Report on virus risks at Capitol pits Republicans against Dems
Lawmakers disagree on safest way to conduct 60-day session
Republican leaders in the New Mexico House are seizing on a new report by Los Alamos National Laboratory that says the risk of a COVID-19 outbreak during the 2021 legislative session would be low with a few precautionary measures and a much shorter time frame.
One leading House Democrat countered that the report notes there would be a “high risk of COVID 19 spread” at the Capitol if the 60-day session were conducted normally, with some 600 people milling around in the building at one time.
The Dec. 4 report, requested by the Legislative Council Service, has fueled arguments by House Minority Leader
Jim Townsend and other GOP lawmakers who believe the Legislature should convene briefly in January to accomplish its major goals and then adjourn until spring, when risks posed by pandemic are expected to decline.
In the past few months, House Republicans have opposed closing the Capitol to the public during the session and holding hearings virtually.
Now, they also are pushing back against a Democratic proposal for a five-bill limit on the number of measures each House member may sponsor.
In a letter Thursday to House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, Townsend called
the idea “an attack on minority party rights.”
It would unfairly benefit Democrats in the chamber because they outnumber Republicans 45-25, the Artesia Republican said. It would also limit legislators’ ability to represent their constituents, he said.
Egolf proposed the five-bill limit earlier this week as a way to streamline the legislative process during the pandemic.
“Limiting members’ abilities to introduce bills is not only inconsistent with the principles of transparent law making … it inappropriately restricts the ability of House members from fully representing their communities and constituents,” Townsend wrote.
Rather than place such restrictions on lawmakers, he said in an interview Thursday, the Legislature should gather as planned in mid-January, “do the specific things we need to do in order to keep our government operating and to provide the needed services that our state needs … then get out of there” until the spring.
“There’s absolutely no reason for us to jeopardize people’s lives,” Townsend said.
Egolf responded to Townsend’s letter in a text message. “Governing is neither sport,” he said. “I will not comment on letters like the Minority Leader’s because doing so merely perpetrates gamesmanship and distracts from the important work of the agenda.
“I am confident that the results of the upcoming session will be positive for New Mexico’s families and small businesses and that the session will be conducted in a fair, open and transparent manner,” he added.
The Los Alamos report examines the likely results of several scenarios for the legislative session, such as conducting it virtually, cutting back on the number of days lawmakers convene and decreasing the number of people involved.
If most people attending legislative hearings wear masks and undergo weekly tests for COVID-19, the risk of transmission would drop significantly, the report says.
And, it says, if the 60-day session were reduced to 14 days and conducted virtually, the infection rate would be “low.”
Lawmakers have considered renting the Santa Fe Community Convention Center for committee hearings, where there is more space for members of the public to gather safely and provide input on legislation before it reaches the House or Senate floor.
The transmission rate of the virus would be “medium high” in that scenario, the report says.
It would be “medium low” if the session were held virtually, with people working from their offices in the Capitol.
Rep. Damon Ely, D-Albuquerque, who chairs the House Rules and Order of Business Committee, said the Los Alamos lab report makes clear it’s “dangerous to have a lot of people on the floor even with masks on.”
He is recommending all House members conduct business on their computers, via Zoom, even if they are sitting in the House chamber. He believes that will encourage lawmakers to practice social distancing by working from their offices.
House Republicans preferred to stay on the chamber floor for debates during the three-day special legislative session in June, he said, while many Democrats chose to participate from their offices or from home for safety reasons.
That gave Republicans an unfair advantage, Ely said.
“It’s that personal contact of having that microphone and being able to look directly at the speaker during debate,” he said.
Requiring everyone to participate in debates via Zoom is a “way of leveling the playing field for everybody, so everybody has equal access to the debating process,” Ely argued.
Townsend said the rule makes little sense and would deprive lawmakers from both parties of engaging in face-to-face discussion about bills.
The Los Alamos report says House staff members are most at risk for contracting COVID-19 because so many are needed to support the 70 House members. The Senate has 42 members. In the scenarios examined in the report, people involved in the session would have no contact with members of the public, who would not be permitted to enter the Capitol.
Many journalists, however, would have access to the building.
Still, none of the scenarios in the lab report include testing journalists for COVID-19.
Among the report’s conclusions: “Keep journalists apart because we can not enforce testing.”