A toolkit to take action against MD mask bans inspired by organizers in NC & NY.

Fight MD Mask Bans: Action Kit | Linktree

Nearly 100 Organizations Demand New York Lawmakers Reject a State Mask Ban — NYCLU

Stop Mask Bans Petition & Toolkit — Fight for the Future

ASAN's How to Call Your Elected Officials Fact Sheet (PDF)

When you reach out to elected officials, don't forget to let them know you are their constituent by providing your ZIP code!

If calling after hours or when many others are also calling, you may be redirected to voicemail. When leaving a voicemail, make sure to leave your zip code in your message. When you have finished recording the message, press "#" and then "3" to ensure the message is saved and registered.

Reminder: If you do not know who your officials are, their phone numbers, or your voting district, see Find Your Reps & Their Contact Info for two ways to look up that information.

For more information on contacting lawmakers about bills, please click the button below to download ASAN’s fact sheet.

Tips for Calling MD State Elected Officials

[Click Each Headline for More Info]

Resist Mask Bans Toolkit — Long COVID Justice

Mask Bans are Everyone’s Issue — Jews for Mask Rights

100s called! Thank you! Keep it up!

MD Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee YouTube

If you'd like to follow along to the MD Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee live stream on Monday, February 24 beginning at 8 am EST, you can follow the hearing on their official YouTube channel.

Wed, Feb 26, 8 am — Watch the SB0709 Hearing!

MD House Judiciary Committee on YouTube

If you'd like to follow along with the MD House of Delegates Judiciary Committee live stream on Tuesday, February 18 beginning at 11am EST, you can watch the proceedings on their official YouTube channel.

Future Hearings/Vote TBD — Watch the HB1081 Hearing!

MD Senate Version — SB0709

MD House of Delegates Version — HB1081

Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee  — Main Contact and Members List

House of Delegates Judiciary Committee — Main Contact and Members List

@NoMaskBanMD's Call to Action Slides for the 2/17 Meeting

The link below will take you to the slides from the meeting and phone jam called by @NoMaskBanMD on Monday, February 17 to oppose HB1081 and SB0709. In it, you will find a complete list of phone numbers and emails for all of the MD House Delegates currently sponsoring the bills or hearing them in committee. There is also contact information provided for the sponsors of the Senate bill.

House Bill 1081:
• Sponsors: Slide 8
• Judiciary Committee and Sponsor: Slides 10–11

Senate Bill 709:
• Sponsors: Slide 9
• Judiciary Proceedings Committee: See link under Find Your Reps & Contact Info below.

If you are calling on Tuesday, February 18 and can only make a small number of calls, please focus on the Judicary Committee members who are actively hearing HB1081 today! If you are not a direct constituent of any member of the committee, contact the committee chair, vice chair, and/or delegate of your choosing due to local connections or any other reason.

Bill Sponsors and Committee Members — Phone Number & Email List 

Email Autofill (Loads in Default Email App)

Click the button below to send an email to every member of the House Judiciary Committee and all of the sponsors of HB1081. 

You may also want to add your district's delegate to the CC list to bring their attention to the problems with this bill early in the process.

IMPORTANT: Before hitting "send," you must replace all the bracketed text with your own information. These are found in the first sentence and in the sign-off.

For example: "[NAME]" should be replaced with your own full name, eg. Jamie Q. Masker. "[District Y]" should be replaced with your own voting district, eg. District 18. (Reminder that this can be located using the lookup tool linked below.)

Email Autofill Template (HB1081)

The sponsors of HB1081 and SB0709 seem to have tried to fly this proposed law in under the radar. There has been virtually no media coverage, and the effort to oppose it long-term is still developing.

We will follow up on this Linktree with updates after the committee hearings and to share additional resources and news, as it comes in. 

Please share this page widely and check back often.

Follow This Linktree for Ongoing Updates

About the Proposed Ban

"Why Mask Bans Fail Jews and Other Marginalized Groups" by J4MR

A coalition of Maryland lawmakers is trying to ban masks, claiming "masked intimidation" at protests as their justification. The measure is backed by both the ADL and the Urban League, who cited the importance of “Black-Jewish solidarity” in the face of intimidation by Proud Boys, neo-Nazis, etc.

This claim ignores the many risks a mask ban poses to Black, Jewish, and other marginalized people. It would criminalize protecting one's health at protests or rallies and provide law enforcement with legal justification to profile mask wearers in daily life.

