Amid growing calls from Democratic lawmakers, small business owners and an online petition, multiple sources have told Colorado Politics that Gov. Jared Polis will issue an executive order Thursday mandating all Coloradans wear masks when they are in public.

The governor is expected to announce the decision at a 12:45 p.m. press conference Thursday.

A statewide mask mandate could override decisions by several local governments to ignore orders issued by public health departments. Town councils in Brighton, Castle Rock and Bennett, all Adams County communities covered by Tri-County Health, voted to ignore that department’s mask order, issued July 8.

Others are considering it, including Glendale, which is surrounded by Denver, which has a mandatory order; and Parker, which is in Douglas County. That county went further, not only deciding to ignore the order but removing itself from Tri-County Health.

On the other hand, a patchwork of about two dozen counties and cities, mostly run by Democratic-led officials, have ordered their residents to wear masks. 

On Wednesday, King Soopers and Walmart announced they would require their customers to wear masks nationwide.

Polis has used increasingly stronger language trying to encourage Coloradans to wear masks in the face of a growing number of COVID-19 cases in Colorado. In the past month, the number of average new cases in a three-dya period has grown from 128, as of June 15, to 372, as of July 14.

Last Friday, he advised Coloradans to “wear a damn mask,” and in a Sunday Facebook post called those who refused to wear a mask “selfish bastards.”

Democratic lawmakers also have asked Polis for a statewide mask mandate. That includes Rep. Kyle Mullica of Thornton, a registered nurse who spent part of April and May helping with a COVID-19 outbreak at the Cook County Jail in Chicago.

In an op-ed for the Colorado Sun Thursday, Mullica wrote that “Now is the time to show proactive leadership and institute a statewide mask order. Now is the time that we rely on science; the safety of our state depends on it.”

In response to Douglas County’s decision to opt-out, Mullica tweeted that “Your safety should not be determined by what community you live in.”

His call for a mask mandate has been echoed by Sen. Julie Gonzales of Denver and Sen. Jessie Danielson of Wheat Ridge.

Among small business owners, Chris Fuselier, who owns Blake Street Tavern in Denver, has been vocal about a mask mandate, both as as a public health issue as well as to protect workers who are increasingly being harassed by those who refuse to wear masks. Fuselier started an online petition this week, asking the governor and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for a statewide mask mandate.

The petition states: “Our employees are state mandated to wear face coverings for their protection and our patrons protection. I believe it should be a two-way street and that patrons must wear a face covering entering a restaurant, leaving a restaurant, to go use the restroom or any other time while not seated at a table. Restaurant workers are put in harms way just like other front-line workers and are more prone to catch the virus if patrons are not wearing masks other than at their tables.

Besides protecting employees’ health, there is also a safety component as restaurant workers have been harassed in enforcing their restaurant policies. They are cursed and screamed at and, in some cases, assault and even gunshots are fired at them. Restaurant workers have have enough to worry about than being mask cops!”

While many Colorado counties/municipalities have enacted mask mandates, there is much confusion in metro Denver as there is not a uniform mask mandate, the petition states. A State issued mask mandate would send a universal message to our State’s residents and visitors that restaurant workers’ health and safety is valued!”

Business community representatives called on the city of Colorado Springs to pass a mask mandate earlier this week to help prevent the state from revoking variances that allow for greater business activity. The council delayed the issue for two citing the need to hear from public health officials.

Some business owners feel that without a state or local mask mandate it has fallen on them to strongly encourage their patrons to wear masks and that can lead to confrontations, said Dirk Draper, president and CEO of Colorado Springs Chamber and Economic Development Corp. Many businesses he represents feel the government should back them up, he said Monday.

Red Gravy, an italian restaurant in Colorado Springs, started out with friendly signs encouraging patrons to wear masks, said Eric Brenner, chef and owner, on Wednesday.

After not seeing enough compliance, he put up a sign that said: “No mask, no service, no excuses.” Then he started giving customers masks, if they didn’t have their own. Customers are only asked to wear them before their food arrives, if they leave their table for any reason and when they leave. “We are asking them for maybe two minutes of compliance and compassion,” He said. “…Our primary goal is to stay open and stay safe.

If one of his staff comes down with COVID-19, he would have to assume that everyone has been exposed and he might have to close his business and that’s part of the reason Brenner is taking a cautious approach and requiring masks in his business.

“If we don’t get the leadership from the government or politicians we have to take it on ourselves,” he said.

Colorado Springs Gazette reporter Mary Shinn contributed to this report.