[EL] State-level continuity of governance-

Tue Mar 24 23:06:12 PDT 2020

The Republicans are apparently saying that they are prepared to have their
quarantined members come in and vote while wearing hazmat suits.

On Mon, Mar 23, 2020 at 9:52 PM Hugh L Brady <hugh.brady at utexas.edu> wrote:

> cross-posted to Legislation listserv
>
> Remote voting by legislators raises several questions that require careful
> consideration of the long-term consequences -- I have spent the past few
> days thinking about this for Texas. Daniel Schuman of Demand Progress (who
> has an excellent weekly round-up e-mail titled First Branch Forecast) has
> made some recommendations and some of my more relevant thoughts follow
> those recommendations below. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all
> the considerations that go in to remote proceedings of a legislature.
>
> *"Amend their rules to deem legislators to be present if they are present
> via electronic means, such as by video-conference."
> *" Provide for a skeleton staff in the Capitol complex in circumstances
> where Constitutional rules require in-person presence at the seat of
> government."
> This would require a constitutional amendment in Texas. No fair reading of
> the state constitution would permit the legislature to do this by rule
> because it requires the legislature to hold its sessions in Austin and only
> permits suspension of this requirement during an enemy attack or the
> imminent threat of one. The constitutional language requiring a quorum
> plainly contemplates the physical presence of a quorum. For the Congress,
> Schuman looks to U.S. v. Ballin (1892) as authority for the proposition
> that either House may count electronic "presence" as a physical presence.
> Ballin examined Speaker Reed's breaking of the silent quorum -- that is, a
> quorum was physically present but a minority sufficient to cause the lack
> of a quorum refused to answer the roll call and the Speaker directed the
> clerk to enter the names of the silent members as required under the House
> rules. The Court *did not* hold that members not present could be counted
> as part of a quorum.
> -->If more than a majority of the members participate electronically, they
> could deprive the House of a quorum simply by logging off. How would the
> House execute a call on those absent electronically, especially if they are
> in their home districts? How would the House maintain a call if ordered
> before the disappearance of a quorum?
> -->Unlike the Congress, where much of the business is highly scripted, the
> floor in Texas is still a place where a good speech and a carefully drawn
> amendment can pass or defeat a bill. There are practically no special rules
> governing the consideration of bills. How can members participate in a
> debate electronically? How will they read the room? How can they work for
> or against a bill? This would require a major change in business and I'm
> not sure it would improve legislative deliberations.
> -->Who determines who stays in the Capitol complex in a state where the
> Legislature is not organized by party? How do you replace those people if
> they get sick?
>
> *"Permit the counting of votes cast by members present via electronic
> means." Schuman suggests live roll-calls with members voting when their
> name is called. In Texas, any member can demand a roll call vote under the
> House Rules and any three can demand a vote under the state constitution if
> the House rule is repealed. This could gum up the works quickly. It might
> be possible to deploy the chamber vote software remotely, but then you have
> problems with who is voting -- could staff, family, or lobbyists somehow
> vote for the member remotely? How would you verify a vote, as we do when a
> vote is close? In 1991, a member died in his apartment on a Saturday
> afternoon, but he "voted" on every bill into the evening.
>
> Provide for these amendments or suspension of chamber rules to be in
> effect only upon the declaration of legislative leadership; be in effect
> only for a limited time, such as 30 days; and be renewable by a vote of the
> legislative body as remotely assembled.
> As far as this goes, okay. However, you probably need to tie the initial
> declaration to a third-party declaration such as the governor or the
> president to avoid gamesmanship.
>
> *Purchase and provide equipment to all members of the chamber and provide
> video-conference software to committee and chamber clerks.
> This is doable especially where the state has already issued equipment to
> every member, officer, and committee staff.
>
> *Ensure live-streaming of all official proceedings and press access to the
> Capitol complex.
