SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Republican legislators and a handful of Democrats are decrying as unconstitutional a plan to close off public access to the New Mexico Statehouse during a special legislative session.
Twenty-two legislators on Thursday petitioned the state Supreme Court to prevent the Legislature from the move intended as a precaution against the coronavirus. Webcasts of committee meetings and floor debates would be available under a plan devised this week by a panel of leading House and Senate lawmakers. But a group of mostly Republican legislators says precautions such as physical distancing and face masks would work.