HARRISBURG — Sen. Doug Mastriano (R-33) released the following statement after national and local reporting uncovered partisan meddling in Bucks County had overruled the recommendations of its local health director to make masks optional in public schools in the 2021-22 academic year:
“It’s no surprise that a Democratic operative thought he knew better than the director of the Bucks County Health Department when it came to school masking policies. It’s clear that a coordinated effort to force students to wear masks unfolded thanks to a rogue county staffer and pressure from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.”
“This information would have never come to light if not for the relentless efforts of residents who demanded to know why the county reversed course just days before the school year began.”
“The science on masking has been disproven and, worse still, studies show the practice harms a child’s social and emotional development. Furthermore, no such precaution was ever mandated during the Swine Flu outbreak just over a decade ago. And still, the Wolf administration forced Bucks County children and their families to submit to their limited, out-of-touch worldview.”
“Wolf and his allies have gaslit parents for too long. Here we are a year later, reading about the insidious interference that went on behind closed doors – all because bureaucrats think they know what’s best for our children.”
“We must do everything we can to limit government overreach. Even as we put the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic into the rearview, there’s no limit to the public crises that could trigger another government takeover of our lives.
“That’s why I introduced Senate Bill 996 earlier this year, which would establish a Parental Bill of Rights. A dozen other states have enshrined these rights via statutes, though no such protections exist in Pennsylvania.”
“We need this now more than ever after the constant erosion of parental rights over the past two years. We saw schools shuttered and families left without in-person learning alternatives. Parents have been labeled as domestic terrorists simply for advocating for what they felt was best for their child. This needs to end and power returned to the parents who know better than any bureaucrat what’s best for their child.”
CONTACT: Doug Zubeck