The COVID-19 pandemic caused the Legislature to call a halt to its session in March, except for three days of gathering to pass emergency COVID-19 funding for the state.

Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks earlier sent a memo to her colleagues saying the Legislature should make accommodations for those senators who don't want to come to the Capitol when it meets again. One senator, Mike Moser of Columbus, was hospitalized for five weeks with COVID-19. 

The state has recorded more than 20,200 cases of the virus, with the peak of confirmed cases in early May. Lancaster County has a positivity rate of 6.5%, and Douglas County's positivity rate was declining as of last week, but is starting to tick up again, at 10% so far this week. 

The Legislature's Rules Committee, headed by Sen. Sue Crawford of Bellevue, got information on what some other states are doing to meet or vote remotely in reaction to the pandemic.

Mark Thomas, the Utah Senate's chief of staff, outlined the steps that state's legislature has taken to allow senators and representatives to meet virtually since March. The Utah Legislature has held four special sessions, either fully by Webex, or with the majority in the Capitol and some virtually present, with voice votes allowed on screen. 

Some states have allowed proxy votes, enabling senators to have another member vote on their behalf. Nebraska Speaker Jim Scheer said at Wednesday's meeting he was not in favor of that. 

"We were elected by a district to represent a district and the state, and (proxy voting) circumvents your district having its voice in the process," he said. 

Legislative Clerk Patrick O'Donnell said his concerns about remote attendance and voting are related to constitutionality, especially as it applies to quorums.

"The notion of a physical presence has always been fundamentally part of the quorum establishment requirements," he said. "If you have 25 of your colleagues in the building or the chamber, I'm more comfortable."

While other states have experimented with some remote activities, he doesn't believe they have been full-blown operational sessions. Remote voting alone is more common. 

He also has serious concerns about internet security issues, he said. 

"I'd encourage you to think about how you've operated as a legislature," he told the senators, "in terms of the give-and-take of the process, being on the floor with each other, being able to discuss and cajole and argue and make your case or whatever proposition you're trying to articulate or get support for. That gets really complicated in a remote kind of environment."

Nebraska has the most democratic legislature in the country, O'Donnell said, with individual members having more power and authority and the ability to affect outcomes. 

Other state legislatures tend to be more authoritarian. 

The Rules Committee was told that this year, legislatures in at least 23 states changed their rules or statutes to allow for remote participation of some kind during the COVID-19 emergency. Those states included Colorado, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Crawford said Wednesday's conversation was more about whether the Rules Committee should debate and discuss rules changes for January or future sessions. The speaker and clerk have worked hard to make this month's session safe, she said, although rules could be changed, if needed and feasible, she said. 

"However, I don't think that we would be ready to activate it in these 17 days," she said. "If we made this rule change in these 17 days, that would likely be a part of the rules for the next session and would create the impetus for staff ... to prepare for possible remote proceedings or proxy voting for the next session."

If a member would test positive or have symptoms of the virus in these upcoming 17 days beginning July 20, Scheer said, they still could take part.

"I have no authority to prohibit anyone from being on the floor and voting. That's their constitutional right as an officeholder," he said.