A Republican governor is threatening to withhold $100 million in federal relief funds from cities if local officials mandate wearing masks in public buildings
- Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts threatened to withhold $100 million in federal relief funds from cities and county governments if their offices mandated wearing a mask.
- Public-health experts say wearing face masks is a critical way to keep the coronavirus from spreading.
- The Omaha World-Herald reported that the governor's spokesperson said offices had to be "fully open" to receive federal coronavirus aid.
Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts of Nebraska is threatening to withhold more than $100 million in coronavirus relief funds from cities if local officials mandate wearing a mask in courthouses and other government offices — a measure widely urged by public-health officials to curb the spread of the virus.
According to the Omaha World-Herald, Ricketts has repeatedly advised Nebraskans to wear a mask when they go into a store. But a new rule would effectively compel cash-strapped county and local governments to comply to receive federal aid.
"Counties are not prohibited from requiring masks, but if they want CARES Act money, they have to be fully open, and that means they cannot deny service for not wearing a mask," Taylor Gage, the governor's spokesman, told the newspaper.
Gage said while Ricketts believes people should wear masks out in public, he doesn't believe "failure to wear a mask should be the basis for denying taxpayers' services."
The governor's office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Under the CARES Act enacted in March, Nebraska received about $1 billion to help the state manage a surge of coronavirus-related spending, according the Omaha World Herald. Nearly $100 million was set aside for city and county governments, with Ricketts in charge of deciding how the federal cash would be used.
A guidance order issued last month to county and local governments said their offices must reopen by June 15 to receive the money. While offices could implement social-distancing restrictions, the rule said, "customers may be encouraged to wear face coverings, but may not be refused service for failure to do so."
Local officials told the newspaper they had little choice but to comply with the governor's order.
The order comes as over a dozen states weather a surge of coronavirus infections, many of which had moved to reopen in recent weeks. President Donald Trump said the US "wouldn't be closing down the country again" on Thursday evening.
In Nebraska, there have been at least 17,226 recorded coronavirus infections, according to a New York Times database. Cases are lower compared with a month ago in the state, but it's still reporting over 100 infections each day.