Texas Tribune: “As the Texas war over mask mandates rages in the courts and in school board meetings, state legislators decided to stay out of the fight and leave Gov. Greg Abbott to his own devices. To stop a growing number of school districts from defying Abbott’s ban on mask mandates, the governor had called on Texas lawmakers to put a bill on his desk that would once and for all bar school officials from requiring students, teachers and other school employees to wear face coverings – and put an end to the constant back-and-forth in the courts that has created a confusing patchwork of mask rules across the state.”
“But in a special session that saw the passage of a number of Abbott’s priorities – among them a controversial GOP elections bill and a bill to forbid the teaching of ‘critical race theory’ – the prospect of banning local governments and public schools from creating their own mask requirements never gained traction. As Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton vowed to punish any school district that defied Abbott’s ban, a bill by state Rep. Jeff Leach, a Plano Republican, to prevent school boards from putting mask mandates in place fell apart in the final week of the session. Senate Republicans, meanwhile, didn’t even bother to put up a bill dealing with masks, and lawmakers left Austin on Thursday night without weighing in on mask mandates at all.”