The North Dakota House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill that would make future mask mandates illegal.
The Grand Forks Herald reported that the bill went from 50 to 44. He then goes to the state Senate.
The bill comes three months after North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R) imposed a state mask mandate, though the governor himself had previously expressed skepticism about the move.
The sponsor of the bill, State Representative Jeff Hoverson (R), called the masked mandates “evil nonsense,” which characterized them as a conspiracy led by “unelected and wealthy bureaucrats who steal our liberties and perpetuate lies.” , the Herald reported.
The number of COVID-19 cases decreased after the Burgum mask mandate. The Herald also notes that health experts have attributed the drop to a combination of factors, including restrictions on businesses and an increase in social distancing.
According to the newspaper, several GOP supporters of the state bill said they believed wearing a mask does nothing to stop the spread of COVID-19. Several health experts, including the country’s leading infectious disease expert, Anthony Fauci
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The newspaper noted that masks are needed in both chambers of the state legislature. However, the rule does not apply strictly to House Speaker Kim Koppelman, who notes that the rule may be re-examined in the coming weeks.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published a study that found that wearing a cloth mask over a medical mask can significantly decrease the spread of COVID-19.
According to CDC data, North Dakota has confirmed more than 94,000 cases of coronavirus and 1,438 deaths since the pandemic began nearly a year ago.