Not one week after Democrat lawmakers ridiculed Gov. Glenn Youngkin, R-Va., for going maskless in a grocery store, several Virginia state senators flipped on their position of mandating masks in schools across the commonwealth.
10 out of a total of 21 Democrat state senators voted for an amendment to an education bill that would essentially end school mask mandates in Virginia. The amendment successfully passed 29-9 within the Democrat-held state senate.
Nationally, there has been a sharp change in Democrats’ attitudes towards mask mandates as many governors have recently revealed plans to end the mask mandates.
According to the Daily Caller, even the state’s Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw voted for the measure, even though days prior, he was heckling the governor on Twitter, telling him to “read the room.” Saslaw was referring to a decision from an Arlington judge allowing the school district to keep its mask mandate in place.
The bill that was passed in the state Senate was introduced by Democrat Sen. Chap Peterson who disagrees with the executive order that gave parents the choice to not mask their children. He said, “We needed to solve this ourselves,” according to the Daily Caller. “I don’t like executive orders.”
Other governors have put into place plans to end mask mandates throughout the country. Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, and Oregon are all Democrat-led states that are ending school mask mandates.
According to WTOP, Youngkin said in a statement, “In an overwhelming bipartisan show of support, the Senate of Virginia took a significant step today for parents and children. I applaud Senator Petersen’s amendment to give parents the right to decide whether their children should wear masks in schools.”