There are currently two identical bills co-filed in the MD House of Delegates (HB1081) and Senate (SB0709). If the mask ban passes, the penalty will be 90 days in prison and/or a $500 fine for the first offense, then doubling for further offenses.

It is essential that all Marylanders committed to equitable and safe healthcare access, racial justice, disability justice, and protecting our civil liberties take action against these bills.

What is the  "Unmask Hate Act"? — Issue Summary

MDH Clinician Letter from January 14, 2025

Though the bill apparently has a carve out for those who wear masks or face coverings for health/religious reasons, it’s unclear how people will be able to prove this. The decision of what constitutes "masked intimidation" and who has "legitimate" needs will be left up to police officers. This puts many Marylanders at significant risk, especially those who are Black, Indigenous, People of Color, immunocompromised, and/or otherwise disabled.

It also will likely reduce masking overall, which is concerning given it is a period of record-high flu rates, the rise of H5N1 avian flu and tuberculosis, and very high rates of Covid and RSV in Maryland. Ironically, this comes just a month after the recommendation by the Maryland Department of Health for universal masking in healthcare settings due to the recent increase in respiratory illness transmission.

Could This Mask Ban Harm Marylanders? Spoiler: Yes!

Find Your District & Representatives — MD Voter Lookup Tool (via Voter Info)

This bill is active in both the MD House of Delegates and the state Senate. Please take action to stop them both.

Contact elected officials! Reach out to:
• The members of the Judiciary Committees. Ask them not to send this bill to the floor.
• The bill sponsors. Ask them to withdraw their support.
• Your district's state representatives. Ask them to speak against this bill.
• Gov. Moore. Ask him to veto the bill if it passes.

Testify at committee hearings!
• Testimony can be made orally during the hearings or in writing ahead of time.
• The House Judiciary Committee heard the bill on Tuesday, February 18.
• The Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee will be hearing it on Wednesday, February 26. Testimony sign up is Monday.

Share this call to action with your networks!
• Post on your social accounts.
• Share directly to neighbors, friends, and family.
• Tell your organizations and faith communities how the proposed ban impacts their interests, their members, and/or those they serve.

How Can We Take Action?

@NoMaskBanMD's Suggested Call & Email Scripts

@NoMaskBanMD (on Instagram) called a public meeting and phone jam to oppose HB1081 on February 17th.

In their follow-up Substack post (click the button below), you will find a short call script and a longer email script that you can use when contacting your representatives.

NOTE: This Linktree is neither managed by nor affiliated with @NoMaskBanMD, but we are extremely grateful for their speedy work bringing the proposed bills to the attention of the general public and contributions to the organizing effort! 

Please consider following @NoMaskBanMD on Instagram, Bluesky, and/or Substack as an additional resource for news on the current mask ban bills.

Call & Email Scripts (HB1081)

Find Your District & Representatives — MD General Assembly Lookup Tool (via State Map)

If you do not live in Maryland, you can still contact elected officials in Maryland to register your concerns about the mask ban. It is important not to lie or pretend to you are a MD resident, however.

If calling or writing from outside MD, consider how the mask ban still affects you or your loved ones, and center that narrative in your outreach.

Examples:
• Do you work in Maryland or travel here for business?
• Do you shop with Maryland-based retaliers?
* Do you seek medical care in Maryland or with Maryland-based hospital systems?
• Do you travel to Maryland for tourism or to visit loved ones?
• Do you have friends or family in Maryland who would be put at risk by a mask ban?

These are just a few examples of reasons to be concerned about a mask ban in a place you don't live. They can also form the basis of arguments you might make to elected officials in that place.

Your willingness to spend time and money in Maryland (or not) may well be meaningful arguments in this fight.

Not from MD? That's Okay. You Can Still Help!

MyMGA Account Registration

The hearing on the house bill (HB1081) being held today is no longer accepting registrations to testify, but more hearings may be added in the future if this bill progresses beyond the first reading.

There is still time to register to testify against the senate version of the bill, SB0709. To offer testimony, you will have to register on 2/24 between at 8 am and 6 pm (the hearing is 2/26). You can testify in person, on Zoom, or in writing. In-person is considered the best bet, followed by written testimony. They have a 14-person limit for Zoom witnesses.

