Congresswoman for Iowa’s 2nd District Mariannette Miller-Meeks recently spoke on the House floor to show support for the Unmask Our Kids Act introduced by fellow Iowa Congresswoman Ashley Hinson.

The proposed bill would prohibit federal funds from being made available to any preschool, kindergarten, elementary school, or secondary school that do not provide an in-person instruction option and allow parents to opt out their children from wearing face coverings in schools. Representative Miller-Meeks says that additional funding through the CARES Act was given to public schools in March of 2021 to help schools return to in-person learning and that they have not seen these efforts materialize in all districts. She expresses her support for Hinson and the Unmask Our Kids Act, “I think that Ashley’s Hinson’s bill to unmask and have in person learning follows the science. And you should not get additional funds in order to put children back in schools if you are going to suspend them from school if they don’t wear a mask when we’re not worried about or concerned about the health of children. Because the science shows that clearly, they are at infinitesimally low risk and they’re at low risk of transmission.”

This bill comes as  Iowa’s public health disaster emergency proclamation expires today and the state’s two COVID sites will be decommissioned tomorrow, though information will remain accessible online through other state and federal resources, according to Governor Kim Reynolds’ office. Iowans are no longer required to wear face masks in courtrooms effective Monday, though judges may require masks at their discretion, state Supreme Court Chief Justice Susan Christensen announced last Friday.