Coronavirus Forces Legislators to Keep Their Distance

State legislators are doing their best to practice social distancing. 

Legislatures in 23 states have adjourned or suspended sessions due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). That number includes Georgia, where all the members of the General Assembly were asked to self-quarantine after Sen. Brandon Beach, who later tested positive, attended a session on March 16. Since then, four other Georgia state senators have also tested positive.

Legislators elsewhere are attempting to keep a safe distance. This week, lawmakers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania participated in their states’ first-ever remote sessions. In states such as Colorado, Idaho and Washington, legislative committees have solicited remote testimony from the public. Around the country, capitols are closed to everyone except legislators, staff and reporters.

City councils from California to Maine have also canceled hearings or are holding them remotely. In Seattle, the nation’s initial coronavirus hot spot, the city council has been holding remote meetings since March 9. “There is no piece of legislation worth risking your life or your staff's life when there are plenty of ways to participate remotely,” said Teresa Mosqueda, a member of the council.

To make sure they’d have adequate room to keep apart, the Arkansas Legislature moved its session Thursday to a basketball arena.

Some legislators have taken to sitting out in hallways or in otherwise empty visitor galleries.

Those who remain on the floor have spread themselves out. Votes are taking longer as multiple legislators have to return to the chamber.

Some are wearing masks and other protective gear.

Since protesters can’t come into the capitol or safely gather for rallies outside, groups have been staging drive-by protests in Kentucky.

Social distancing, it turns out, is just one more way in which state legislatures follow better practices than Congress.