HARTFORD, Conn. — The Connecticut House is expected to vote on a possible extension of Gov. Ned Lamont's existing executive order that allows the public health and education commissioners to make mask requirements.
The vote comes a day after demonstrators outside the state Capitol pushed for mask choice. Wednesday marked the first day of the 2022 legislative session.
Lamont's executive powers are expected to expire on Feb. 15. while the school mask mandate will expire on Feb. 28.
On Wednesday, hundreds of people rallied at the Capitol, pushing for an end to mask mandates in schools. Specifically, they called for the ability for parents to decide if they want their kids masked or not.
Lamont says the school mask mandate ending at the end of the month will leave the decision with local cities and towns on whether to still require masks.
"It will be up to the superintendents of schools and mayors to make that election themselves because every town is different. Every town has its certain different sense of what the vaccination is, what the risks are," Lamont said Monday when he made the announcement.
Regardless of what happens on the state level, some parents still plan to ask their kids to wear a mask at school. That includes those who haven't gotten their kids vaccinated yet.
"She’s not ready for it and I don’t want to force her," said Alieu Mansaray, who has three kids at Hartford schools.
"It’s not something that I'm really looking forward to," said Mike Robinson, who has three kids who go to Hartford schools.
Robinson said he had a chat with his middle child on the way to school, telling her about the latest developments and where their family stands on it all.
"I just let her you know, 'Listen, there may be some other kids who don’t have masks because the governor is saying we don’t need masks in schools anymore. But me, mom, we would still want you to wear your mask.' And she's all for it," Robinson said.
The move for the mandate to expire at the end of the month still wasn't enough for some parents who gathered at the Capitol on Wednesday.
"Our group isn’t advocating to ban masks or anything like that, we’re advocating for parents to be able to make choices for their own families and their own children," said Jonathan Johnson, Founder of Unmask Our Kids CT.
After the House votes on the measure, the issue will head to the State Senate.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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