As of Friday, July 3, almost all of Texas is now under a requirement to wear a face covering while in public. It’s something local governments had been pleading for, and now that the state order is in place, some, like Austin Mayor Steve Adler, want even more ability to craft local policies.
“I would like for individual cities in Texas to be able to tailor the action to what’s needed in that city, and what that local community wants to do,” Adler told CNN on Monday.
For more than a week, Austin Public Health has warned that unchanged public behavior would almost certainly force the recommendation for another shutdown of the private sector, which Adler has said could be as long as 35 days. However, even with more ability to enforce things like mask mandates, cities still must seek permission from Governor Greg Abbott before officially ordering any closure of businesses.
Adler would like that to have that authority for himself.
“I’m urging everybody to really focus on changing behavior, staying home if you can,” said Adler on Friday. “Please wear the mask. You know, there are exceptions to the rule, but don’t concern yourself with the exceptions.”
Currently, Abbott’s latest order allows cities and counties to enforce mask mandates, but Abbott does not want people jailed over the issue. If Abbott were to cede more power to local governments, it’s not clear if that might grant Austin or Travis County the ability to implement a criminal penalty, or if a criminal penalty would even be considered again. During Austin’s first shutdown, the criminal penalty that was ordered by the city became a large source of contention among opponents, and Abbott eventually issued a state order preventing cities from using jail to enforce their local orders.
“The question we’re going to be looking at here over the next week is, are we slowing things down?” Adler said