> I think the issue here is bandwidth -- if citizens and lobbyists can't
> access the building, then you are going to have a lot of demand for the
> streaming video, especially if you are running 10-15 committee hearings
> simultaneously as happens here. Permitting witnesses to testify by video
> conference presents some challenges, especially to prevent astroturf
> witness registrations.
>
> On Sun, Mar 15, 2020 at 4:27 PM Jeff Wice <jmwice at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> The National Conference of State Legislature's (NCSL) website is posting
>> information on what state  governments are doing on the shutdowns and
>> emergency measures. About 15 state legislatures have already suspended or
>> delayed sessions. The website can be accessed via www.ncsl.org or
>> NCSL Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resources
>> <https://share.polymail.io/v1/z/b/NWU2ZTljOWVhMGFl/s4dBQpSrMVfFYqbI_NNIGRwDqvMEPeZyIlOkqer9uBCpiRzijtpmAnPsIyweKoYI8BJ2_17KFk7Y9HfWy8tZkdift-X7o93DqF4lwn27QsZmS2tdkqpOFdf0nxDA0wYrX6qrjPFfXcL5CeqLHcnD8Gxjasaosq7V_MDcIZLLI3G-21SjbiAf1LGbUZabFLa3nemkGuw_FyZyCeClYWC4yaoMb6GAWJOhsL1FBEojmRvyBZxd-8YrU2Lz4MXl>
>> The spread of the coronavirus continues to be a top concern and, while
>> the federal government leads the national response to COVID-19, state
>> lawmakers are taking extra steps to respond to and anticipate impacts of
>> the virus. NCSL is committed to providing our members with timely responses
>> to state research requests and the essential knowledge needed to guide
>> state action. This page is updated daily to reflect new resources in policy
>> areas ranging from education to health care costs and access.
>> <https://share.polymail.io/v1/z/b/NWU2ZTljOWVhMGFl/s4dBQpSrMVfFYqbI_NNIGRwDqvMEPeZyIlOkqer9uBCpiRzijtpmAnPsIyweKoYI8BJ2_17KFk7Y9HfWy8tZkdift-X7o93DqF4lwn27QsZmS2tdkqpOFdf0nxDA0wYrX6qrjPFfXcL5CeqLHcnD8Gxjasaosq7V_MDcIZLLI3G-21SjbiAf1LGbUZabFLa3nemkGuw_FyZyCeClYWC4yaoMb6GAWJOhsL1FBEojmRvyBZxd-8YrU2Lz4MXl>
>> WWW.NCSL.ORG
>> <https://share.polymail.io/v1/z/b/NWU2ZTljOWVhMGFl/s4dBQpSrMVfFYqbI_NNIGRwDqvMEPeZyIlOkqer9uBCpiRzijtpmAnPsIyweKoYI8BJ2_17KFk7Y9HfWy8tZkdift-X7o93DqF4lwn27QsZmS2tdkqpOFdf0nxDA0wYrX6qrjPFfXcL5CeqLHcnD8Gxjasaosq7V_MDcIZLLI3G-21SjbiAf1LGbUZabFLa3nemkGuw_FyZyCeClYWC4yaoMb6GAWJOhsL1FBEojmRvyBZxd-8YrU2Lz4MXl>
>> <https://share.polymail.io/v1/z/b/NWU2ZTljOWVhMGFl/s4dBQpSrMVfFYqbI_NNIGRwDqvMEPeZyIlOkqer9uBCpiRzijtpmAnPsIyweKoYI8BJ2_17KFk7Y9HfWy8tZkdift-X7o93DqF4lwn27QsZmS2tdkqpOFdf0nxDA0wYrX6qrjPFfXcL5CeqLHcnD8Gxjasaosq7V_MDcIZLLI3G-21SjbiAf1LGbUZabFLa3nemkGuw_FyZyCeClYWC4yaoMb6GAWJOhsL1FBEojmRvyBZxd-8YrU2Lz4MXl>
>>
>> I'll update the listserv on NCSL's activities regarding election law and
>> state law/process changes as soon as I have the information.
