Bill before NH House would ban mask mandates

A bill introduced in a New Hampshire House committee on Tuesday would prohibit state or local government mask mandates, such as the one enacted by the Keene City Council six weeks ago.

Rep. Al Baldasaro, the prime sponsor of House Bill 1224, said he doubts the effectiveness of commonly used masks and feels the government should not be requiring people to wear face coverings.

“I think it’s out of control,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “It’s all feel-good stuff.”

His bill would also prohibit businesses from requiring employees or customers to be vaccinated.

The Londonderry Republican acknowledged that the legislation, if passed, would not supersede a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing a federal vaccination mandate for workers at facilities receiving Medicare and Medicaid money.

Keene City Councilor Randy Filiault, who proposed Keene’s mask ordinance, said municipalities should be allowed to continue to decide on local masking requirements.

“This whole issue is about people’s health,” he said in an interview Tuesday. “This wasn’t supposed to be a political issue.”

Cheshire Medical Center in Keene has been operating at capacity in order to care for those sickened by the virus.

“If the state doesn’t want to do the right thing and take care of the health of constituents, then at least let local communities take care of it,” Filiault said.

City councilors are set to consider extending the mandate — which must be reviewed at least every 60 days — at their meeting Thursday. Keene Police Chief Steven Russo noted this week his department has responded to about two dozen complaints, but has not penalized anyone over the mask mandate.

Vaccines are safe and effective, and masks should be worn indoors in areas of substantial or high transmission of the virus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The NH Department of Health and Human Services says there is substantial transmission of the virus currently statewide.

The CDC said side effects from vaccines are generally mild and that benefits of the vaccine far outweigh any health risks from the injection.

Baldasaro questioned the CDC advice and said businesses should have no right to require vaccines in any case.

He has not received the vaccine himself, saying he still suffers the after-effects of vaccinations he was given while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.

“It should be each individual’s choice,” Baldasaro said. “In the military I didn’t have any choice.”

The bill would also prohibit state or local government agencies from issuing “immunity passports,” which he said would be an intrusion on personal privacy. No such passports are being issued now.

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Testimony after the bill’s introduction in the House Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs Committee included representatives of medical associations who said the measure could harm public health.

Others said the legislation was needed to protect individual liberty, or were critical of the vaccine itself.

Jay Korsen, a Manchester chiropractor, criticized COVID-19 vaccines as being harmful to the human immune system.

“This is really an experimental medication that has gone awry,” Korsen said.

He said he had to abandon his chiropractic practice in Rhode Island after that state required health-care workers to be vaccinated for the virus.

Pam DiNapoli, executive director of the NH Nurses Association, asked the committee to remember the COVID-19 pandemic is still spreading, leading to hospitalizations and deaths.

A total of 417 new cases of the virus were announced Tuesday, and 292 were hospitalized for COVID-19 in New Hampshire, according to the latest state statistics. A total of 2,223 deaths have been reported to date from the virus in the state.

DiNapoli said masking, vaccinations, social distancing and staying at home when you’re sick are proven ways of limiting the spread of COVID-19, which, if not utilized, “will continue the spread of a communicable illness and death.”

Paula Minihan, senior vice president for government relations with the NH Hospital Association, said requiring the vaccination of health-care workers is not new. They are routinely required to be inoculated for a range of illnesses and are understanding of the process.

“They have seen first-hand the devastation COVID-19 can have on patients, especially the unvaccinated.”

The committee will eventually decide in executive session whether to recommend the bill’s passage to the full House.

Online testimony submissions showed 576 in support of the bill and 148 against.

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Rick Green can be reached at RGreen@KeeneSentinel.com or 603-355-8567.

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.