Remaining NC school districts requiring masks can continue, as veto override fails
The North Carolina Senate failed to override a veto from Gov. Roy Cooper of a bill that would make masks optional in all public schools in the state.
Most schools had already lifted them.
The Senate voted 27-22 in favor of the bill, but that was not enough to advance it. A three-fifths supermajority is needed to successfully override a veto. Democrats were united in opposition to the veto override, which had the support of the Republicans in the majority.
Immediately afterward, Sen. Bill Rabon, the Rules chair, made a motion that will send the measure to the Rules committee. That means it could come back for another vote, but is unlikely.
Senate leader Phil Berger said even though the vote failed, “it was important for us to go ahead take that vote so that people, parents, around the state understand who’s willing and who’s not willing. So the vote itself was important.”
Berger said there are no plans for any votes when the Senate is back for a few days of session in early April and early May.
“We have no plans to take it up again at this point,” he said.
The veto override vote came as nearly every North Carolina school district has either ended their mask mandate or, like Chapel HiIl-Carrboro, set a date for when the coverings will no longer be required. Chapel Hill-Carrboro lifts its mandate April 4. The Orange County school system made masks optional this week, as did Wake County and Charlotte-Meckenburg Schools, which are the two largest school districts in the state.
Only five of the state’s 115 school districts, including Durham Public Schools, have not set a date for when they’ll make face masks optional.
All North Carolina public schools would become mask-optional if the veto from Cooper is successfully overridden in both chambers.
The bill first passed the General Assembly the same day in February as Cooper recommended local governments lift their mandates.
After Cooper vetoed the legislation sponsored by Republican House Speaker Tim Moore, of Kings Mountain, Moore tweeted the next day that “this isn’t over.”
The bill, a committee substitute for Senate Bill 173, is titled an “Act to Provide Parental Discretion in Requirements for Face Coverings on Public School Unit Property,” also known as “Free the Smiles” and would make wearing a mask optional for students in all school districts. It would also repeal the state law requiring monthly votes on masks by school boards.
Cases of COVID-19 in North Carolina have dropped precipitously in the past month. Vaccinations are free and readily available across the state to everyone ages 5 and older. Several local mask mandates have also ended within the past few weeks.
When the bill passed the legislature, the House voted 76-42 in favor and the Senate voted 28-17 in favor. Seven Democrats voted with Republicans in the House, and two Democrats voted with Republicans in the Senate, which is enough to override a veto.
This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Remaining NC school districts requiring masks can continue, as veto override fails."
.jpg)