Senate Bill S8336

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8336

SPONSOR: MARTUCCI
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to prohibit the state or political subdivisions from imposing a
mask mandate in schools and daycares and leaving such decisions to the
local school district, non-public school or daycare

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

To end all mask mandates for kids in a school or daycare setting

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: Prohibits the state or any political subdivision from impos-
ing a mask mandate on kids in daycares or schools.

Section 2: Sets forth the effective date

 
JUSTIFICATION:
              

The bill would bring an end to a policy not based in science but poli-
tical science.

It is beyond comprehension that Governor Hochul would end the mask
mandate for businesses but keep in place the mask mandate for children
in schools and daycares.

Cases and infection rates have plummeted in the past month - cases are
down 90% across the state.

Governors in the neighboring states of New Jersey, Connecticut, Massa-
chusetts and Pennsylvania have joined the vast majority of states that
lifted their mask mandates in schools.

The science and data has proven school aged children are the least like-
ly to become seriously ill with COVID-19 but the most likely to suffer
psychologically from masking all day.

In New York since the start of this pandemic 22 children under 18 have
tragically lost their lives. For comparison, 27,468 New Yorkers 65 and
over have perished. In the worst week nationally of the omicron surge-
the week of January 6, 421 children under 17 were hospitalized up
against 4,442 folks over 18.

The only fair conclusion to reach from this data is that kids under 18
are have the lowest risk and that as we have already known older New
Yorkers are at high risk.

Vaccines for school aged children have been around since last fall so
children and parents that would like to get vaccinated, have had ample
time to do so.

The costs vs benefits caused by mask mandates in schools will be debated
long after the mandate is finally rescinded; however, there is mounting
evidence of the harm mask mandates have done to our children - especial-
ly children in grade school.

* Facial expressions are an important way for children to form human
  connections, this becomes much more difficult when one has to wear a
  mask all day.

* Children with disabilities often rely on facial expressions to
  communicate - the mask mandate has hit them especially hard.

* There is also an emotional toll that a child is subjected to when all
  they see are individuals in masks - this is why the Shenendehowa
  School District is proposing a `psychological transition' before the
  mask mandate is dropped

This legislation is needed to end an unconstitutional mandate and to
protect kids from the harmful impacts that this mandate has produced.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None to the state

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect January 1, 2023.