If you would like to testify or track these (or any other) bills, you will need a MyMGA account. Use the button below to create a new account.

Register to Offer Testimony & Track the Mask Ban Bills

An additional sample letter has been provided by an opponent of the mask ban.

Please note that this is not an automated email, and the recipients shown are the members of the House Judiciary Committee representing districts in Baltimore City.

In order to use this template, please choose one of the following options:
1. Copy the text and follow the prompts on the page to located your own representatives and send an email via ResistBot.
2. Copy-and-paste the text into a draft in your usual email platform, and use the MD Voter Lookup Tool provided below to locate your elected representatives' email addresses, then send normally.

ResistBot Email Template (Not Automated)

Take Action Toolkit

J4MR's Mask Ban Call Scripts

Click the button below to find the call scripts that were drafted by J4MR to fight similar mask bans in NY.

Remember: Your story is the most powerful to tell. There are many reasons to protect masks, but only you can tell them from your own perspective why it is important.

If you and/or your loved ones are disabled, you can speak to that experience and how a ban would limit your access and right to freely assemble. 

If you are Black and/or Jewish, explain how the claims made by the Urban League or the ADL do not represent your needs or lived experience in this area.

We know that phone calls can be hard or even impossible for some people! Please honor your access needs.

If you can't tell a story, simply say who you are, where you are calling from, why you are calling, and that you are asking them to oppose both this bill and any future attempts to ban masks. 

If calling is not an option at all, it is totally fine to stick with sending emails. 

Every outreach in opposition helps!

Other Example Call Scripts

We elect representative officials to represent us in lawmaking.

There are a variety of ways that you can contact legislators, through phone calls or written correspondence. There are three kinds of legislators to contact when you want to discuss a proposed law:
• Those who sponsored the bill.
• Those working on the committees to decide whether the bill continues on the path to become law.
• Those representing your district.

Below, we have provided some example call scripts, an email autofill template, and another example email sent by someone from Baltimore. Please consider personalizing your message. Your story is more powerful than our templates!

When you reach out to elected officials, remember to let them know if you are their constituent. If you don't know who your officials are or which voting district you live in, see Find Your Reps & Their Contact Info.

For more information on contacting your representatives about bills, see Tips for Calling MD State Elected Officials.

Contact Your State Representatives!

Senate Judiciary Proceedings Committee — Witness Guidelines (PDF)

This bill is active in both the house and senate. Please take action to stop them both.

You can provide oral or written testimony. You can also attend the hearing either in-person or via Zoom, even if you are not testifying. 

Testimony guidelines are set by the committee, and time slots are usually 1-2 minutes long. Please review the witness guidelines before testifying.

How to Testify:
• Hearing in the House Judiciary Committee is, Tuesday February 18 at 11 am. It is too late to sign up to testify for this hearing; however if this bill progresses or they request a second reading, there may be another opportunity.
• Hearing for the origin committee is on Wednesday, February 26 at 1 pm in the Judiciary Proceedings Committee. Sign up to testify for this hearing is the Monday prior from 8 am – 6 pm EST on MyMGA (see Resources for Contact & Testimony).

Even if you cannot testify, you can attend the hearing in-person or online! YouTube links are in Committee Hearing Livestreams below.

Testify at a Hearing!

Gov. Wes Moore's Email Contact Form

If the bill passes out of committee and is voted into law in both the House of Delegates and the state Senate, a veto by the Governor of Maryland is the only remaining way to stop the law from taking effect.

Call or write to Gov. Moore. Tell him that he should speak against this bill, starting now, and, if called to sign it into law, he should veto.

Gov. Moore’s contact information by phone, text, or snail mail is listed on the governor’s website. An email is not listed, but he has a submission form for long-form written communications. 

Feel free to copy one of the delegate email templates and modify it for the governor to save effort when drafting a submission for the form.

To contact the Governor's Office by phone, use the following numbers:

Local Calls: (410) 974-3901
Toll Free Calls: (800) 811-8336
Maryland Relay: (800) 735-2258
Texts: (301) 750-3111 

Reach Out to the Governor!

Resources for Contact & Testimony

Committee Hearing Livestreams

Find Your Reps & Their Contact Info

Proposed Bills — "Unmask Hate Act"

Stop Mask Ban NY Action Toolkit — COVID Advocacy NY

More about Mask Bans & Why We Fight

Fight MD Mask Bans: Action Kit

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