NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8372
SPONSOR: Miller B TITLE OF BILL:
An act to prohibit day care centers from requiring children ages five or
under to wear face coverings or face masks
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To rescind emergency regulations issued by the Executive Branch that
require children aged two to five to wear face masks
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1. Makes it impermissible to require a face covering for a child
under five years old.Section 2. Effective Date
JUSTIFICATION:
Earlier in the pandemic, former Governor Cuomo issued an Executive Order
requiring children aged two to five to wear a facemask in a daycare
setting. That same week, I offered a hostile amendment on the floor to
repeal that directive. Within days, the governor rescinded it himself.
The reason is that all involved realized that it is impractical, unen-
forceable and unreasonable to expect a toddler to keep a face covering
on properly during eight or more hours of pre-school. Unfortunately,
current Governor Hochul has resurrected this requirement in the form of
an emergency regulation. It is as bad an idea as it was then. The World
Health Organization does not recommend masks for kids five and under,
nor do they recommend that children with developmental disabilities be
forced to wear a mask. Serious COVID related infections among young
children remain much lower than the general population. Recent data from
49 States collected by the American Academy of. Pediatrics shows that
0.1-2.0% of hospitalizations were among young children and 0.00%-0.03%
of COVID related deaths. The current policy is unreasonable and not
backed by data or science.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2021 New bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8372
2021-2022 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 20, 2021
___________
Introduced by M. of A. B. MILLER -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Children and Families
AN ACT to prohibit day care centers from requiring children ages five or
under to wear face coverings or face masks
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Notwithstanding any other provision law, rule, regulation
2 or other directive to the contrary, no state licensed or registered
3 child care centers, home-based group family and family child care
4 programs, or after-school child care programs shall require, as a condi-
5 tion of receiving any service or entering any place, any child who is
6 five years of age or younger to wear a face covering or face mask when
7 such purpose for wearing the covering or mask is related to the COVID-19
8 virus.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13235-01-1
