correction

       A previous version of this article incorrectly reported when a proposed law that would require in-person teaching and would allow parents to opt out of mask mandates would go into effect if passed. It would go into effect July 1. The article has been changed.

       RICHMOND — Senate Democrats who have been howling over Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order making masks optional in K-12 schools got on board with the idea Tuesday, voting to amend an education bill to give parents the right to decide if their children wear them.

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       Ten of the Senate’s 21 Democrats voted for an amendment — proposed by Sen. Chap Petersen (D-Fairfax) — that would give parents a right that Youngkin (R) declared they had last month with an executive order signed on the day he took office.

       While he agrees with Youngkin that school mask mandates have dragged on too long, Petersen said the issue is one that should be addressed by legislation, not executive order.

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       “We needed to solve this ourselves. And we will,” Petersen said. “I don’t like executive orders … We needed to act to end the mask wars.”

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       Petersen has been a consistent critic of gubernatorial executive orders as an overreach of authority, opposing some of those issued by fellow Democrat Ralph Northam at the start of the pandemic as well as Youngkin’s.

       The amendment was made to a Republican bill, sponsored by Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant (R-Henrico), that would require schools to teach in person. That bill is up for a final vote Wednesday.

       Dunnavant said she and Petersen had been working with the Youngkin administration on the legislation and amendment. The executive order is the subject of several lawsuits.

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       The administration “thought that was a fine next play. Let’s go ahead and codify the language about parents being able to choose,” Dunnavant said. “This law would basically codify the executive order.”

       The effort, she said, stemmed from her frustration that the measure she and Petersen sponsored last year that became law — which says school boards must follow federal mask guidance to the maximum extent “practicable” — was being interpreted by some as requiring mask mandates. That law expires Aug. 1.

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       The new bill is “just the next step in a multi-layer attempt to get past some of this craziness,” she said.

       If the bill and amendment are ultimately passed by both chambers and signed by the governor, she said, any lawsuits challenging parents’ ability to opt their children out of mask mandates would be moot.

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       While Dunnavant said her bill leaves it up to the localities to decide, she conceded that the amendment would mean that any school district that opted to keep a mask mandate could not enforce it if parents opted out.

       Sen. Monty Mason (D-Williamsburg) was one of nine Democrats who voted against the amendment; two others did not vote.

       "I’ve just consistently voted to let the school boards make this decision,” Mason said. “Individual areas and school boards may have data and analytical information that others don’t … I think constitutionally the school boards make those decisions.”

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       Mason said he was stumped why other Democrats voted for the mask amendment, other than the possibility that they based their decisions on statistics and situations in their home districts.

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       Overall, he said, the numbers are trending in the right direction as infection rates come down. “I think the actions of the last couple weeks have been premature,” Mason said. But as the numbers continue to decline, easing back on mask requirements becomes more viable, he said.

       An administration aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal strategy said efforts have been underway to clear a path for the amended bill to get quick action. Once it clears the Senate, the aide said, the House could take it up in expedited fashion and pass it by early next week.

       The 52-48 Republican majority in the House ensures easy passage there.

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       Once the bill gets to Youngkin’s desk, the aide said, the governor could add an emergency clause that would require the law to be implemented immediately. That would have to go back to the General Assembly for approval.

       But an emergency clause usually requires the approval of 80 percent of each legislative body. Senate Majority Leader Richard L. Saslaw (D-Fairfax) said he doubted it would get that level of support. Without the emergency clause, the law would go into effect July 1.