California lawmakers can vote remotely in final weeks of session, but they won’t get per diem pay

During the final four weeks of the 2020 legislative session, California lawmakers vulnerable to the worst of COVID-19 will be allowed to submit proxy or remote votes on bills at the cost of losing their daily pay if they select that option.

The Legislature is scheduled to reconvene Monday following a summer recess that was lengthened by 14 days after two Assembly legislators tested positive for the virus. The crunched timeline meant lawmakers were asked to pare down their bills and committee chairs had to cut hearings to a single meeting.

But with the virus aggressively spreading through the Golden State — more than 12,000 cases were reported twice this week by the state Department of Public Health — legislative leadership announced their relaxed voting rules to keep at-risk members safe before session ends on Aug. 31.

Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, said he would allow proxy voting during floor sessions for the handful of members who might not want to return to Sacramento during the final month.

Under this limited circumstance, members would first have to get approval to stay home, then they’d submit their vote for a bill to the chief clerk’s office the night before it’s taken up. From there, only leadership — Rendon, Majority Leader Ian Calderon, Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron or Republican floor leader Assemblyman Heath Flora — could vote for the absent member.

“Given a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state, the Assembly is obliged to pursue safety with more stringent measures,” Rendon said in a statement. “As a result, we will implement very limited proxy voting for floor sessions to allow our most vulnerable members to participate without being physically present on the Assembly floor.”

Rendon said the process would increase transparency and allow for verification of votes.

“Extraordinary times require extraordinary measures,” he said.

In the Senate, members would be allowed to vote remotely from their district offices on bills during committee hearings, but then would have to travel to Sacramento for floor sessions scheduled during the final two weeks, when final votes are cast.

Members in both houses would lose their per diem pay, $206 a day, if they vote remotely or via proxy. They earn that money, intended to cover expenses in Sacramento, on top of their legislative salaries, which are north of $114,000.

Hundreds of bills are awaiting votes, though some have already been cut from committee hearings due to time constraints. Rendon and Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, had differed throughout session this year on how to legislate safely through a pandemic. Rendon had not initially pursued the option for remote work in house, while Atkins had.

Atkins said the remote voting policy would let the members “conduct the people’s business safely” and constitutionally. The Senate maintains that remote voting is not currently an option for floor sessions.

“In keeping with this framework, the Senate’s process will allow for remote voting in committee hearings when we return from recess.”

This story was originally published July 23, 2020 at 5:59 PM with the headline "California lawmakers can vote remotely in final weeks of session, but they won’t get per diem pay."