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Walz to mandate face masks indoors across Minnesota

Star Tribune - 7/22/2020

Gov. Tim Walz is expected to announce a statewide mandate on Wednesday requiring Minnesotans to wear face masks in stores, public buildings and other indoor spaces where people gather, a dramatic extension of his emergency powers in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic that still appears on the upswing in many states.

The governor said Tuesday that he expected to issue the order in the coming days. A spokesman confirmed to the Star Tribune that a 2 p.m. Wednesday news conference is related to masks.

“If we can get 90 to 95% mask compliance over the next four to five weeks, we think the statistical numbers make it so we can maintain and continue to open,” Walz said Tuesday in a briefing on the state’s continuing efforts to battle the pandemic.

The new mask rule has been recommended by public health experts and already has been adopted in some form in several Minnesota cities and more than two dozen other states. But while some large retailers have said they would welcome a legal mandate, the move faces opposition from Republican leaders in the state who see it as an overreach of his executive powers.

Face masks have become a symbol of the political divisions surrounding the coronavirus, particularly in Minnesota, where GOP leaders have challenged Walz’s peacetime emergency powers -- so far without success -- in the Legislature and in the courts.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, reiterated his opposition to a statewide mandate on Tuesday, saying such decisions should be left to local governments.

“I think if a local community or a local business wants to have a mask mandate, that’s where this should play out,” Gazelka told WCCO Radio.

Details of Walz’s new order are anticipated later in the day, though they are expected to cover only places of public accommodation, not people’s private homes.

The announcement comes a day after a second session of the Legislature that was called to review Walz’s emergency powers, which he has used earlier to temporarily close schools, restaurants, and other public places. GOP efforts to end those powers failed in the Legislature, though many of the closures have been relaxed in the past month.

Torey Van Oot • 651-925-5049

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