Eleven Idaho lawmakers have called on the Panhandle Health District to rescind its mask mandate in Kootenai County, saying the order is “highly upsetting to many of the citizens we represent” and arguing that it violates individual liberties.

“Idahoans value their freedom to make decisions for themselves,” the legislators said Tuesday in a letter to health district board members. “Treating adults like children results in defiance of the orders and diminishes the credibility of the health board in future concerns.”

The letter was signed by most of the Republican state lawmakers who represent Idaho’s five northern counties, including Sens. Mary Souza, Steve Vick, Carl Crabtree and Don Cheatham, and Reps. Sage Dixon, Ron Mendive, Tim Remington, Tony Wisniewski, Vito Barbieri, Paul Shepherd and Jim Addis.

Absent from the list of signatures was Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, another critic of mask mandates who has compared pandemic-related business restrictions to Nazi Germany.