>>
>> Jeff Wice
>>
>> Sent from Polymail
>> <https://share.polymail.io/v1/z/b/NWU2ZTljOWVhMGFl/s4dBQpSrMVfFYqbI_NNIGRwDqvMEPeZyIlOkqer9uBCpiRzijtpmAnPsIyweKoYI8BJ2_17KFk7Y9HfWy8tZkdift-X7o93DqF4lwn27QsZmS2tdkqpOFdf0nxDA0wYrX6qrjPFfXcL-EfHcHsvZ8Gxld464tb_LxtLBN4iHLimv2EyyLC8Vy_vDRpS2Fr2ygvW7Uu13Eix2EuXkdizh1pAcYbmCWp-18OFFHVVm9PMFYZElJO2YVh-V-x7CJ62AAc8R>
>>
>> On Sun, Mar 15th, 2020 at 12:29 PM, Rob Richie <rr at fairvote.org> wrote:
>>
>>> I am surprised by the silence on David's very reasonable query.
>>>
>>> AEI's Norm Onstein has addressed the issue of continuity of governance
>>> with important thinking and reports for years. He had this piece in the
>>> Atlantic
>>> <https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/03/congress-needs-contingency-plan-right-now/607933/>a
>>> couple days addressing this issue through the lens of Congress. It
>>> includes: "There is no plan in place for Congress to hold remote meetings
>>> or otherwise conduct its business if it becomes impossible for its members
>>> to meet together, face to face in the Capitol or at another site in the
>>> District of Columbia. And that needs to change, right now."
>>>
>>> I'm wondering if anyone might know what other nations are doing with
>>> this challenge as well.
>>>
>>> Rob
>>>
>>>
>>> Rob
>>>
>>> On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 10:34 PM David Segal <david at demandprogress.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Two NY lawmakers just tested positive. This is all about to spiral.
>>>
>>> https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/nyregion/coronavirus-ny.html
>>>
>>> On Sat, Mar 14, 2020 at 8:39 PM David Segal <david at demandprogress.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi, everybody-
>>>
>>> One thing I'm trying to sound the alarm about:
>>>
>>> Many, or perhaps most, state legislatures have no contingencies in place
>>> to allow for things like remote voting by lawmakers.
>>>
>>> This could be disastrous, as it will be harder and harder to get quorums
>>> to meet in person. And such meetings will be necessary to pass things like
>>> budgets -- *and changes to voting laws to help make sure that elections
>>> take place at scale and with integrity. *
>>>
>>> I'd urge anybody who has contacts with state officials to raise this
>>> issue with them ASAP so they can seek to make changes to their own
>>> procedures to allow for continuity of governance. It's disconcerting, but
>>> not shocking, that there's been almost no thought put into this here in RI.
>>>
>>> (This is also a concern for Congress, but I know they are at least
>>> thinking about it now.)
>>>
>>> -David
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Law-election mailing list
>>> Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu
>>> https://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>>> Rob Richie
>>> President and CEO, FairVote
>>> 6930 Carroll Avenue, Suite 240
>>> Takoma Park, MD 20912
>>> rr at fairvote.org  (301) 270-4616  http://www.fairvote.org
>>> *FairVote Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/FairVoteReform>*   *FairVote
>>> Twitter <https://twitter.com/fairvote>*   My Twitter
>>> <https://twitter.com/rob_richie>
>>>
>>> Thank you for considering a *donation
>>> <http://www.fairvote.org/donate>. Enjoy our video on ranked choice voting
>>> <https://youtu.be/CIz_nzP-W_c>!*
>>>
>>
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>> >> matters at https://links.utexas.edu/rtyclf.                        <<
>>
>
>
> --
> Hugh L. Brady
> T (512) 289-0535 | F (512) 857-1016
>
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