On Tuesday, the Arizona House passed Legislation to allow remote voting by House members who are at risk for Coronavirus and want to practice social distancing by working from home. After the House Floor session, I recorded this video, which could be the last one from my office for this session.
Most of this week I have been participating by phone due to the novel Coronavirus. On Tuesday, March 17, I went to the House for a few hours because votes were scheduled, and there was a rumor the Republicans were going to move to change the rules to allow remote voting. Remote voting sounds like a great idea, and I am taking advantage of it. The ulterior motive to remote voting is to keep former Senate President and current Rep. Steve Pierce, who said last Thursday that he wasn’t coming back to the capital, on the GOP budget and the other GOP bills that would die if we ended the session. Heaven forbid that a bipartisan budget and Coronavirus crisis response plan would be heard and passed! Two Senators– Paul Boyer and Heather Carter — said weeks ago that they were staying home due to at-risk family members.
There are a few drawbacks to the Skype voting system. The Speaker said that he wanted to make this option available for people for members who could be in an at-risk group for contracting COVID-19. There are 17 members of the Arizona House who are over 60 years old. There are at least two others who are under 60 but have medical conditions that put them at risk. Two are doctors. The remote voting system accommodates only six people.
Continue reading #AZHouse OK’s Remote Voting for Members, #AZLeg Remains Open (video)