Kansas City Council committee to hear public testimony on mask mandate. What to know
A special sitting of a Kansas City Council committee is taking public testimony on the city’s mask mandate Wednesday. This is what you need to know.
What’s on the agenda
The only item on the agenda for the evening is ordinance 210694, which would extend Kansas City’s mask mandate to Sept. 23.
Kansas City’s mandate, which went into effect Aug. 2, applies indoors to those over the age of 5 regardless of vaccination status, with some exemptions. Currently, it’s set to expire Aug. 28, but needs council approval to be extended.
Prior to the mask order, 10 Kansas City health agencies — prompted by rising COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations and low vaccination rates — issued a joint public health advisory recommending unvaccinated people wear masks.
St. Louis also previously issued a mask mandate that was met with a lawsuit from Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. That mandate was later overturned by the St. Louis County Council. Schmitt has also sued over Kansas City’s order, alleging the mandate is unconstitutional.
Days after Kansas City’s mask mandate went into effect, anti-mask protesters gathered outside City Hall to protest it. Anti-mask protesters also gathered in downtown Kansas City, Kansas, to protest the mask mandate implemented by the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, amid rising COVID-19 cases.
Where and when
The special sitting of the Transportation, Infrastructure, and Operations Committee will take place at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Kansas City Regional Police Academy at 6885 Northeast Pleasant Valley Road.
How to participate
Members of the public can participate in-person or email written testimony to the clerk’s office at public.testimony@kcmo.org. Written comments will be added to the public record. In-person testimony will be limited to two minutes each.
The meeting will last two hours. It will be live-streamed on the city’s website at kcmo.gov and on the city’s YouTube channel, Kansas City, Mo. City Communications. Kansas Citians can also watch Channel 2 on their cable system.
What’s next
After public testimony, the committee will vote on what to do with it. The public testimony helps the committee members make their decision of whether to pass the ordinance or not.
If the committee decides to recommend the ordinance is passed, it will head to the full council on Thursday at 3 p.m. Then, the council could vote to approve the ordinance.
The full council session does not take public comment.
Due to a new Missouri law that requires public health restrictions to be reviewed by the council every 30 days, the same process would happen in September if the council decides it needs to be extended.
A majority vote of council members could vote to repeal the order, though Mayor Quinton Lucas has said the majority of council members support the order.
