#News: Idaho Legislature shuts down due to COVID-19 outbreak

Legislators in the House and Senate have taken the step to pause by April 6 with significant unfinished business, including budgeting and pushing through huge tax cuts. income.

At least six of the 70 members of the House tested positive for the disease in the last week, and there are fears that a highly contagious variant of COVID-19 is in the State House.

“The House has had a lot of positive tests, so it’s probably prudent for the House to take a step back for a few weeks until things calm down and it’s not hot here for COVID,” House Majority Leader Mike Moyle said earlier the votes.

Five of those who tested positive are Republicans and one Democrat. Another Republican lawmaker is isolating himself. The chamber has a super-majority of 58 Republicans, many of whom rarely or never wear masks. All Democratic lawmakers typically wear masks.

Related: More Idahoans to be eligible for COVID-19 vaccine on April 12 

The three lawmakers who tested positive this week, two Republicans and one Democrat, had all been participating in debates on the House floor.

The House, with the illness spreading, requested the Senate recess as well. Two senators contracted COVID-19 but have recovered and returned to the 35-member Senate.

The Senate honored the House request and voted to recess about an hour after the House, with Republican Senate President Pro-Tem Chuck Winder calling it “an unusual and kind of historic request that has been made of us."

Republican Sen. Majority Leader Kelly Anthon said senators could use the time to prepare for when the Senate convenes again. “We will use this time productively for the Idaho people so that when we come back together on April 6, we will be ready to work quickly," he said.

Republican House Speaker Scott Bedke said after the votes that the delay could be good because it could give the Legislature time to figure out how to spend the $2.2 billion the state is receiving in the latest round of federal coronavirus relief money. 

Republican leaders in the House and Senate, who control both houses, did not impose a mask mandate this session.

"I think maybe when they come back, maybe it will be different," Bedke said. "But I don't regret the security protocols here at this point."

Legislators will be paid daily fees to cover their normal living expenses related to the session during recess, and secretaries and attachés will also be paid during recess. Bedke characterized it as essentially a long weekend that many will use to catch up on paperwork and other matters.

A major goal of Republican lawmakers in the legislature this session has been to curb the emergency powers of the Republican governor to respond to things like pandemics. Lawmakers have tabled several proposals that would restrict Gov. Brad Little's ability to make sweeping directives in the future.

The House has also been advancing a bill that would prohibit local governments from requiring people to wear masks. Little, who wears a mask in public and encourages others to do so, has never issued a mask mandate statewide, but a handful of counties and a dozen cities currently have such orders in effect.

In a joint statement, House Democratic Minority Leader Ilana Rubel and Senate Democratic Minority Leader Michelle Stennett said they hoped their colleagues suffering from COVID-19 would recover.

"But we can't help but be disappointed at how bad things have gotten on Capitol Hill, when we could have prevented this from becoming a hot spot all along," they said. making us sick so we can act. We must do better when we return, or else we will continue to find ourselves in this position. "

In addition to the eight lawmakers known to have contracted COVID-19, a handful of House and Senate staff members are also known to have contracted the virus in this session.

During the recess, lawmakers are expected to travel home to all parts of the state, which could spread the variant of the virus.

Dr. David Peterman, a pediatrician and CEO of Primary Health Medical Group, said Thursday that between 30% and 40% of positive tests at the health group's facilities in southwest Idaho were the variant.

Approximately 175,000 Idaho residents have been infected with the coronavirus and more than 1,900 have died. But some 200,000 residents have received both shots of the two-shot vaccine, and another 125,000 have received the first. Approximately 1.8 million people live in the state.