Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts (R) is threatening to withhold federal COVID-19 relief funds from counties that require people to wear masks while inside government buildings and courthouses.
“Counties are not prohibited from requiring masks, but if they want CARES Act money, they have to be fully open, and that means they cannot deny service for not wearing a mask,” Taylor Gage, a spokesperson for Ricketts, said in a statement on Thursday, according to local reports.
Ricketts “encourages people to wear a mask,” Gage asserted, “but does not believe that failure to wear a mask should be the basis for denying taxpayers’ services.”
Nebraska received approximately $1 billion from the CARES Act, of which $100 million may be allocated to counties at the governor’s discretion.
Dakota County Assessor Jeff Curry blasted Ricketts’ mandate.
“It sure would have been nice to be able to sit down with our health director and County Board and have a conversation about what to do, without being mandated to do it,” he told the Omaha World-Herald.
The feds buy 100m doses of the new 2020 version of laetrile, but just trying to use the one thing that is showing any promise at all for beating this thing is treated as a terrorist incident. Gotta luve me some modern-GOP.
It’s like the dam impounding Lake Stupid burst today.
Michael C. Bender
@MichaelCBender
Trump to
@WSJ
: Covid testing is “overrated” and some Americans may be wearing masks to signal disapproval of him—not as a preventative measure. “I personally think testing is overrated, even though I created the greatest testing machine in history."
Looks like Ricketts is saying that wearing masks negates the need for COVID relief?
That is a real quote? JFC
I’m afraid so. I will never forgive the cult of Trump voters for fucking over this country.