With near-record COVID-19 caseloads and hospitalizations driven by the highly infectious omicron variant sweeping Arizona, the state legislature will convene today, Jan. 10, with almost no restrictions in place aimed at limiting spread of the virus at the Capitol.
Neither the House of Representatives nor the Senate will require masks. Plastic shields that had been constructed around lawmakers’ desks have been dismantled, and there will be no social distancing requirements.
“Our goal is business as usual, with a few additions,” said Kim Quintero, a spokeswoman for Senate President Karen Fann and the Senate Republican caucus.
The only notable difference from pre-pandemic times will be that some legislators will be allowed to vote remotely — but only from their legislative offices at the Capitol, and only if they have a doctor’s note.
House Speaker Rusty Bowers told the Arizona Mirror that legislators who can’t come to the Capitol because they are sick — or for any other reason — will not be able to vote remotely. The Senate is implementing a similar rule, Quintero said.
And in both chambers, lawmakers who are authorized to vote remotely won’t be able to participate in debates or discussions about legislation.
The lack of COVID-19 mitigation efforts outraged Rep. Athena Salman, a Tempe Democrat who is pregnant. She wrote on Twitter Friday morning that her due date is Jan. 11 — the second day of the legislative session — and blamed Bowers for ignoring her request to work remotely and then eliminating the possibility for all lawmakers.
“What I’m asking for isn’t anything new. Had I given birth last year, health protocols the Speaker adopted would have guaranteed protection for me & my baby. But GOP leadership—comprised of only men—have decided to play political games with the life of me & my future child,” she wrote on Twitter.
The changes stand in stark contrast to last year, when the state was facing record high COVID-19 caseloads and vaccine deployment only in its earliest stages last year and the legislature restricted public access, required facemasks and temperature checks, and allowed robust remote participation from both elected officials and the public.
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Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arizona Mirror maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jim Small for questions: info@azmirror.com. Follow Arizona Mirror on Facebook and Twitter.
This article appears in Jan 6, 2022.
The GOP is the party of the ignorant.
The Democrat party is the party of the corrupt.
If you want to get the vaccine, get the vaccine.
If you want to get the booster, get the booster.
I wonder how many people in attendance at AOC’s appearance at a Florida bar were not vaccinated? She still got COVID. I guess COVID decided to date her.
If the vaccine works, then why does it not work?
Full disclosure – I am vaccinated and boosted. Definitely not an anti-vaccer.
The typical mask is worthless. 600,000 of the Covid virus lying side by side are the same thickness as a cotton fiber. Trying to stop Covid with the typical mask is like trying to stop a swarm of mosquitos with a chain link fence.
Why are New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Massacusetts at 80,000 cases, 30,000 cases, 9,000 cases and 20,000 cases? Because the typical mask doesn’t work.
We known this for a long time, a very long time. The Netherlands did a huge random assignment study, the gold standard in science, in 2020. The group that “always wear my mask” had the largest rate of infections. Evidently, the mask allows you to take risks that you would otherwise not take.
By comparison, a Wuhan hospital administrator did a random assignment study of masks published in the Journal of Hospital Infection all the way back in March of 2020. Result? the N95 group suffered zero infections despite working intensively with Covid patients.
N95 masks work, none of the typical masks work.
CDC now admits only about 6% died from Covid. The balance died with Covid.
Why does the truth take two years to hear?
@Richard 1976
So by that metric, let’s play a game.
I take it you know at least 40 people. At a supposed 6% death rate, I’d like for you to choose exactly which 2 get to die.
I’m sorry, I have far more compassion for people than being okay with 841k of my fellow Americans dying because there are so many people who cannot be bothered to wear a mask and get some shots.
You must be a real peach of a person.