HELENA, Mont. (AP) – As U.S. lawmakers convene this winter to deal with the crisis created by the pandemic, state houses themselves could prove to be greenhouses for infection.
Many legislatures will begin the remote meeting of the year, but some Republican-controlled state houses, from Montana to Pennsylvania, plan to hold at least part of their sessions in person, without the need for masks. Public health officials say the move jeopardizes the safety of other lawmakers, officials, lobbyists, citizens and journalists responsible for holding politicians accountable.
The risk is more than mere speculation: A continuous count by The Associated Press finds that more than 250 state lawmakers across the country have hired COVID-19 and at least seven have died.
The Montana legislature was convened Monday without masking rules. The Republican majority rejected recent Democratic requests to hold the session remotely or delay it until vaccines became more available. Failing that, Democrats called for mask requirements and virus testing, which were also rejected.
Democratic lawmakers wore masks as they swore. Few Republicans did the same.
“If the session is conducted without public health precautions, it is very likely that the virus will spread in this environment and it is very likely that we will see serious diseases and, God forbid, deaths come out of it,” said Drenda Niemann, l Lewis and Clark County Health Officer, which includes Helena State Capital.
Instead of addressing the COVID-19 guidelines before the session, Republicans decided to address them after the legislators ’meeting by creating a group that will meet periodically to consider updating policies. Senate President Republican Jason Ellsworth said the group “allows us to be more fluid with the situation” and “allows for our personal freedoms and our responsibilities.”
Divergent approaches to the virus, with Republican lawmakers rejecting most blockade measures and Democrats, and Democrats calling for a more cautious approach, reflect that of Americans in general. This contrast was reflected during the holidays, when millions of people took to the roads and airports despite requests from health officials to avoid travel and family reunions to help contain the virus, which has caused more than 350,000 American lives.
Some legislatures try to find a balance between doing business in person and protecting themselves from illness.
The 400-member New Hampshire House is scheduled to hold its first session on Wednesday with an event at the University of New Hampshire in what President Sherm Packard called the body’s “most mitigated risk session” during the pandemic.
The secretary and speaker of the House will conduct business from an air-conditioned platform and members can watch and listen through a screen or through their car radio. Microphones will be brought to their windows for questions and debates, and voting will take place using electronic devices.
New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch, a Republican, died of COVID-19 on Dec. 9, a week after being sworn in during an outdoor meeting at UNH. Democrats have pushed for remote meetings.
Legislatures in Alaska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Washington require masks, but the requirement is not being applied in Pennsylvania. Lack of application is a concern for the media who must balance their ability to cover events with the safety of their journalists.
“If we start getting into a high-profile topic and there’s a mix of journalists calling questions to a legislator who has unmasked himself, it couldn’t be a worse situation,” Paula Knudsen Burke, with the Committee of Reporters for the Pennsylvania Press Freedom.
In Idaho, where lawmakers are not required to wear masks, Melissa Davlin of Idaho Public Television said the media is trying to keep journalists safe while ensuring adequate access to lawmakers, many of whom are not. they comply with the same public safety guidelines as the newsrooms.
Informal conversations in the hallway “are so valuable for coverage and perception and even just for the background,” Davlin said. “Failure to do so is a real loss to our ability to cover the session. But at the same time, we will not do any good to our spectators and readers if we get sick.
Ohio House Republicans have blocked efforts to enforce a masked mandate, though more than a dozen lawmakers have tested positive for COVID-19.
Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman was due to step down Monday after testing positive for COVID-19. Huffman experienced mild symptoms and will return to the state home after a quarantine period, spokesman John Fortney said.
In conservative Wyoming, where Republican Gov. Mark Gordon did not issue a mask warrant until early December, lawmakers plan to convene virtually Jan. 12 to hear the governor’s state of affairs speech. Legislative leaders will later decide whether to start a virtual session in February or hold a face-to-face session starting in March, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported.
Wyoming Republican Rep. Roy Edwards died a day before election day so his family confirmed after it was COVID-19. Edwards spoke out in opposition to public health restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus during his campaign.
In Montana, all session sessions and committee meetings will be available to watch or listen to online and lawmakers will be allowed to attend virtually many hearings, but it is not advisable to vote on final bills for representation. Members of the public and lobbyists will be able to testify about bills via video conference, if they have access to the technology.
“It seems to me that this will preferentially censor vulnerable people or those who value the advice that experts offer,” said M. Kumi Smith, assistant professor of epidemiology and community health at the University of Minnesota.
Ellsworth, leader of the Republican Senate, acknowledged that the COVID-19 panel of the legislature will not fix everything.
“At the end of the day, this is an animal we can’t control,” he said about the pandemic during a rules hearing on Dec. 16. “I imagine we’ll have members who get sick.” We may have members dying. But this possibility exists regardless of whether we are there or not ”.
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Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, and Farnoush Amiri in Columbus, Ohio, contributed to this report.