The California Senate abruptly halted the start of its floor session on Wednesday after an unnamed person in the upper house tested positive for COVID-19, complicating a hectic final week of legislative business at the state Capitol.
A morning memo asked all senators and staff to “hold in place for the next hour or so” in their offices and advised anyone who had not yet entered the Capitol building to remain at home.
Contact tracing will determine whether the virus has spread to others as Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins weighs whether the house should move to remote voting with just a few days left in the legislative year. The positive case was confirmed after some senators were tested for the virus in recent days and a day after legislators met for a floor session on Tuesday.
Katie Talbot, a spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), said the Assembly would proceed with hearings and floor sessions as planned.
Wednesday’s news comes as lawmakers are divided over the extent to which the Legislature can act on bills with its members casting votes from remote locations. The Assembly has instituted a process for members at high risk of contracting the virus to submit proxy votes to the house’s leaders. The Senate allowed remote voting by its members for bills when they were in committee. The upper house said last month it would not allow remote voting during floor sessions.
The pandemic has disrupted the Capitol since the Senate and Assembly halted sessions in March to lessen the risk of the virus spreading.
Both houses delayed a return from summer recess last month after two Assembly members and four staffers tested positive for COVID-19. That spread inside the Capitol was believed to be linked to legislators and staffers meeting in order to pass the state budget at the end of June.
Before the most recent case, a spokeswoman for the Senate said in July that one Senate staffer tested positive in June while two employees who work in district offices also had confirmed cases of COVID-19.
