Excused from the Senate floor session Monday was Sen. Lora Reinbold and Sen. Mike Shower. Shower evidently missed his plane to Juneau, while Reinbold doesn’t want to wear a face mask.
Sen. President Micciche told Reinbold her clear face shield didn’t conform to standards established by Legislative Council. She left the floor before he gaveled in.
Reinbold has been wearing the face shield for the entire session and Micciche says he has been bending over backwards to accommodate her, in spite of the Legislative Council rules in place. There are two people in the building who are now seriously ill with Covid-19, he said. Micciche believes legislators need to do everything humanly possible to protect the workers and each other.
Micciche’s statement: “Legislative Council is empowered by the Constitution and Uniform Rules to create enforceable policies in the Capitol Complex. The COVID Mitigation Policy is one such enforceable policy put into place to keep employees, staff and legislators safe and able to continue working to complete the people’s business on time this session. Like many large businesses and institutions with similar close contact working conditions and a critical mission, the plan is fit for that purpose and may be revised in the future. These are not new rules. However, after several positive cases were identified in the building and a couple employees have suffered from COVID complications, we are asking folks for 100% cooperation with the COVID-19 mitigation measures.
“Further outbreaks of the virus not only endanger the health of vulnerable members and staff, but could risk putting the Legislature well behind schedule during a particularly critical session for Alaska. Everyone consistently following these simple health measures and not asking for special treatment that puts others at risk is our best bet to ensure that the Alaska Legislature will get the people’s work done on time,” Micciche said in a statement.
Reinbold’s statement:
