Ducey signs bill to let businesses ignore mask mandates; law won't take effect for months

Businesses can require customers to wear masks to prevent spreading COVID-19 if they like, but they also can allow people to go maskless even if a city, county or the state tries to require face coverings.

That will be the law of the land in Arizona thanks to a bill Gov. Doug Ducey signed Friday, which echoes a recent executive order from his office.

"I am signing this bill, ensuring that our small businesses will no longer be required to enforce mandates imposed on them by their cities who are choosing not to enforce it themselves," Ducey said in a signing letter.

But there are some twists to the bill.

For one, it doesn't become effective until the "general effective date" for all legislation this year, which is 90 days after the legislative session ends. The session is ongoing.

Until that date, which is different every year, the issue of whether city or county mask mandates are legal is up for debate. The Governor's Office says that a March executive order from the governor prohibits cities and counties from enacting such mandates, but the Attorney General's Office issued an informal opinion stating otherwise.

"The governor signed an executive order about masks and that is the law of Arizona," Ducey spokesman C.J. Karamargin said Friday after the governor signed the bill.

But the Attorney General’s Office said a state statute the governor cited in his executive order doesn’t give him that authority.

Phoenix, Tempe, Tucson, Flagstaff and Pima County all continue to require masks in public places.

Ducey's executive order gave businesses and event organizers the option to continue requiring masks, social distancing and other preventive measures, if they choose. It also permits businesses to refuse service to anyone who doesn't comply.

Arizona has never had a statewide mask requirement during the pandemic, but enough cities and counties enacted their own to place 90% of the state under such a requirement, Ducey wrote in the letter accompanying his signing of the bill.

"Our largest cities opted not to enforce their mandates, leaving the responsibility up to local businesses," Ducey said. "I understand the concern and heartache this caused for many of these businesses."

Portion of new law will need fix

And there's another issue: Ducey wrote that the bill would have unintended consequences regarding mask mandates not related to COVID-19.

The bill could inadvertently prevent enforcement of mask requirements in certain workplaces where masks are required to protect employees from exposure to harmful materials, Karamargin said.

"Some rational mask requirements that are not related to the spread of COVID-19 may not be enforceable," Ducey's letter said. "The state needs to be able to enforce long-standing workplace safety and infection control standards unrelated to COVID-19."

Even though that is a critical flaw, Ducey said he signed the law anyhow because the bill's sponsor, Rep. Joseph Chaplik, R-Scottsdale, promised to fix the issue this session, which is winding down.

Chaplik famously asked why masks weren't used to stop other deadly diseases such as AIDS during a hearing on the bill. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is not spread by respiratory droplets like COVID-19, but primarily by sexual contact and needle sharing among intravenous drug users.

House Bill 2770, which passed along party lines with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed, states "a business in this state is not required to enforce on its premises a mask mandate that is established by this state, a city, town or county or any other jurisdiction of this state."

“It’s about the individual rights of these business owners as Americans,” Chaplik said during a hearing on the bill where he also made his widely reported comments regarding AIDS.

The North Phoenix Chamber of Commerce and Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association, which represents convenience stores, backed the bill.

The Arizona Medical Association and the labor union representing grocery store workers opposed it.

Reach reporter Ryan Randazzo at ryan.randazzo@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-4331. Follow him on Twitter @UtilityReporter.

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