LANSING (AP) — A third local health department in Michigan rescinded its school masking requirement Thursday despite Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer saying she would not enforce Republican-written budget provisions that threaten funding for counties with COVID-19 orders.

The move by Allegan County south of Grand Rapids came a day after Berrien County in the state’s southwestern corner repealed a face covering mandate. The health department for Dickinson and Iron counties in the Upper Peninsula acted last week.

The governor signed the spending plan Wednesday but said two provisions related to local mask and quarantine orders are unconstitutional and have no effect. The budget takes effect Friday.

“The decision to rescind the K-6 mask requirement was not made lightly and has challenged us ethically, professionally and personally,” Allegan County health officer Angelique Joynes said in a statement. “However, we cannot risk our essential local public health services funding, which is around $1 million of our total budget and provides the ability for us to continue to offer those services.”

Norm Hess, executive director of the Michigan Association for Local Public Health, said the county health departments in Kent — one of Michigan’s most populated — and Marquette were expected to decide whether to keep their coronavirus orders by day’s end. Ten health departments covering 15 counties, and nearly half the state’s residents, appeared likely to keep mask mandates to reduce the spread of the virus.

Three departments without masking orders, Hess said, had rescinded or planned to repeal quarantine orders: St. Clair, Branch-Hillsdale-St. Joseph and Ionia.

“By and large, health officers believe that in the end this unenforceability concept will stand and that their money would be released. But for some of them, the very specter of a lawsuit coming their way is really too much risk for them,” he said.

He believes the boilerplate language is inapplicable but said health departments should follow their lawyers’ advice.

“It’s very unfortunate that this language was put in there. It has caused huge disruption, which I’m sure for some was the intent. It’s very distressing that politics is once again putting public health out there on the tip of the spear,” Hess said.

GOP lawmakers say parents, not the government, should decide if their kids wear face coverings to school. Whitmer has declined to reinstate a statewide mask mandate, saying it is better for decisions to be made locally to increase the odds of compliance.

The budget does not restrict schools from requiring masks. The main provision in dispute states that local health departments would lose funding if they have a pandemic order in effect as of this Friday, unless county commissioners vote to support the order.

Allegan’s health department said it asked the local board to add a resolution to Thursday’s meeting agenda backing the mask measure, but it was not included.