WA Senate moves to hybrid floor votes due to COVID-19

By RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington state Senate is limiting the number of lawmakers allowed on the chamber floor and prohibiting public access to Senate facilities as part of its COVID-19 protocols for the 60-day legislative session that begins Monday. The move comes days after the House announced plans to have mostly remote votes at the Capitol. The move rolls back an initial plan that would have allowed all 49 senators to attend floor sessions, regardless of vaccination status, and to let the public back into the galleries above the floor. Now, operations will essentially return to how things looked last year.