Morning Wire - Democrat States End Mask Mandates | 2.10.22

Episode Date: February 10, 2022

Several Democrat run states drop their mask mandates, Florida education bill protects parents' rights, and the middle class is hit hardest by housing crisis. Get the facts first on Morning Wire.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Several blue states have dropped their mask mandates in a matter of days, despite the White House and CDC still calling for widespread masking. Is the shift driven by politics or the science? We'll discuss all the factors playing into the blue state pivot. And at this time, we say that is the right decision to lift this mandate. I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley. It's Thursday, February 10th, and this is Morning Wire. A new Florida education bill is being slammed as hateful and and anti-LGB. But many lawmakers and parents say it's about protecting children and transparency. To get into situations where you're hiding things from the parent, you're ejecting these concepts about choosing your gender, that is just inappropriate.

What's in the bill and what exactly does it prohibit? And there's double trouble in the housing market. As prices increase and supplies dwindle, the middle class is finding itself left out of the American dream of owning a home. Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. This show is sponsored by Birch Gold Group. Inflation is destroying the dollar.

Birch Gold Group can help protect your IRA or 401K with a precious metals IRA. Text Wire to 98989898 to claim a free info kit on physical gold and silver. There's zero obligation. Text the word wire to 9898989. To protect your savings today. As the Biden administration continues to urge strict mask mandates in schools and indoor spaces, several Democrat governors are reversing course, opting to lift mandates as fears of the Omicron variant recede.

Here with more on what's being done and the latest data on how Americans feel about COVID restrictions is DailyWire's Cabot Phillips. So Cabot, where exactly are we seeing restrictions lifted? In places you wouldn't expect, on Monday, there appeared to be a coordinated shift in messaging on COVID among Democrat leaders, and to a certain extent, the legacy media as a whole. The governors in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Delaware, all announced on the same day, Monday, some form of rollback on indoor mask requirements. Delaware will drop its indoor mask mandate altogether, and New Jersey and Connecticut will drop their mask mandates for schools. And then on Tuesday, the really surprising one, New York Governor Kathy Hochel announced the state would be dropping their indoor mask mandate as well.

So even in New York. Yeah, New York. Republican states have had measures like this for quite some time, but a lot of people were surprised to see this coming from deep blue states, especially considering the fact that the Biden administration does still call for universal masking in schools, as well as indoor masking for high transmission spaces. And the Biden administration, how has it responded to these moves? So far, they've been pretty measured in their response, which, again, was surprising given how strongly they reacted when Republican governors like Ron DeSantis or Greg Abbott passed similar measures earlier in the year. Republicans say that shift in response now is only happening because public opinion is shifting.

White House Press Secretary Jen Saki actually appeared to hint at that point on Monday when she was asked about loosening mask mandates. Do you think it signals that perhaps the public believes it's time for a change in the federal guidelines, the CDC's guidance? Well, we certainly understand and have seen in polling that the public is tired of COVID. Okay, so why is this happening now? Well, there's two sides to this, the political and then the medical. On the medical front, when Omicron first came on the scene, we had multiple doctors here on the show who said it could actually actually be a blessing in disguise and serve as a sort of natural immunizer because it was incredibly contagious but also incredibly mild compared to the Delta variant. And it appears there was a lot of

truth to that. Cases are dropping in almost every state. And more importantly, hospitalizations are falling for the first time in over a month. There are now fewer than 100,000 Americans currently hospitalized for COVID. And a big reason, again, appears to be natural immunity. So medically speaking, things have really started to improve. Yeah, they really have. So what about the political side? Yeah, there's always a political side. The fact that we're seeing governors and Democrats strongholds like California and New York start to mirror the actions of Republican states says a lot about where the general public is on these issues now, with midterms approaching elected officials are obviously trying to get a sense of where the political winds are blowing.

And polls have started to show just how unpopular these measures have become with the majority of Americans. One recent poll, for example, found that just 44% of Americans support keeping current COVID measures in place, while nearly 75% said COVID is here to stay and we need to learn to live with it. So after two years of pushing strict mask mandates and lockdowns, it's pretty unlikely that these governors just all of a sudden change their minds and went against the advice to the Biden administration. It's a lot more likely it has to do with shifting public opinion.

Yeah, it definitely appears that way. Cabot, thanks for the reporting. Anytime. That's DailyWire's Cabot Phillips. Coming up, a new Florida education bill is sparking serious debate. You can get this show. and all of the content you love wherever you are, all on the Daily Wire app. Even if you're not a Daily Wire member, you'll be first to know what's trending with mobile

notifications for the latest news, and you'll get content from all your favorite Daily Wire shows. Download the Daily Wire app and keep up with the facts no matter where your day takes you. We've seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, oh, you know, don't worry, don't pick your gender yet, do all this other stuff. They won't tell the parents. about these discussions that are happening, that is entirely inappropriate. That was Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, discussing a new education bill in his state

that's generating a lot of media buzz. Georgia, you've been following this. What's in this bill and why is it such a flashpoint? So in cases like this, I found it's usually good practice to just read the bill rather than rely on headlines. Right. Oh, it's the case.

So anyways, this bill is HB 1557, and it focuses primarily on parlixtap on parents' rights regarding information about their child. But it does include a section prohibiting districts from encouraging classroom discussions of sexuality in primary grade levels. And that's where the controversy is. So what exactly does the bill say teachers are not allowed to talk about? Nothing.

