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Delegate Hodges Issues Statement on Executive Order 63 and Burden on Businesses Regarding Face Masks

Following Governor Ralph Northam’s announcement of Executive Order 63 regarding face mask requirements and the Virginia Department of Health’s authority to revoke business licenses for non-compliance, Delegate Keith Hodges issued the following statement:

“First and foremost, I encourage the community to utilize face coverings to help slow the spread of COVID-19. It is a best practice that we should all be adhering to. What is not a best practice, however, is the unreasonable new mandate from Governor Northam that will hold businesses accountable for the enforcement of his Executive Order 63. Businesses are just now able to start getting their feet back under them from mandated closures. If we have any hope of returning Virginia as ‘the best state to do business,’ or of preventing businesses from closing for good because the burdens they are carrying are too great, the Administration needs to reconsider the enforcement of this order.”