson’s decision to end COVID-related, federal unemployment benefits early. The federal program is scheduled to run through Sept. 6 but Hutchinson ended the payments in Arkansas on June 26, citing the inability of Arkansas businesses to find workers. Last week, Pulaski County Circuit Judge Herbert Wright ruled that the state had to resume payments. His ruling was appealed to the state Supreme Court.Â
Arkansas is one of 26 states that cut off the unemployment benefits early .
