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Indianapolis Republicans call for repeal of health department’s mask mandate

A view of people on a downtown Indianapolis sidewalk in August 2020. (WISH Photo)

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Republicans on the Indianapolis City-County Council on Thursday called on Marion County’s health department leader to end the mask mandate.

In a news release, Republican cited months of “negative effects of the mask mandate” but offered no details.

The Republicans are in the minority on the council. A proposed resolution was submitted Thursday to the council clerk to be scheduled for a future meeting.

The proposed resolution asks for the mandate to be repealed. The proposal also asks the Marion County Public Health Department to refrain from closing a business or private school based on its mask policy, and to allow businesses, retailers and individual people to decide on their own mask policies.

The proposed resolution begins, “A SPECIAL RESOLUTION recognizing the diminishment of personal freedom when our citizens are required to perform acts by an unelected government body under threat of civil fines and prosecution and calling for a repeal of the mask mandate.”

Statement

“The Marion County Health Department has been free to operate without any checks or balances for far too long. The fact that an unelected county official can shut down a business, private school, or create a fine with the simple stroke of a pen without any oversight, should be alarming to anyone who cherishes personal freedom and responsibility. No one is arguing masks don’t work. This is an oversight and accountability issue. We trust our neighbors and business owners to serve on juries, civic organizations, PTOs, and school boards; however, apparently the trust ends there. The leadership in our county does not trust them to determine their own mask policy. Hundreds of businesses have permanently closed due to these overreaching mandates. I hope Dr. Caine and the Marion County Health Department will be responsive to these concerns, and I welcome my fellow Councilors from across the county to join me on this resolution.” 

Josh Bain, a Republican on the Indianapolis City-County Council