2020 -- S 2846

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LC005371

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2020

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S E N A T E   R E S O L U T I O N

AMENDING THE RULES OF THE SENATE FOR YEARS 2019-2020

     Introduced By: Senators Lombardi, McCaffrey, and Ruggerio

     Date Introduced: May 26, 2020

     Referred To: Senate Rules, Government Ethics and Oversight

     RESOLVED, That Section 10 of the rules for the Senate adopted by the Senate at its

January session, A.D. 2019, entitled "Senate Resolution Adopting Rules of the Senate for the

Years 2019-2020," be and the same is hereby amended by adding thereto the following rule:

     10.7.1 Voting by Proxy During Declared State of Emergency.

     Notwithstanding any senate rule to the contrary, during any declared state of emergency

and while the senate is in session, a senator may request from the presiding officer permission to

vote by proxy on any bill or matter before the senate. The presiding officer shall, when deciding

to grant or deny the request, consider whether the senator making the request would face a

hardship in attending session, or, during a contagion, falls within a high-risk category as defined

by the Rhode Island Department of Health or an equivalent agency. If the presiding officer grants

a senator permission to vote by proxy, the presiding officer shall notify the secretary of the senate

of the decision to allow such vote by proxy. The secretary of the senate shall prepare a proxy(ies)

for each senator voting by proxy, in a form substantially as follows: The bill number or matter to

be voted on followed by a box to approve and a box to disapprove. The secretary of the senate

shall deliver the proxy(ies), by email or hand delivery, to each senator authorized to vote by

proxy. Any senator voting by proxy shall have their signature notarized and shall return the

notarized proxy(ies), by email or hand delivery, to the leader of their respective caucus. The

majority or minority leader shall forward the executed proxy(ies) to the secretary of the senate to

be recorded in the journal.

The right to vote by proxy shall cease on the date that the state of emergency is officially declared

over.

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LC005371

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