In crisis, states' legislators drop age-old routines

Public meeting rules bypassed

FILE - In this March 25, 2020 file photo, Vermont House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, left, wears a mask while talking to a lawmaker in the Vermont house chamber at the Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt. In state capitols across the U.S., lawmakers have ditched decorum and sidestepped traditional public meeting requirements in a rush to pass legislation funding the fight against the coronavirus and aiding residents affected by the widespread shut down of commerce. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring, File)
FILE - In this March 25, 2020 file photo, Vermont House Speaker Mitzi Johnson, left, wears a mask while talking to a lawmaker in the Vermont house chamber at the Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt. In state capitols across the U.S., lawmakers have ditched decorum and sidestepped traditional public meeting requirements in a rush to pass legislation funding the fight against the coronavirus and aiding residents affected by the widespread shut down of commerce. (AP Photo/Wilson Ring, File)

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Members of the Arkansas House met in a college basketball arena, spaced out among 5,600 seats, as they voted on ways to cover a budget shortfall caused by the coronavirus punch to the economy.

When South Dakota lawmakers convene today to consider 10 emergency bills, it won't be in their familiar chambers. Instead, they will be speaking and voting via a video call system.

This is not government as usual.

[CORONAVIRUS: Click here for our complete coverage » arkansasonline.com/coronavirus]

In state capitols across the U.S., lawmakers have ditched decorum and sidestepped traditional public meeting requirements in a rush to pass legislation funding the fight against the coronavirus and aiding residents affected by the widespread shutdown of commerce.

Social-distancing mandates intended to slow the spread of the virus have upended life for millions of Americans and also have led lawmakers to scrap centuries-old rules about the way they conduct work.

"It is an enormous shift, probably the biggest change to Vermont's democracy since we were founded as a state," Democratic House Speaker Mitzi Johnson told reporters as the chamber adopted new rules for remote voting.

Vermont lawmakers have voted with a verbal yes or no from assigned seats in a closely packed chamber. That changed this past week, when they adopted an emergency rule allowing members to spread out through the visitors' galleries to keep a germ-safe distance from one another.

The state experiments are meant to slow the spread of the virus that causes the covid-19 disease so hospitals won't become overwhelmed with a sudden surge of patients. The ill include several members of Congress and lawmakers in numerous states. At least six state lawmakers have tested positive in Georgia, one of nearly two dozen states that have halted or ended their sessions because of coronavirus concerns.

As legislatures have adapted their rules to the new public health precautions, the public has at times been left out.

Legislative members, staff and media had to pass a body temperature test and an oral quiz about whether they had any covid-19 symptoms to enter the House session held at the basketball arena of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. But the general public wasn't allowed inside, instead settling for an online broadcast. The Senate, meeting in the Capitol, followed similar procedures.

Minnesota's legislative proceedings typically are both open to the public and livestreamed. But House members used a series of private conference calls, instead of public committee hearings, to develop a $330 million coronavirus response bill that was swiftly approved Thursday. Legislative leaders said the unusual procedures were intended to safeguard public health.

Such actions also can damage the public's trust in government, said Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota's School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

"If you do things in secret, there's a perception that something nefarious is going on, and this is not a time when our governments need to be creating that possibility in people's minds," Kirtley said.

The U.S. House of Representatives looked into the possibility of remote voting so representatives wouldn't have to fly to Washington on Friday to pass a $2.2 trillion stimulus package. But a House Rules Committee staff report concluded there were too many concerns about its legality, practicality and security from cyberattacks. The House instead passed the legislation by voice vote, avoiding an in-person roll call.

In Pennsylvania, most House members took advantage of new rules to stay away from the chamber as they passed legislation delaying the state's primary elections because of coronavirus concerns. Remote lawmakers messaged or emailed their intended votes to designated colleagues at the Capitol, who told them to a clerk, who entered them into the chamber's voting system.

Ohio lawmakers altered both their attire and location last week as they approved emergency coronavirus legislation extending absentee voting and tax deadlines, allowing distance learning for schools and letting recent nursing graduates immediately start working.

House members were assigned to eight separate rooms during deliberations to comply with social distancing, then walked briefly onto the House floor to cast a voice vote. Many of the senators who went to the Capitol dressed informally after Republican Senate President Larry Obhof discouraged business attire, "which is cleaned less frequently than casual clothing."

Before the coronavirus outbreak, the South Dakota Legislature already had rules allowing lawmakers to dial into meetings by phone, but those were designed for committees that meet outside the regular legislative session.

The full House and Senate will meet today by video conference, livestreamed for the public, with only a few members gathered in two Capitol rooms to try to comply with the rules. The state constitution isn't clear if that's allowed, but "we're just out of options," said Republican Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer.

Some legislatures have decided it's better to remain shut down than to try to sidestep state constitutional requirements to vote in person amid coronavirus concerns.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson had suggested lawmakers could meet "on a football field" or "out here on the parking lot" of the Capitol, if necessary, to abide by social distancing while passing a bill authorizing coronavirus spending. But Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, a Republican, said legislators will convene in April and vote in their chambers.

Colorado lawmakers are delaying today's scheduled return to session and have ruled out remote meetings as an impractical move that would deny the public a chance to testify in committee hearings

"The important work being done at the Capitol depends on both legislators and the public," said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Steve Fenberg. "We feel that it is in the best interest of all Coloradans to recess the session until citizens can safely participate in their democracy,"

Information for this article was contributed by James Anderson, Andrew DeMillo, Stephen Groves, Steve Karnowski, Wilson Ring, Mark Scolforo and Andrew Welsh-Huggins of The Associated Press.

A Section on 03/30/2020

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