Mask Mandate Ban Pushed by Republican Nurse

A Michigan State Board of Education member and candidate for U.S. Senate wants her state to ban any future mask mandates to get ahead of "government and bureaucratic overreach" before it occurs.

A resolution introduced Tuesday by Republican Nikki Snyder, a registered nurse and mother of three children in Michigan's public school system, was voted down 6-2 by the board. It was Snyder's second such resolution introduced in the past three years.

From August 27 to September 2, there was an increase of 8.7 percent in new COVID-19 hospitalizations when compared to the previous week, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, totaling nearly 19,000 cases nationally. On September 5, the state of Michigan reported its fifth straight week of increased COVID-related hospitalizations, totaling an average of 3.3 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents.

Following Tuesday's vote, Snyder told Newsweek that it was a "partisan" result and that she intends to reintroduce additional resolutions should Michigan officials attempt to enforce any mandates in the future.

"We are seeing mask mandates and recommendations across the country," Snyder said. "We will not wait until those same things affect our children in Michigan before we act. This is about preventing it from happening at all in Michigan schools."

Thus far, only schools in Maryland, Alabama, New Orleans and Atlanta have imposed some type of COVID-related restrictions.

Snyder said that prior to the board voting down her resolution, she and other members were relayed information about the state's K-12 education process as it relates to masks and effects on students.

"The data in Michigan, as well as the data seen across America, clearly shows students are negatively affected by the masking," she said. "From an education perspective, they do not learn as well and from a socialization perspective, they are divided between kids that do and kids that do not wish to mask.

"The science and data are clear: masks do not work. The best thing to do is keep your individual child home if they are infected. As a nurse, I know the purpose and design of masks and we have been publicly misusing masks during COVID. Masks are meant for large droplets, not mass protection of the spread of SARS."

A Pew Research Center survey published in October 2022 found that about 61 percent of respondents said their children suffered both academically and mentally due to the pandemic and the restrictions put in place. About 44 percent reported that the effects remained a year later, while about 56 percent labeled the situation as temporary.

Decreases in students' test scores are not beholden to the U.S. educational system. A study published in the journal Nature Human Behavior in January cited data from 15 nations, with an overall determination being that the effects of remote learning will take a long time to remedy globally.

Snyder is running for U.S. Senate to fill the impending void by longtime Democratic Senator Debbie Stabenow, who earlier this year announced she would not run for reelection for a seat she has held since 2001. Snyder will face off against former U.S. Representative Mike Rogers, who announced last week, and other Republicans who could include former U.S. Representative Peter Meijer.

"I have a proven track record of fighting for government accountability, parental rights in education, and the freedoms that Americans value," said Snyder, who is also against vaccine mandates. "I fought to keep schools open and keep kids unmasked.

"I will win the U.S. Senate seat in Michigan because Michiganders know it is time to send a tough pissed off mom to represent them and fight for them."

Newsweek reached out via email to Governor Gretchen Whitmer's office and to Michigan State Board of Education leadership via email for comment.