Arkansas lawmakers adjourn, leave mask mandate ban intact

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas lawmakers on Friday left the state's mask mandate ban in place, ending a session called to revisit the prohibition for schools because of the state's COVID-19 surge.

The majority-Republican Legislature adjourned the special session that GOP Gov. Asa Hutchinson had called to consider rolling back the ban for some schools. Hutchinson signed the ban in April but said the change was needed to protect children under 12 who can't get vaccinated as the state's virus cases and hospitalizations skyrocket.

A House panel on Thursday rejected two measures to allow some school districts to issue mask requirements.

There had been growing calls to lift the ban before school starts statewide later this month. The ban is already being challenged in two lawsuits, including one from an east Arkansas school district where more than 800 students and staff have quarantined because of a COVID-19 outbreak.

“I think we're going to come to really regret not taking action," Democratic Sen. Keith Ingram, the chamber's minority leader, said. “I just hope the consequences aren't fatal for children or staff or teachers in this state."

Pediatricians and health officials have said that masks in schools are needed to protect children, as the delta variant and Arkansas’ low vaccination rate fuels the state’s spiraling cases. The state on Monday reported its biggest one-day increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations since the pandemic began, and the Department of Health on Thursday said only 36 intensive care unit beds were available in the state.

But Hutchinson faced heavy opposition from fellow Republicans, who had been inundated with calls and messages from opponents of masks in schools.

Opponents of lifting the ban who testified before the Legislature repeatedly cited...