Golden State Today

Bills on mask mandate exemption and revised tax structure for businesses have been approved by their respective committees.

HB2770, a bill introduced by Rep. Joseph Chaplik (R-Scottsdale) which would exempt businesses from the mask mandate, passed out of the House Commerce Committee, 6-4.

"It's a simple bill,” Chaplik said. "It restores the freedom and liberties back to the individual and the individuals that own a business, to make their own decisions."

Chaplik also mentioned to the House Commerce Committee that he has received a lot of appreciation emails and mostly stating that private businesses should have their own freedom to implement their own protocols.

The bill reads, “notwithstanding any other law, a business in this state is not required to enforce on its premises a mask mandate that is established by this state, a city, town or county or any other jurisdiction of this state.”

Chaplik also introduced HB 2838, legislation that “revises Arizona tax structure for taxpayers and protects small business from over-taxation by the federal government, without impacting the state general fund,” a news release from the Arizona House of Representatives stated.

The House Ways and Means Committee approved HB 2838 with a vote that was divided by party line, 6-4.