by Chap Peterson

March 1 is an anniversary I remember well.

That was the day in 2022 that SB 739 took effect on an emergency basis, ending COVID19 restrictions in Virginia public schools — two years after they began. 

In a nutshell, it allowed children ages 5-18 to attend school without a mask over their face. Amazingly they survived and are still with us. 

This memory has been swept under the rug by those responsible: the media, the legal system, the politicians. Because, let’s face it, these “health” policies made no sense at the time and they had an enormous negative impact on our children which is still being felt. But back to the story at hand …

In the 2021 session, SB 1303 had formally reopened schools in Virginia after they had been closed for a year in reaction to COVID19. That victory was a massive struggle for many of us. Wrongly, we thought the war had been won over COVID19 shutdown policies. 

In August 2021, Governor Northam — who had watched from the sidelines during the debate of SB 1303 — announced that all schools must impose a mask mandate on children, even as retail stores and restaurants were transitioning to normal status. 

Of course, there was no need for this; our children were at minimal, if any, risk from COVID19 and the uniquely vulnerable could be handled on a case-by-case basis. 

Yet his announcement pleased the progressive set. Child masking was “popular” for many reasons. One, it only effected kids. Two, it reaffirmed a sense of moral superiority to proponents. Three, it allowed them to isolate families who had not adopted “correct” COVID19 opinions.  

I personally believed that forced masking of children was both abusive and anti-American. But I was the distinct minority. When I objected publicly, I was scolded by The Washington Post editorial page (not yet subject to the Bezos “freedom” directive) and ignored by the Northam administration, whom I had repeatedly asked for studies comparing our children’s health outcomes with “no masking” states like Florida and Ohio.  

So I could only fume as my own children marched off to school each day (even in summer weather) with masks over their face. Students that refused to wear masks were kicked off teams and suspended from school.

The mandate continued into 2022 with no end in sight. Indeed, the CDC threshold criteria were being openly influenced by interest groups. Nobody was addressing the obvious, which was that a generation of children was being sacrificed for no quantifiable reason.

In January 2022, Senator Siobhan Dunnavant, R-Henrico, filed legislation to make “permanent” the reopening of schools. Immediately, I knew we had a vehicle to solve the masking issue — assuming we could get the bill to the Governor. I secured the support of two Senate Democrats, who I respected. So we had the votes, but I wanted all Democrats to support this necessary change.

On February 8, 2022, I submitted a floor amendment to SB 739 which would make masking “optional” for public school students. I brought this up in Caucus and said: this is the right thing to do and Democrats should get credit for it. My amendment passed 29-9 on the floor. Normalcy was back! 

That night came the Backlash. Hysterical messages circulated on left-leaning social media, and thousands of “moms” weighed in against my idea. By the next day, all the Democrats had backed off, except Joe Morrisey and Lynwood Lewis. With their votes, we barely passed the bill 21-19. On the House side, every Democrat voted “no” to ending child masking. It passed on a party-line vote. 

(Of the 24 representatives of Fairfax County in the 2022 General Assembly, every single one voted against the bill — except me. Of course, they avoided the months of angry emails, physical threats and slammed doors).

On February 14, I met with the Governor to work out the final details. He added an emergency clause, which made the bill immediately effective. I agreed but simply asked that the date be held until March 1, 2022, so the schools could adjust their own HR policies. (Wisely, most of them jettisoned their own employee-masking requirements).

On February 16, both bodies (barely) approved the Governor’s amendment. On March 1, 2022, the law took effect statewide. 

The enactment of SB 739 was historic and had a national impact. 

In 2021, Virginia had been the first “blue state” to reopen its schools through legislative action. In 2022, it led the way in ending child masking as a matter of state law. Very quickly, the CDC shifted its own guidance (again) and various public health organizations followed. By the summer of 2022, child mask mandates were finished in the USA. 

Today the era of forced masking is mostly ignored. Nobody defends it. The activists have moved on.

But it should not be forgotten. The COVID19 shutdowns in March 2020, the abusive restrictions of children, and the shaming of anyone who spoke up  was a unique event in American history — and perhaps the seminal event of the 21st century. It was made possible by a weakened sense of our own constitutional rights and a pathetic desire to follow the (on-line) mob. That national weakness peaked between 2020 and 2022. 

President Harry Truman once said: “One man with courage makes a majority.” That statement is never more true than now.

In time, future Americans will study these issues in order to do better.  That’s all we can.

Chap Petersen is a Northern Virginia attorney and former Democratic state senator. This column is republished with permission from his blog The Virginia Attorney.