SANTA FE — Three years after the pandemic, New Mexico lawmakers are still struggling to keep COVID-19 at bay.
But lawmakers are making progress despite a recent surge in cases in the Round House that prompted the House this week to suspend an existing rule and allow members who test positive for the virus to remotely participate, and vote, in plenary sessions and committee hearings. .
Four Democratic lawmakers participated remotely in a House poll overnight this week that lasted well beyond 11 p. m. Their voices snored as they were asked to verbally vote “yes” or “no” to a video conference program.
The Senate passed a rule at the start of this year’s 60-day legislative session, which allowed Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, and several others to participate in legislative affairs from their homes.
Sen. Leo Jaramillo, D-Española, who returned to the Round House Wednesday after self-isolating for five days after contracting COVID-19 for the time being, said he entered this year’s consultation largely unconcerned about the pandemic, after two years. of restrictions and social distancing.
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But he said normal handshakes and hugs with colleagues and acquaintances at Roundhouse haven’t been a smart concept in retrospect.
“Now I’m a little bit of doing this,” Jaramillo said in an interview. “Handshakes and hugs will have to be replaced by greetings and punches for now. “
He said participating in the consultation remotely was a challenge, as he had to ask for the microphones to be turned on, and used well, at least once in order to hear the discussion. But he said the rule at least allowed him to form his district while he recovers at home.
“My voice was heard even though I wasn’t there,” Jaramillo said.
However, Sen. Gregg Schmedes, a Republican and scissors surgeon, questioned the fairness of allowing remote participation of COVID-19 infections for others.
“If a senator has a contagious disease,” Schmedes said, “I think it’s smart for them to be excused and able to participate remotely to protect others. It makes sense to me.
While revisions to remote participation regulations vary, it is transparent that lawmakers have no plans to suspend or halt the 60-day session that, according to the state constitution, is scheduled to end on March 18.
“This will be the new truth as long as we have COVID,” Jaramillo said Wednesday.
This year’s consultation marks the first time since 2020 that lawmakers have held a normal consultation on pandemic-related restrictions.
The Capitol was closed to all lawmakers, staff and members of the media for sessions held in late 2020 and early 2021. The resolution to close the Round House sparked a legal challenge and a complaint from some Republican lawmakers, but a divided state Supreme Court upheld the ruling.
The Capitol reopened to the public in the summer of 2021 when infection rates fell to a low level. But visitors to last year’s 30-day Roundhouse consultation had to provide evidence of their COVID-19 vaccine prestige upon entering the building.
That requirement was removed for this year’s session and lawmakers did not renew expired regulations requiring members to wear face masks on the floors of the House and Senate.
Currently, there is no requirement for lawmakers to go through a COVID-19 check and the Legislative Council Service, the administrative arm of the Legislative Assembly, does track the number of positive cases, as it has done for the past two years.
Legislative Council Services Director Raul Burcaga said Wednesday that the firm is aware of a “number of cases” affecting lawmakers and legislative staff, but does not yet have an accurate count.
For those who test positive, Burciaga said they have been asked to comply with federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rules that come with a five-day self-isolation period.
In a sign of growing fear about COVID-19, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham wore a mask as she entered a packed room Monday for a bill-signaling rite on the fourth floor of the Capitol.
“I just need other people to know that I’m going to start wearing a mask for upstairs gatherings, just to make sure I’m not contributing to any spread of COVID,” said the governor, who lifted the state’s questionable face mask. . Mandate of the last day of the session of the previous year.
Meanwhile, conversion perspectives on the pandemic at the Roundhouse are illustrated through on-site features for COVID-19 on Capitol Hill.
While the Capitol rotunda was used for mandatory testing of the 2021 legislative session, this area in the middle of the Round House is now animated through visitors, student groups, and daily gatherings.
Instead, immediate tests are administered, for all lawmakers and staffers who want it, in a small paramedic workplace hidden in Senate chambers.
Capitol Office reporter Dan McKay contributed to this report.
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