Current:Home > FinanceNorth Carolina’s restrictions on public mask-wearing are now law after some key revisions -MarketLink
North Carolina’s restrictions on public mask-wearing are now law after some key revisions
View
Date:2025-04-15 22:25:55
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s contentious restrictions on public mask-wearing became law on Thursday after GOP lawmakers successfully overrode a veto by the state’s Democratic governor.
The Senate gave its final stamp of approval in a 30-13 override vote along party lines. The state House initiated the process Wednesday when it voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto during a lengthy session that lasted well into the night.
The ban joins a list of more than 20 gubernatorial vetoes the GOP-dominated North Carolina General Assembly has overridden in the past year. Republicans hold narrow supermajorities in both chambers.
The law, which goes into effect immediately, contains different language from the bill that lawmakers first introduced this session. The original proposal had removed a 2020 bipartisan regulation put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed masking for health reasons, prompting pushback from the public and some Democratic legislators. The lawmakers restored a medical exemption.
WHAT DOES THE LAW DO?
The law allows people to wear medical or surgical-grade masks in public to prevent the spread of illness. Law enforcement and property owners can ask people to temporarily remove those masks to verify their identity.
The measure also increases the severity of punishment for crimes committed while wearing a mask, and raises penalties for protesters who purposefully block traffic.
An unrelated provision on campaign finance was tacked on to the bill during negotiations. The law allows federally registered committees to donate money to state political parties by tapping pots of money that include unlimited contributions from individuals.
WHY DID REPUBLICANS PUSH THE LEGISLATION?
Multiple times during the bill’s pathway through the legislature, GOP lawmakers said it was, in part, a response to widespread protests on college campuses against the war in Gaza.
“It’s about time that the craziness is ... at least slowed down, if not put to a stop,” one of the bill’s supporters, Wilson County Republican Sen. Buck Newton, said last month.
More than 30 people were detained at an encampment set up at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to protest the war in Gaza. Many of the demonstrators wore masks.
Earlier this year, pro-Palestinian protesters blocked roads in Raleigh and Durham.
WHAT CONCERNS DO OPPONENTS HAVE ABOUT THE LAW?
Opposition to the measure initially centered on the removal of the health exemption, which Democratic lawmakers and other opponents said could harm immunocompromised people.
“You’re making careful people into criminals with this bill,” Mecklenburg County Democrat Sen. Natasha Marcus said in May.
Those concerns were largely ignored, however, until Rep. Erin Pare, Wake County’s only Republican General Assembly member, announced on X that she wouldn’t vote for the bill if a health exemption wasn’t included. The legislation’s passage skidded to a halt, prompting GOP legislators to add a health exemption.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups said the bill stifles protesters’ free speech.
Now, most Democratic lawmakers are concerned about the election finance provision, which they said would lead to a lack of transparency in elections. Cooper cited the same provision as his main reason for vetoing the legislation.
WHAT DID NORTH CAROLINA MASKING LAWS REQUIRE PREVIOUSLY?
General statutes on masking date back to 1953, and were largely aimed at curbing Ku Klux Klan activity in North Carolina, according to David Cunningham, a Washington University at St. Louis sociology professor who wrote a book on the subject. The section of state laws that includes masking restrictions is titled “Prohibited Secret Societies and Activities.”
In addition to the health exception, the law also exempts masks worn with holiday costumes, in theatrical productions or on jobs where they are used to keep workers safe.
ARE OTHER STATES CONSIDERING MASK RESTRICTIONS?
New York is considering a ban that Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul said would be a way to combat antisemitic acts by masked individuals. The measure would include exemptions for health and religious reasons. As in North Carolina, civil liberties groups in the state have expressed concerns about how the ban would affect free speech.
In Ohio last month, Attorney General Dave Yost cited the state’s existing mask restrictions when warning student protesters that he could charge them with felonies for wearing them.
veryGood! (1)
Related
- Tree trimmer dead after getting caught in wood chipper at Florida town hall
- A Malibu wildfire prompts evacuation orders and warnings for 20,000, including Dick Van Dyke, Cher
- New Jersey targets plastic packaging that fills landfills and pollutes
- 'The Voice' Season 26 finale: Coach Michael Bublé scores victory with Sofronio Vasquez
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- One Tech Tip: How to protect your communications through encryption
- Mega Millions winning numbers for Tuesday, Dec. 10 drawing: $619 million lottery jackpot
- Stock market today: Asian shares advance, tracking rally on Wall Street
- Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
- California judges say they’re underpaid, and their new lawsuit could cost taxpayers millions
Ranking
- The 401(k) millionaires club keeps growing. We'll tell you how to join.
- This house from 'Home Alone' is for sale. No, not that one.
- Dick Van Dyke credits neighbors with saving his life and home during Malibu fire
- Woody Allen and Soon
- 'No Good Deed': Who's the killer in the Netflix comedy? And will there be a Season 2?
- Google forges ahead with its next generation of AI technology while fending off a breakup threat
- Syrian rebel leader says he will dissolve toppled regime forces, close prisons
- How to watch 'A Charlie Brown Christmas' for free: Special date, streaming info
Recommendation
Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
Hate crime charges dropped against 12 college students arrested in Maryland assault
Sabrina Carpenter Shares Her Self
California judges say they’re underpaid, and their new lawsuit could cost taxpayers millions
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
'The Voice' Season 26 finale: Coach Michael Bublé scores victory with Sofronio Vasquez
Hate crime charges dropped against 12 college students arrested in Maryland assault
Singaporean killed in Johor expressway crash had just paid mum a surprise visit in Genting