TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – When lawmakers return to the Capitol in the new year, COVID19 will influence how they meet.
Both the House and Senate have adopted separate policies for keeping the Capitol safe while still attempting to keep committee proceedings open to the public.
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Lawmakers have had to strike a balance between open government and public health as they prepare for January committee meetings.
“It’s just really hard to keep government open to the public when coronavirus is still so rampant out there,” said Pamela Marsh, president of the Florida First Amendment Foundation.
All members of the Legislature will be required to receive a negative test result before entering the Capitol at the start of each week.
The House is limiting the number of people who can attend and requiring attendees to register in advance.
“So you’re going to have lobbyists, you’re going to have media and you’re going to have advocates and you’re going to have people that just want to observe vying for those few places online and somebody is bound to get left out,” Marsh said.
The Senate is allowing reporters in committee rooms but limiting in-person testimony to those with invitations.
“They both have their ups and downs and I don’t think there’s any ill intent,” said Marsh. “I think no matter what happens, we’re going to have less diversity of opinion.”
All others who want to testify in the Senate will be able to do so virtually at a nearby civic center.
State Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith sees it as a missed opportunity because people will still have to travel to the Capitol.
“Isn’t it just as easy to allow others to testify virtually in other remote places across the state?” Smith wondered.
But State Sen. Danny Burgess feels a proper balance has been struck.
“The bottom line is, nobody is going to operate in the dark,” Burgess said. “We’re going to make sure that Florida operates the way it’s supposed to, regardless of how we have to move forward.”
The rules apply only to the first round of committee meetings.
Lawmakers hope if the virus begins to recede, more accessibility to the Capitol will be permitted when the 2021 session officially begins on March 2.