Gov. Jim Justice and our lawmakers have debated the idea of calling a special session of the Legislature to create a law that would mandate indoor mask wearing. While we’re all for wearing masks in enclosed public spaces, we think a special session would be a waste of time and money. Our Legislature is highly conservative and is unlikely to produce anything better than what Justice has already done. And when it comes to regulating indoor air quality, the state Legislature doesn’t have a great record.
A 2012 bill to “Create a Smoke Free West Virginia” never went anywhere. In fact, there is no statewide smoking ban. And yet, indoor smoking is almost ubiquitously prohibited. How? A Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia ruling in 2003 that affirmed a county’s board of health has “express responsibility for promoting and maintaining clean and safe air,” according to U.S. Legal. So individual boards of health, which run county health departments, set the regulations for where smoking is and is not allowed and the penalties for violations. Forget the Legislature’s special session — it’s time for county health departments to take charge.
The same Monongalia County Health Department document that spells out indoor smoking rules could be copied and then revised to mandate masks be worn inside public spaces. In the purpose section, the smoking ban says: “to recognize that where the need to breathe smoke-free air conflicts with the desire to smoke, the need to breathe smoke-free air shall have priority.” Rewrite it a little, and there’s the basis for a county-wide mask mandate: To recognize that where the need to breathe coronavirus-free air conflicts with the desire to not wear a mask, the need to breathe coronavirus-free air shall have priority.
Because exactly like smoking, your freedom to not wear a mask — and all the related consequences — does not trump everyone else’s right to breathe disease-free air.
MCHD’s smoking regulations allow it to enact penalties for violations, and those penalties would translate well for a mask mandate: “The Board of Health may, at its option, seek civil relief and/or file a misdemeanor … against any person who willfully violates this Clean Indoor Regulation.” Civil penalties are not less than $50 and not more than $500. But if you get charged with a misdemeanor and are found guilty, you’ll owe between $200 and $1,000.
The City of Morgantown has already enacted a mask mandate that remains in effect until Dec. 15. The order requires “adequate face coverings” to be worn in confined, indoor spaces. Exemptions are listed, such as when in your own home and who is exempt and for what reasons. The penalty for defying the city’s order is a misdemeanor charge and resultant fine between $25 and $500. And every day a person does not comply is a new violation.
But Morgantown’s order only covers places within city limits — and there are a lot of oft-visited public spaces outside Morgantown’s borders. That’s why the Mon County Health Department needs to step up and create a mask mandate — and every county’s health department should follow suit. Between the city’s order and the preexisting clean indoor air regulations, the board of health already has a good place to start.