In Pennsylvania, both political parties now agree: No more masks! But for whom?

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) — Who — back in 2020 — would’ve imagined it?

Five years after one of the biggest divisions between Democrats and Republicans was over whether or not to require masks in places like schools, politicians from both parties are now sponsoring bills not only not requiring, but prohibiting, the wearing of masks.

Alas, there’s still disagreement, this time over who should not wear masks.

Pennsylvania House Democrats, led by Paul Friel (D-Chester County) — alarmed by masked ICE agents rounding up suspected undocumented immigrants, plus a political assassination in Minnesota by a man posing as a police officer — want to prohibit most law enforcement agents from wearing masks.

“People don’t know who is law enforcement, who is not, where these officers are from? Are they legitimate officers?” Friel said. “And I think it creates a fear that’s really unnecessary.”

Masked law enforcement officers are common in some countries but have generally been rare in the United States.

“It’s not the America I grew up in,” Friel said, adding his concern is specifically with ICE — not with most local and state police agencies, nor would he stop those agents either from wearing masks in limited cases.

“Absolutely, there’s an appropriate time — undercover work — where police or law enforcement won’t identify themselves, and it’s for the officer’s safety and everyone’s safety not to do so,” Friel said. “There’s nothing in our bill that says you don’t do that.”

But Rep. Kristin Marcell (R-Bucks County) said she’s concerned about different people wearing masks: pro-Palestine protestors, who in some cases have spread antisemitic messages, as well as masked criminals.

Along with Rep. Martina White (R-Philadelphia), Marcell is sponsoring two bills. One, addressing the protests, would prohibit wearing masks in public spaces. The other would impose harsher sentences on people who wear masks while committing crimes (such as bank robberies).

“We’re trying to ensure we’re not helping criminals evade the system and evade arrest,” Marcell said.

As for the protests, “We still have a lot of these antisemitic incidents and protests occurring,” Marcell said. “And many of the photos I’ve seen include everyone wearing masks and face coverings.”

Friel called the enhanced sentences bill unnecessary (a bank robber should already be in prison for robbing a bank, he said) and the public spaces bill excessive.

“Somebody who’s saying ‘we’re going to deny free speech’ or ‘protesters don’t wear a mask,’ then I think that’s eroding our civil rights,” Friel said.

Any of the bills would require some bipartisan support — and thus likely some compromise — in order to become law. That’s because the bills would need to pass both the Democrat-controlled House and GOP-controlled Senate before they could go to the desk of Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, for him to consider signing them into law.

“Obviously, we want to make sure we’re upholding the First Amendment,” Marcell said.