Flashback to bold public testimonies of Kentuckians on the dangers of face masking

during the Kentucky Legislature 2020 and 2021 Interim Sessions

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Senator Stephen West, D-27

Senator Stephen West, R, D-27

Senator Stephen West, D-27

Representative David Hale, R, D-74

KET video, September 2020

KET video, August 2021

Fastzone is scheduled to be published as a conservative news website in autumn 2022.

Historic testimony

Be proud of the Kentuckians who spoke out about the dangers of face masks during committee hearings of the 2020 and 2021 Interim Legislative Sessions. Their words were from the heart as they urged the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee (ARRS) to find the mask mandate(s) deficient.

No public comment was allowed regarding the mask mandate before the September 2020 hearing, though the emergency statute to wear masks became effective May 11, 2020.

Senator Stephen West (D-27) and Representative David Hale (D-74), both Republicans, deserve credit for providing the opportunity for the public forum in the Committee hearings.

Eight testimonies with text of the audio are linked in the above menu. The sound and text files are easy to access relative to locating the speaker in the KET videos. The videos feature many other testimonies.

After the 2020 hearing, Sen. David Hale motioned to find the emergency administrative regulation deficient. Sen. Stephen West outlined the reasons it should be found deficient. Despite this, the motion failed to carry. The 2020 ARRS Committee members and their votes were:

  1. Sen. Stephen West - (R) - Co-Chair - yes, find deficient
  2. Rep. David Hale - (R) - Co-Chair - yes
  3. Sen. Julie Raque Adams - (R) - no
  4. Rep. Deanna Frazier - (R) - yes
  5. Sen. Mary Lou Marzian - (D) - no
  6. Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr - (R) - no
  7. Rep. Tommy Turner - (R) - no
  8. Sen. Reginald Thomas  - (D) - no

In January 2021 two Senate Bills were expedited at the start of the Regular Session to address Gov. Beshear’s administrative overreach, and SB2 called for specific requirements for emergency administrative regulations and provision for public comment and legislative review. The 2020 ARRS testimonies helped to effect this.

In August 2021 the ARRS had a hearing on new emergency regulations that Beshear had filed despite being challenged in court. These were:

Unlike the testimonies of September 2020, some who favored masking spoke before the Administrative Regulation Review Subcommittee along with numerous persons who opposed it.

Again, Chairman Sen. West advised the committee to find these regulations deficient. He noted that ARRS could 1) Ask that a regulation be withdrawn, 2) Ask to defer a regulation, or 3) Find a regulation deficient.

If a vote of the ARRS finds a regulation deficient, the government can nevertheless move the regulation forward, but the vote marks the regulation for legislators; it sends them a message.

This time the committee found both regulations deficient. The 2021 Committee had new members and on both motions, their votes were:

  1. Sen. Stephen West - (R) - Co-Chair - yes, find deficient
  2. Rep. David Hale - (R) - Co-Chair - yes
  3. Sen. Julie Raque Adams - (R) - Absent
  4. Rep. Deanna Frazier Gordon - (R) - yes
  5. Sen. Mary Lou Marzian - (D) - no
  6. Sen. Ralph Alvarado - (R) yes
  7. Rep. Randy Bridges - (R) yes
  8. Sen. David Yates - (D) no

Despite this, we now have the Kentucky Department of Health and Board of Education advising masks, as described in the Fastzone Substack post linked to this web page.

Conservatives know that the guidance is based on a false narrative whether for school children or others.

Legislators, administrators, committees, and courts are deciding our future, often based on what can only be described as disinformation. We must speak out. It is impossible for procedures to be designed or for just verdicts to be decided based on disinformation.

To help our children, get involved with Parent Choice Parent Voice!

This article covers a tiny portion of the debate on face masking. Thousands of articles, legislative initiatives and court cases around the world could be reviewed but time and space do not permit.

Some links of interest published in August 2022

The “safe and effective” narrative is falling apart

Too little, too late: Disband the CDC now

CDC Recommends Wearing Masks to Avoid Monkeypox, Ignoring an Important Factor

Dozens of protesters call for JCPS to get rid of mandatory masking

Teachers are leaving Louisville classrooms in droves. Can JCPS stop the bleed?

Security threats at Louisville public schools quadrupled this year. Here's why.

UN Recruited Over 100,000 'Digital First Responders' To Push Establishment COVID Narrative