LITTLE ROCK - Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson pressed forward Tuesday with efforts to allow schools to mandate face masks as the state's coronavirus cases continued to spiral.
But Hutchinson faces heavy opposition from fellow Republicans over the move.
Hutchinson called the majority-GOP Legislature back into session to take up the change to a state law he signed in April prohibiting mask mandates by schools and other governmental bodies. The session, which would begin Wednesday, will also include a proposal to prevent the state from having to resume making supplemental unemployment benefits to thousands of residents.
Hutchinson has faced growing calls to revisit the ban as the state's cases and hospitalizations surge. Arkansas on Monday reported its biggest one-day jump in hospitalizations since the pandemic began.
But the move faces heavy GOP opposition in the Legislature and getting the two-thirds support in the House and Senate to change the law before school starts faces an uphill battle. The Republican leader of the state Senate told reporters the proposal doesn't even have a simple majority in his chamber.
Two Arkansas parents filed a lawsuit Monday challenging the mask mandate ban as unconstitutional and asked a state judge to block its enforcement.