Alaska is one of 21 states with Republican attorneys general that sued March 29 to halt the federal government’s requirement that people wear masks on planes, trains, ferries and other public transportation amid the Coronavirus pandemic.
The lawsuit, announced by Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody and filed in federal court in Tampa, Florida, contends that the mask mandate exceeds the authority of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The mandate in its current form may be in effect only a few weeks more. The CDC recently extended it until April 18 while also indicating it is weighing scaling back the rules for a more targeted approach.
Still, the states are pressing on with the lawsuit, which comes amid a partisan divide over the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and issues of government control versus individual rights.
“It is well past time to get rid of this unnecessary mandate and get back to normal life,” said DeSantis, a Republican who has persistently challenged federal mask mandates including those involving cruise lines, schools, private businesses and other entities.
The CDC rule, effective Feb. 1, 2021, requires “the wearing of masks by people on public transportation conveyances or on the premises of transportation hubs,” according to the agency website. The rule has been relaxed somewhat, to end requirements for certain buses, but was recently extended until at least April 18 for domestic and international travel in general.
Perhaps underscoring the partisan divide on masks, both DeSantis and Moody mentioned Democratic President Joe Biden several times in their statements against the travel mandate.
The lawsuit seeks to immediately halt the CDC travel mask rule. There have been similar lawsuits filed in individual states before this latest one.
The states joining the Florida-led suit are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.
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