/Photo by Bernard Gagnon /Wikimedia Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0
By Jeremy Duda | Arizona Mirror
For the second time this month, the Senate has adjourned the 2020 legislative session. This time, it may stick.
Senate President Karen Fann, R-Prescott, had already decided not to hear two pieces of new legislation related to the COVID-19 crisis that the House of Representatives passed last week which would have provided new legal protections to businesses that reopen amid the pandemic and directed $88 million in federal funding to child care facilities. The only things on the agenda Tuesday were 28 mostly non-controversial bills that had already passed the House.
But before the Senate could take up any legislation, Sen. Rebecca Rios, D-Phoenix, motioned to adjourn sine die and end the legislative session. Republican Sens. Paul Boyer, Heather Carter and Kate Brophy McGee, a trio with a reputation for bucking their party, sided with the Democrats. The result was a 16-14 vote to adjourn.
There is little question that there will be at least one special session in the near future to address a budget deficit, as well as civil liability and perhaps other issues.
