Discussion on the House floor about remote voting is getting heated. Rep. Leslie Herod said lawmakers who are not here are not lazy. She’s representing the black caucus and said the virus is disproportionately affecting black people. Dems stand while she speaks. #copolitics

Rep. Richard Holtorf spoke against the resolution, saying members shouldn’t live in fear and there’s no guarantee about the state of lawmakers when they vote remotely, asking what happens if a member is voting while drunk. “There’s no guarantee.”

Dems are taking offense to comments that members who aren’t in the legislature and want to vote remotely are AWOL or lazy. They are dealing with health issues but want to continue to represent their constituents, says Rep. Mike Weissman. It doesn’t force anyone to vote remotely.

Rep. Dave Williams says he objects to the rule change, calling the process very dangerous. He says he objects to his Republican caucus getting accused of being racist.

“When I bring up issues of race, it’s not calling anyone racist. If you want me to stop talking about it, then maybe you should think about where that’s coming from,” Herod said.

Rep. Jovan Melton came in, against his doctor's orders, and decided he needed to speak up to ask colleagues for compassion, he said.

"We want to serve. We want to be here," he said.

He was diagnosed with pneumonia and acute heart failure. "I kept feeling like I was going to pass out." If he did, he would have gone into cardiac arrest, Melton said.

"The things that I'm hearing, being compared to an AWOL soldier, I can't help but go to work."

Melton said he's not asking to be part of debates or committees but to not take away his district's votes or representation. "Please, do it for me, and the 75K ppl I represent. Do it for Buckner and the 75K ppl she represents. Do it for Jackson and the 75K ppl she represents."

Rep. Richard Champion is warning of making a change by simple majority with history behind them.

Holtorf has proposed an amendment to require a 2/3 majority vote for the rule change.

Majority Leader Alec Garnett said he keeps hearing about how people don't want to change the institution, but rule changes have required a simple majority since 1963 and now Rs are saying they want that changed.

Garnett said he's been reaching out across party lines to come up with something that works for the unprecedented pandemic.