In spite of intense opposition from Republicans, including Newtown’s representation in the Connecticut House of Representatives and Senate, two measures to extend the governor’s emergency powers and continue 11 executive orders passed in both bodies.

Connecticut’s management of a COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed 10,000 lives and made masks a polarizing accessory in schools would loosen under new rules approved February 10 by the House of Representatives and February 14 by the Senate.

House Bill 5047 extends 11 of the hundreds of executive orders issued by Governor Ned Lamont under the extraordinary emergency powers he asserted on March 10, 2020, to confront a COVID outbreak that quickly spiraled into a pandemic. Most now will expire April 15.

“We are reclaiming the legislature’s authority, because if passed into law and signed by the governor, the governor would not have the authority to amend any of these, to revoke any of these,” said Sen Matt Lesser (D-Middletown).

Lamont’s unilateral authority to temporarily enact or suspend laws expired February 15, the final day of the sixth in a series of gubernatorial emergency declarations made with increasing degrees of legislative oversight.

It will be replaced by a legislative emergency declaration with the primary goal of preserving access to $30 million in monthly federal pandemic relief that extends benefits to recipients of SNAP, the nutritional aid program.

House Joint Resolution-1 (HJ-1) declaring the new and limited emergency through June 30 and the House bill extending the executive orders, plus others issued by the commissioner of public health, passed with every Republican in opposition.

The vote for the bill in the Senate was 21-14, with Sen Cathy Osten (D-Sprague) joining the GOP opposition and Sen Mary Daugherty Abrams (D-Meriden) absent. The emergency-declaration resolution passed on a straight party-line vote of 21-13, with Abrams and Sen Steve Cassano (D-Manchester) absent.

In the house, the resolution declaring a limited state of emergency passed on an 89-56 vote, with three Democrats joining all 53 Republicans in opposition. The bill extending the expiration dates of the 11 executive orders passed, 86-62, with nine Democrats joining the GOP.

Lamont, whose office made no statement after passage, signed the bill Tuesday. The legislature’s emergency-declaration resolution does not require his signature, nor can it be vetoed. These and all session bills can be tracked on the General Assembly’s website at cga.ct.gov.

The measures represent a shift in the policies and politics of managing a pandemic nearing the end of its second year, as Lamont joins other Democratic governors in easing remaining mandates, most notably masks in schools and preschools.

The Lamont administration invited the legislature to let his emergency power lapse and instead impose a limited emergency for the main purpose of preserving federal aid, as well as the 11 executive orders.

The federal aid has averaged $30 million a month, administration officials said.

School Guidance

Lamont has said responsibility for continuing a mask mandate in schools will fall to local school boards on February 28, the first day back to school after a vacation week for many districts.

The Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Connecticut State Department of Education announced February 16 they are in the process of providing public health guidance for Connecticut’s schools in response to decreasing levels of COVID-19 in the state and in advance of the planned February 28 elimination of the statewide school mask requirement.

The guidance will advise schools on how to manage COVID-19 safely as part of a routine disease prevention model and will be posted in the coming days.

The goal of this model is to support schools as they continue in-person learning with as few disruptions as possible. Once the guidance is finalized, it will be shared with all districts and schools throughout the state’s extensive network of superintendents, school medical advisors, school nurses, local school board members, local health directors, and others who make up the school ecosystem.

The school guidance will be posted at portal.CT.gov/DPH and portal.ct.gov/SDE.

Until June 30, the commissioner of education would have the authority to reinstate a statewide school mask mandate in consultation with the commissioner of public health.

Bolinsky: ‘Enough Is Enough’

State Representative Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) voted against extending the civil preparedness and public health emergencies, as well as the extension of executive orders issued by Lamont, including the continued mandatory masking of children in schools.

Rep Bolinsky observed: “HJ-1 will extend the declared state of emergency to 27 months to 2¼ years. A lot of constituents have expressed sentiments that could be summed up as ‘enough was enough.’”

Bolinsky also reported, “a dozen constituents expressed, in no uncertain terms, that the emergency is clearly not over and the declarations should continue.”

The state rep supported the amendment on the bill that would have permitted “parental choice” instead of mandated school mask mandates.

“Parents know what’s best for their children, government should not make that decision in a one-size-fits-all, statewide mandate. No governmental authority can possibly know better than a loving parent what’s most appropriate for their child. If a parent believes their child should mask, they absolutely should have the choice to mask, without being judged for that family’s decision. Should not the same ability to choose also be afforded to parents who wish not to mask their children?” asked Bolinsky.

“Many of our school-aged children have been adversely affected socially, emotionally and educationally (SEL), as well as physically. Their parents have sounded alarms and, now, studies are confirming learning loss and SEL issues as a result of factors like child social isolation and, their inability to see the faces and expressions of classmates and teachers has become a factor in diminishing their ability to form important relationships.”

