Virginia Politics

Virginia Senate Democrats join GOP on amendment to allow parents to opt out of school mask mandates

By Laura Vozzella and Gregory S. Schneider
Today at 3:48 p.m. EST | Updated today at 4:23 p.m. EST

CORRECTION

A previous version of this article incorrectly reported when a proposed law that would require in-person teaching and would allow parents to opt out of mask mandates would go into effect if passed. It would go into effect July 1. The article has been changed.

RICHMOND — Senate Democrats who have been howling over Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order making masks optional in K-12 schools got on board with the idea Tuesday, voting to amend an education bill to give parents the right to decide if their children wear them.

Ten of the Senate’s 21 Democrats voted for an amendment — proposed by Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) — that would give parents a right that Youngkin (R) declared they had last month with an executive order signed on the day he took office.

While he agrees with Youngkin that school mask mandates have dragged on too long, Petersen said the issue is one that should be addressed by legislation, not executive order.

“We needed to solve this ourselves. And we will,” Petersen said. “I don’t like executive orders … We needed to act to end the mask wars.”

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By Laura Vozzella
Laura Vozzella covers Virginia politics for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post, she was a political columnist and food writer at the Baltimore Sun, and she has also worked for the Associated Press, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Hartford Courant. Twitter https://twitter.com/LVozzella

By Gregory S. Schneider
Greg Schneider covers Virginia from the Richmond bureau. He was The Washington Post's business editor for more than seven years, and before that served stints as deputy business editor, national security editor and technology editor. He has also covered aviation security, the auto industry and the defense industry for The Post. https://twitter.com/SchneiderG