Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced a live news conference to take place 1:30 p.m. Thursday, July 29, 2021. Watch the news conference live in the video player above or on 40/29 News.Views vary among Arkansas legislators regarding law that ends mask mandates.Act 1002 prohibits the state government from requiring face masks for most entities, including schools. But with COVID-19 cases spiking across the state and with less than three weeks until school begins for most students on Aug. 16, some legislators are hoping to repeal or modify the law."I think it was a mistake to pass these measures that tie the hands of local school districts and other bodies to keep them from doing what they feel is the public safety interest to the people they serve," said Dist. 4 St. Sen. Greg Leding."The reality is we've been under CDC guidance, we've been under these big government mandates, we've been under regulations on the people for the last 18 months and it's done nothing to help stop this pandemic from having another surge, the delta variant. We've tried the government's approach over and over again," said Dist. 27 St. Sen. Trent Garner.Garner sponsored the bill that became Act 1002. He told 40/29 News he will oppose any special session that calls for changing the law."Big government, it can be a school board, it can be a county it can be a city. It's more about forcing you to do something against your will by threat of punishment. Think about that. If that local school board passes a ban on mask mandates, you can't send your children to school to get the education they need if you disagree with that decision," Garner said."I'd say to my colleague, the government overreach is telling local communities, other local governing bodies what they can and can not do," Leding said.Currently, children less than 12-years-old are not eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19, which medical experts have said could leave younger school children more vulnerable to the delta variant strain of the virus."The decision you make can affect other people. This isn't about, like motorcycle helmets, right; I generally support people wearing a motorcycle helmet, but if somebody chooses not to and gets in an accident, that doesn't affect me. Whereas if someone chooses to not wear a mask and gets sick, that can possibly affect me or my child," Leding said."If you're a parent who believes that, you have the choice to send your kid to school with a mask, you can do remote learning, you can ask other things to be done. That's your choice as a parent and your choice to have children (in school) if they're not able to get vaccinated, but you can't take that choice away for everybody else," Garner said.Both senators told 40/29 News they've heard from many constituents across Arkansas about the issue."I'm hearing from a lot of alarmed parents, a lot of alarmed teachers, school board members, who feel they've been put in a very difficult position. Our own daughter is going to be starting kindergarten this year, so it's certainly something that we're concerned about," Leding said."People all over the state, at this point I've heard from thousands of them, who do not want a mask mandate, they want to make their own decisions," Garner said.Gov. Asa Hutchinson is holding a news conference Thursday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. and is expected to announce if he will call a special session to reconvene legislators to try and change Act 1002.