WASHINGTON - March 3, 2021 - President Joe Biden just has blasted the governors of Texas and Mississippi for engaging in "Neanderthal thinking" for ending mask mandates, and he previously promised to "do everything possible" from "an executive standpoint" to "make it required that people had to wear masks in public."

But, notes public interest law professor John Banzhaf, he has so far refused to take a simple act, now being considered by his own White House COVID-19 Response Team, which could save thousands of lives during the remainder of his first hundred days in office. It's something he could do today or this week which doesn't require any action by Congress, argues Banzhaf.

The situation is actually much more deadly, because there are now some sixteen states - Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas - which do not require mask, even though science proves that failing to wear masks during the current crisis will kill many people, including innocent children and people who do wear masks.

But a simple announcement by the President that he will direct HHS to give priority in awarding health-related grants to schools, hospitals, universities, and other entities from states which have a mask mandate in place would put enormous pressure on the governors and legislatures to avoid possibly loosing this essential funding.

Many federal grants already require, as conditions for receiving the money, that states have various policies in place, so requiring a mask policy, much less simply giving priority to applications from states which have such a policy, would clearly be within Biden's executive power, and would help fulfill his promise to "do everything possible . . .to "make it required that people had to wear masks in public."

JOHN F. BANZHAF III, B.S.E.E., J.D., Sc.D.
Professor of Public Interest Law
George Washington University Law School
"The Man Behind the Ban on Cigarette Commercials"
FAMRI Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor
Fellow, World Technology Network
Founder, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)
Inventor of the "Banzhaf Index"
2000 H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20052, USA
(202) 994-7229 // (703) 527-8418
http://banzhaf.net/ jbanzhaf3ATgmail.com @profbanzhaf

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