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Press Release: API Urges Governor to Rescind Pandemic Restrictions

Birmingham, Ala. – Today (March 3, 2021), by direct email to the governor’s office and members of the Governor’s Coronavirus Task Force, the Alabama Policy Institute (API) formally urged the governor to rescind the existing mask mandate that has been in place for nearly 8 continuous months and to fully reopen the State of Alabama by loosening remaining societal restrictions.

API’s Chief Policy Officer Phil Williams has served as a member of the Task Force for much of the past year giving API opportunities to voice its concerns regarding the limitations placed on civil liberties, to provide research, and to ask key questions.

“It is time to trust the good people of this state by giving them the opportunity to exercise personal responsibility and personal freedom,” said Williams.  “Alabama must return to its place as an outpost of freedom where the people of this state know that their civil liberties are not abridged and that fear is not an option.”

In providing this input to the governor, API fully acknowledged the pandemic’s realities but took note that research and data illustrate that Alabama’s new case average is 60% lower now than it was when the mask mandate was first implemented. Hospitalizations are 53% fewer. Vaccines are becoming more readily available. Positive tests are running just under 8% as opposed to the previous high of 22%. API also pointed to the fact that neighboring states to the south and west have already loosened their restrictions, and were joined by Texas on March 2nd. Roughly 19 states have no mask mandate in place at this time.

API President Caleb Crosby joined the call for personal responsibility by stating “Freedom should always be the starting point for discussion of any action taken by government. The toll on our state has been significant, but not just from the virus itself. The toll taken on society, small businesses, churches, school children, mental health, and more, has been prolific. We have progressed to the point that we must take care not to let the response become more burdensome than the virus itself.”

The Alabama Policy Institute urges Governor Ivey to remove all remaining barriers to the reopening of Alabama.

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