Legislatures meet remotely, limit public as virus spreads

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 Monday to consider 10 emergency bills, it won’t be inside their familiar chambers. Instead, they will be speaking and voting via a video call system.

This is not government as usual.

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 each other.

The next time they are in full session, Vermont lawmakers will be spread out through the entire state, testing a still-to-be-designed remote voting system.

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 of Sunday, the virus has infected more than 700,000 people and killed at least 33,000 worldwide, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has about 136,000 cases, more than any other country. Health officials say that for most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. But for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness and become fatal. Younger adults also are susceptible to the disease, and some become seriously ill.

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 live-streamed. 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.

Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman said she gets “a little crispy around the edges” at suggestions that Minnesota’s process wasn’t open. Even though there were no public hearings, she said people deluged lawmakers with messages that were “incredibly helpful” in shaping the legislation.

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 cyber attacks. The House instead passed the legislation by voice vote, avoiding an in-person roll call.

In Pennsylvania this week, 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 this past week as they approved emergency coronavrius legislation extending absentee voting and tax deadlines, allowing distance learning for schools and letting recent nursing graduates immediately starting working.