It definitely does not ban the word gay or lesbian or transgender or any other words. The exact language of the bill is, quote, a school district may not encourage classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary grade levels or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students. So the way it's written, it doesn't prohibit discussion of LGBT topics, but it prohibits districts from encouraging teachers to discuss those topics in class, in especially primary grades or in an inappropriate manner. So in terms of age appropriateness, what? are they defining as primary grade levels? So that term is a little bit flexible because each district defines it differently, but primary grades generally refers to elementary schools, but in some districts it could include middle school. So we're talking mostly kids 10 and under,

but sometimes 13 and under. Now, President Biden has also weighed in on this bill. What did he have to say? Yeah, so he issued a tweet about this bill on Tuesday night. He said, quote, I want every member of the LGBTIQI plus community, especially kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill, to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are. I have your back, and my administration will continue to fight for the protections and safety you deserve. Hateful bill, strong words.

Yeah. When he refers to protections for LGBT students, what is he referring to? Is there anything else in this bill that could be construed as a loss of protections for these students? Well, the majority of the bill talks about parents' primates. and decisions relating to the upbringing of their child and transparency regarding information about their child. At various points, it talks about parents' rights to access information and

school records about their kids and the right to be notified of anything going on with their kid in terms of mental, emotional, or physical health. So it mandates transparency on these issues. Yes. Yes. So on the surface, the bulk of the bill is not directly related to LGBT issues. That said, some language in the bill could be read as a coy attempt to prevent schools from keeping secrets from parents about student sexualities or gender identities. For example, the bill requires schools to, quote, adopt procedures for notifying a student's parent if there is a change in a student's mental, emotional, or physical health, or well-being. Obviously, that's a really broad umbrella, but it would certainly include a child's decision

to say change gender or access gender-related medical treatment. So taken as a whole, the bill does allow parents greater access to information about their children, and especially their children's emotional state, which some activists think they ought not have. So it really boils down to this red-hot culture war issue about who has primacy to guide your child through emotional identity issues, you the parent or the state. Yeah, that really is the question.

Yes, yes. How will this bill be enforced? So like several bills we've seen this year, it includes a provision allowing parents to file civil suits against school districts if they feel the law has been violated. But that said, it's going to be some time before we, We know how much teeth this law really has. Right.

So last, the key question, do we actually expect this to become law? Well, it's already passed the Florida House, and it's expected to pass in the Senate. Governor DeSantis has already signaled pretty strong support for the bill, so for now it looks like a shoe in. All right. Well, Georgia, thanks for reporting. Yeah, no problem. The middle class is having an increasingly difficult time buying homes in the current market, which could make millennials and young families hesitant or even unable to make what's typically

their largest investment. So Charlotte, we're hearing a lot about the housing crisis. What are you seeing? Well, home prices are definitely surging nationwide, and it's affecting the middle class and young millennial families disproportionately. One study from the National Association of Realtors released on Monday showed how the rise in the cost of homes and a steep drop in supply is impacting Americans. What the study found was that at the end of 2021, there were around 411,000 fewer houses on the market in the price range for buyers earning between 75 and 100,000 compared to before the pandemic. There was only one affordable listing for every 24 households at the end of 2019.

But by the end of 2021, the options were even worse, with only one available listing for every 65 households. So the middle class was really squeezed. What about other groups? Yeah, the middle class got hit hard, but so did nearly every income group. The study by the National Association of Realtors saw that housing affordability, got worse over the past two years for every income group except the wealthiest Americans. And while the pandemic had some other potentially positive effects on the real estate market, including low mortgage rates, the number of houses for sale dropped while at the same time new home construction slowed.

These hurdles are having a negative impact on how people feel about home buying. The group most negatively affected is first-time homebuyers. That group is mostly made up of millennials who are now in their early 30s. A monthly Fannie Mae poll found that only 25% of Americans said it's a good time to buy a house, while 69% said it's a good time to sell a house, which is another record high in the survey that goes back to more than a decade ago. Now, I know a lot of my peers are concerned about buying at the top of the market, so is there any indication that the prices could level off or even dip? According to the experts, prices will probably continue to rise.

Zillow said last month that it's anticipating the value of homes to go up, 16.4% from December 2021 to December 2022. But the National Association of Realtors said these increases will continue, but at a slower rate by the end of 2022. I spoke with Nadia Evangelo, who is a senior economist and director of forecasting at the National Association of Realtors. Here's how she explained it.

And for the home prices, as home buying activity was slower, we also expect home prices to rise, but at a slower pace. So we expect about to increase about 5 to 6% in 2022 nationwide. So this is good and useful affordability. This housing issue is also specifically affecting families. A Zill Group report looked at 421 counties in the U.S. And it discovered that prices went up faster in zip codes with a higher proportion of people under 18. And the rental market isn't offering any relief.

Here's real estate consultant John Burns. The rental market is actually. stronger than the for-sale market right now. The rent increases are something like I've never seen before in my life. That can mean that this housing crisis isn't going away. Houses in family-friendly locations are likely going to be even more competitive, and those house prices could go up even quicker as the younger generation starts looking to upsize. Right. Charlotte, thanks for reporting. That's Daily Wires, Charlotte Penn's Bond. Other stories we're tracking this week. Truckers in Canada earned their first significant win this week in the province of Alberta.

As of Wednesday, Alberta citizens will no longer be required to show proof of vaccination to enter businesses and engage in other normal life. And Sweden is closing all large-scale government testing facilities for COVID-19. The Swedish Public Health Agency Chief announced this week, quote, We have reached the point where the cost and relevance of the testing is no longer justifiable. If you like this episode and are interested in hearing more, subscribe to MorningWire on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening, and give us a five-star review. That's all the time we've got this morning. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back tomorrow with the news you need to know. If you like this podcast, subscribe to our Morning Wire newsletter. Use code MorningWire to try a reader's past membership and get your first month for only 99 cents.