Bolinsky concluded: “For most residents, life has progressed, and many of us are venturing out, albeit with restrictions. Newtowners are a resilient and thoughtful bunch who care about their neighbors, even those with different perspectives.

“Many, on different sides of this same issue, feel fatigued, restless, and isolated. Many are actively expressing concerns about feelings that their government has stopped listening to them. The two-year suspension of representative government in Connecticut is unprecedented and, as their representative, I get that. It’s the reason my focus has shifted for two years to making thousands of connections for folks who cannot wrap their heads around a government that, on March 10, 2020, stopped answering its phones and responding to written requests for help or clarity.

“Many want nothing more than clear, observation-based, statistically-scaled study data with which to provide guidance about how, or if, they and their families can navigate back to lives that feel more ‘normal’. They simply want information, in real-time, from real life and, local indicators they can rely upon to guide their choice in what they believe is best for their families. I want that, too.”

Scott ‘Had No Choice’

State Representative Tony Scott (R-Monroe) issued the following statement following the vote late last Thursday in the House:

“I supported the extension of at least some of the orders, but unfortunately because we weren’t given an opportunity to vote on them individually, I had no choice, but to vote no to any extension.

“Some of the orders I supported included preventing out-of-network insurance providers from billing vaccine providers above the Medicare rate for that service and to modify protocols that would have increased the amount of available healthcare workers who could treat COVID patients.

“Thursday evening, I voted No to extending the governor’s orders, which will continue a mask mandate for children while they are in school. The language in those orders extends that mandate through June, but the governor has indicated he will transfer decision-making about those mandates to local boards of education on February 28.

“House Republicans also introduced an amendment last night that would have allowed for parents to choose whether they wanted to opt out of mask mandates for their children while they are in school, but Democrats who have the majority in the House, voted it down.

“Parents were only given the chance to comment on these orders for their children during a last-minute public hearing that took place a day before the legislative session began. Dozens testified and the majority of them wanted an end to the school mask mandate. Parents know what is best for their children and the constituents I heard from on this issue overwhelmingly wanted to have that choice in their hands.”

Allie-Brennan Opposes Mask Mandate Extension

Rep Raghib Allie-Brennan (D-2) also released a statement on his opposition against the bills.

“Today, I voted against extending and codifying Governor Lamont’s existing executive order that allows the public health and education commissioners to make statewide mask requirements in our schools.

“Despite my opposition, the legislation still passed, and the provisions of the executive order will extend until June, though officials have the option of ending it before. Administration officials have not identified which metrics would guide their decision to lift, or potentially reimpose, the school mask mandate.

“I am 100% supportive of measures to protect our kids and our teachers. What I don’t support is the extension of mask mandates by state officials, absent any oversight or clear rationale that can be explained to educators, parents, and students. With the availability and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines, and school testing protocols, it’s time to restore a sense of normalcy. Individual towns should be empowered to decide whether to impose their own school mask mandates — or no longer require one. Ensuring public trust requires that we have clear, substantiated reasoning behind every decision. That’s what the public deserves.”

Hwang Sees ‘Serious Disconnect’

Sen Tony Hwang on Monday also registered his opposition to the bill.

“Today’s debate was the final step of a drawn out and convoluted process where there has been little public consideration or input. There has been a complete lack of representative process, transparency and metrics used in this decision-making. The HB 5047 vote resulted in a 21-14 passage, along a mostly Democrat party-line vote, while every Republican Senator voted against HB 5047 joined by 1 Senate Democrat.

“The Connecticut General Assembly could and should have been preparing for the last year and a half to restore the people’s trust, their participating voices in government, and their confidence in making educated decisions that affect them and their families’ everyday lives. We are now voting to codify Governor Lamont’s executive orders into law, with minimal notice, public hearing and policy experts. Instead of evaluating and voting on each individual proffered legislative proposal on its own merit, we are lumping nearly a dozen policies into one omnibus bill vote.

“The incredible amount of public outcry from parents and caring teachers who have seen children suffer social-emotional and developmental challenges from spending two consecutive school years in a mask should have been enough to signal that the state should be making moves to prepare schools to have a ‘mask optional’ environment. The impact on some of Connecticut’s children has been life-altering, in some resulting in lasting mental health traumas. In what world would we impose an untenable burden on our children to protect adults?

“We continue to have a serious disconnect with leaving the fate of our youngest and emotionally vulnerable residents in the hands of statewide elected and politically appointed officials — instead of parents/caregivers and local educators. With this mostly Democrat party-line vote, we will continue a flawed decision-making process that unfortunately for two years has admittedly had no medical-based benchmarks or metrics. I believe that choice for school masks needs to be optional and one of parental choice and local control guided by medical data and benchmarks and a transparent process of public input and representative government.”

Parts of this report are from articles published on CTMirror.org.

Reporter Jim Taylor can be reached at jim@thebee.com.