Legislators Make Masks Inside Capitol Optional
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- Category: State News
- Created on Wednesday, 23 February 2022 15:27
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JUNEAU (AP) — Alaska legislative leaders today voted to make mask wearing optional at legislative facilities, including the state Capitol, though mask use by lawmakers prior to the vote was in some cases spotty.
The new policy allows for some exceptions. Lawmakers can require masks in their own offices, and legislative information offices may require masks be worn “during the delivery of in-person services.”
The new policy also no longer requires lawmakers and staff to undergo regular COVID-19 testing.
The vote by the Legislative Council was unanimous, with many members not wearing masks even before the vote.
The prior policy had required masks in legislative facilities regardless of vaccination status. It allowed for optional masking in the offices of individual lawmakers but called on offices to adhere to masking protocols when support staff came in to work.
But masking by lawmakers during some committee hearings, notably in the Senate, had become sporadic.
Sen. Roger Holland, during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, said the panel was “following Senate protocols for masks, and so we are allowed to unmask when we’re in our positions.”
A message seeking comment was sent to the Senate majority communications office.
Thanks to the generosity and expertise of the the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska broadband department, Tidal Network ; Christopher Cropley, director of Tidal Network; and Luke Johnson, Tidal Network technician, SitkaSentinel.com is again being updated. Tidal Network has been working tirelessly to install Starlink satellite equipment for city and other critical institutions, including the Sentinel, following the sudden breakage of GCI's fiberoptic cable on August 29, which left most of Sitka without internet or phone connections. CCTHITA's public-spirited response to the emergency is inspiring.
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