News/Updates
HOUSE, SENATE LEADERS SET COVID-19 RULES
December 18, 2020 Dara Kam
TALLAHASSEE --- State
legislative leaders Friday released contrasting COVID-19 protocols for upcoming
committee meetings, with the Senate setting up an off-site area where the public
can view and participate in meetings amid the pandemic.
Under Senate President Wilton Simpson’s plan, members
of the public will have to watch remotely and testify from a civic center a few
blocks from the Florida Capitol --- unless they are invited to the meetings by
committee chairs --- when the meetings begin next month.
“As determined by the committee chair, in advance of
each meeting, committee staff will contact those with subject matter expertise
(for example, agency staff), who would typically attend a meeting within their
jurisdiction, to determine whether, based on the specific agenda, they should
attend the meeting in person in order to answer questions that may arise,”
Simpson, R-Trilby, wrote in a memo to senators on Friday. Members of the press
will be allowed to attend in-person meetings, the memo said.
“Only agency representatives, or other subject-matter
experts listed on the meeting agenda who are scheduled to speak before the
committee” will be invited to appear at Senate meetings, Simpson spokeswoman
Katie Betta told The News Service of Florida in an email.
Simpson, a farmer who also spent decades in the
environmental remediation business, urged senators “to avoid in person meetings
and to utilize available platforms to schedule meetings virtually” for January.
House Speaker Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, has
embraced a somewhat more relaxed stance, while still limiting the number of
people who will be able to mix and mingle with state lawmakers during committee
hearings that begin the week of Jan. 11 in advance of the annual legislative
session, which starts March 2.
Seating in House meeting rooms “will be socially
distanced and limited to meetings where committees are discussing bills or
potential legislation,” Sprowls wrote in a memo to House members on Friday.
The House will use an online registration system for
people who want to provide “substantive testimony” and for the press, Sprowls
said. Seating in committee rooms will be available on a “first-come,
first-served basis,” he added. Expanded seating capacity for “on-site virtual
testimony” will be available “on certain issues of great public significance and
when scheduling allows,” the House speaker wrote.
Visitors to “House spaces,” including lobbyists, will
be “required to observe social distancing and wear a face covering when in the
company of another person,” Sprowls’ memo said.
People who are exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19, who
are in quarantine or who were recently diagnosed with the virus won’t be allowed
to enter the House.
The Senate “has and continues to observe” federal
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protocols, which include face
coverings, social distancing and frequent hand-washing, Betta told the News
Service.
The new legislative protocols, which come as COVID-19
cases and deaths in Florida continue to climb, encourage lawmakers to limit
face-to-face interactions with the public.
Sprowls urged House members “to use conference calls
or virtual meetings as alternatives to in-person meetings.”
The House speaker’s memo advised that representatives
should “make every effort” to limit the number of people who are in their
offices at one time. Members’ offices “generally accommodate” two guests, and
aides’ offices generally have room for no more than one guest, Sprowls said.
“In-person meetings should be by appointment only with
sufficient time in between appointments to avoid crowding in common areas,” he
instructed.
The House is creating a condensed committee schedule
by splitting committee blocks in two and using an alternating meeting schedule,
thereby reducing the number of days House members will be in Tallahassee.
For example, committees and subcommittees will meet
over two days during the week of Jan. 11, instead of the traditional four days
of meetings. Committees and subcommittees that did not meet in early January
will meet later in the month.
To maximize social distancing, Simpson previously
announced that the Senate intends to use its largest committee rooms and hold no
more than three committee meetings at one time.
The Senate, meanwhile, has reserved three “remote
viewing rooms” at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, where members of the public
will be able to watch the proceedings and testify.
“I understand that these protocols represent a
significant change for everyone, and there are sure to be bumps in the road as
we navigate the best way to facilitate a safe environment for the 2021
legislative session,” Simpson, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, wrote
in Friday’s memo.
But some lobbyists seemed taken aback by the Senate’s
invitation-only plan.
“I suspect that I would be considered an expert on gun
issues and would be invited on pro-gun bills, but it would probably be a cold
day in hell before a Democrat would want me there for a gun control bill,”
National Rifle Association lobbyist Marion Hammer, who has represented the
gun-rights organization for decades, told The News Service of Florida on Friday.
“Frankly, the thought of testifying from the civic center virtually sucks.”
Others fear that Senate Republican leaders may not
reach out to people or organizations that don’t support their takeson issues.
“Anytime you have invitations going out from
leadership, you’re going to run into potential inequities, especially not only
the nonprofit, advocacy-oriented lobby corps, but also the public,” Brad
Ashwell, Florida state director of All Voting is Local, said in a phone
interview. “A lot of constituency groups bus up members during session.”
Logistics could also pose a problem, Ashwell said.
Lobbyists could find it difficult to attend a House committee meeting in the
Capitol shortly before or after making a virtual appearance at a Senate panel
from the civic center.
“This disconnect between what the House and Senate are
doing is concerning to me. They need to be on the same page,” Ashwell said.
Sprowls and Simpson are requiring legislators to
undergo COVID-19 testing.
“We appreciate the challenges presented by COVID-19,
but are confident that if we work together in a spirit of openness and
consideration, we can navigate the challenges of the next few weeks,” Sprowls
wrote.
--
Darrin "Scribe" Brooks
State Vice President
State Legislative Trustee
ABATE of Florida, Inc.
www.abateflorida.com