A California state Assembly member brought her baby on the floor Monday after she was denied the ability to vote by proxy over COVID-19 concerns.
Buffy Wicks, who gave birth in late July, traveled from Sacramento to Oakland with her newborn for the final day of the session in which legislation was debated until midnight. She had been told that recent labor did not qualify her as high risk for the coronavirus, according to a report by Politico.
The Democrat was denied the ability to vote by proxy even as Republicans in the state Senate were allowed to vote remotely. Erin Ivie, a spokeswoman for Wicks, said on Monday that the request was denied “on the grounds that maternity leave is not eligible for proxy voting.”
Wicks made her case for passing a bill that would make it easier to create multiunit housing while wearing a face mask and holding her child.
“Please, please, please pass this bill,” Wicks said in a video she posted to Twitter. “And I’m going to go finish feeding my daughter.”
Absolutely devastated about #SB1120. Our housing crisis requires us to act, and tonight we failed to do that.
But I promise you this: I will *always* show up for housing — no matter what. pic.twitter.com/I4n6X07CNp
— Buffy Wicks (@BuffyWicks) September 1, 2020
Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, who adopted the rules on Aug. 3 about proxy voting during the pandemic, said eligible members “shall be at a higher risk from the COVID-19 virus.”
“The speaker understands that members are committed to performing their legislative duties, while still trying to minimize risk of Covid-19 exposure,” Rendon’s spokeswoman Katie Talbot said in an email. “The house resolution pertaining to proxy voting is very specific, in that only members at a higher risk from Covid-19 will be considered eligible for proxy voting. This bar of eligibility was always intended to be high, to ensure the protection of our legislative process.”
Rendon argued that proxy voting could lead to bills being passed in a way that could be constitutionally invalid. Proxy voting was instituted for Assembly members at high risk for COVID-19, but it was not to be used by anybody.
Senate Republicans voted remotely as they were barred from the floor of Monday’s session after a member tested positive for the coronavirus. Senate Democrats voted in person.
