AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Once a source of anger and acrimony, a mask requirement for state lawmakers was lifted Thursday by legislative leaders.

Legislative leaders voted unanimously to lift the mask mandate effective Monday with an agreement that it could be reinstituted if COVID-19 infections and hospitalization rates rise in the future.

The council said its future decisions will be linked COVID-19 rates in Kennebec County, home to the state capital.

Anger boiled over last year when seven conservative lawmakers entered the State House without wearing masks, frustrated over rules that were stricter than those in place for the public at large.

House Speaker Ryan Fecteau punished them by removing them from committees, writing at the time that he wouldn’t “tolerate attempts to devolve our institution into showmanship and political theater.”

On Thursday, Fecteau, D-Biddeford, oversaw a discussion that was anticlimactic. The meeting took less than 12 minutes.

“From the beginning, our goal as presiding officers has been for the operations of the Maine Legislature to return to some semblance of normalcy while protecting the health and safety of staff, the general public and our colleagues. The unanimous vote today represents a big step in the right direction,” the presiding officers said in a statement.

The vote came a day after the administration of Democratic Gov. Janet Mills lifted a mask mandate for schools, making them optional starting next Wednesday. The administration already lifted the mask requirement for other indoor spaces last May.

Maine COVID-19 hospitalizations have been declining, and are more than 60% below the peak in January.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday placed the COVID-19 risk in Kennebec County at medium.

At the height of the pandemic, lawmakers and state workers were required to wear masks, committee meetings were virtual and the Legislature met at the Augusta Civic Center.

But those restrictions have been gradually loosening.

The Legislature has returned to the State House, and lawmakers are testing a hybrid model for committee meetings in which some people gather in person and others appearing virtually.