Arizona House bills ban masks in schools, business shutdowns

By BOB CHRISTIE
Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — Parents would have to give explicit permission for schools to be able to require their children to wear face masks under one of a series of bills approved by the Arizona House targeting government rules imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. The school mask proposal passed Thursday with no Democratic support. Also OK’d on party-line votes were proposals that block government agencies from requiring masks to be worn on their property and repeal the power of local government officials to order business closures. A proposal that requires hospitals to allow clergy to visit ill patients won overwhelming support. All now go to the Senate for consideration.