Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order on Tuesday barring state government organizations from forcing mask use, including counties, public school districts, public health authorities, and government employees.

A $1,000 charge will be imposed on government bodies that do not comply with the new prohibition.

State-funded living centers, government-owned or managed hospitals, Texas Department of Criminal Justice institutions, Texas Juvenile Justice Department facilities, and county and municipal prisons are all excluded from the order.

“Texans, not government, should decide their best health practices, which is why masks will not be mandated by public school districts or government entities. We can continue to mitigate COVID-19 while defending Texans’ liberty to choose whether or not they mask up,” Abbott said in a news release.

“The Lone Star State continues to defeat COVID-19 through the use of widely-available vaccines, antibody therapeutic drugs, and safe practices utilized by Texans in our communities”

The decree has the potential to have the greatest impact on public schools. After Abbott repealed the statewide mask mandate in early March, school districts were given the freedom to maintain their own mask-wearing rules. According to Abbott’s latest directive, “no student, teacher, parent, or other staff member or visitor may be required to wear a face covering.”

The governor’s decision comes less than a week after the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines allowing vaccinated individuals to walk outside and indoors without wearing masks in most circumstances. In recent weeks, several states have moved to repeal mask laws, with New York, California, and Michigan declaring that they will do so.

While 30 percent of Texans have received full COVID-19 vaccination, the great majority of children have not. Last Monday, the Pfizer vaccine was approved for children as young as 12 years old. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccinations are still only available to those aged 18 and over. Infection rates in school-aged children have been lower than in other age groups. According to the latest statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 cases among children aged 5 to 17 account for 10% of all cases in the nation.

On March 2, Texas’s statewide mask mandate was removed. Texas companies of all kinds were allowed to open to full capacity a week later.

Despite grave predictions about the consequences of repealing the statewide mask law, key pandemic measures in Texas have not risen since then, and in most cases have decreased. On Sunday, the state health agency reported no COVID-19 deaths for the first time in almost a year.

On Tuesday, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, denounced Abbott’s decree, saying, “a clear overreach. His power is not absolute .”

“If you are a city of Houston employee or entering a city facility and you have not been fully vaccinated, you should wear your mask,” Turner added in a statement. “We are not mandating it, but I strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated to protect themselves, their family, and their co-workers.”

Abbott’s decision was also criticized by the Texas American Federation of Teachers, who called it “unconscionable” because a vaccination for children under the age of 12 is still unavailable. Even though the regular school year is coming to an end, Abbott’s directive will affect children who attend in-person summer school, according to both TSTA and Texas AFT.