{"id":50111,"date":"2020-11-30T23:58:09","date_gmt":"2020-12-01T06:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-legislatures-special-session-starts-with-coronavirus-exposure\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:50:09","slug":"colorado-legislatures-special-session-starts-with-coronavirus-exposure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/colorado-legislatures-special-session-starts-with-coronavirus-exposure\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado Legislature\u2019s special session starts with coronavirus exposure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Colorado House chambers on the first day of Colorado\u2019s special legislative session on Monday, Nov. 30.<\/span>Andy Colwell\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Colorado lawmakers are contending with the possibility of a<\/p>\n

House Speaker KC Becker, a Boulder Democrat, said a Republican staffer in the House was on the chamber\u2019s floor Monday morning despite testing positive for COVID-19 last week.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe staffer has been sent home and is not permitted to return through the special session until she tests negative,\u201d Becker said in a written statement. \u201cThis was a reckless breach of the House\u2019s safety protocols<\/a>, and it will not be tolerated.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Rep. Hugh McKean, the incoming House Republican leader, said the woman actually tested positive on Nov. 17 and that she was given permission to return to work on Nov. 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese concerns arose after a Facebook post that mentioned the positive test,\u201d McKean\u2019s statement said. \u201cThe statement that this individual tested positive last week is in error. There should be minimal concern about their condition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becker, in her statement, blasted Republicans for the exposure and said the staffer\u2019s presence \u201chas placed the health of every lawmaker and member of staff at risk as we meet to pass critical legislation to help Coloradans get through this crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRepublicans in the House must put the people of Colorado first and follow the House\u2019s common-sense safety protocols,\u201d her statement said.<\/p>\n

CDPHE will conduct contact tracing, Becker said in an email to her colleagues. A source says the staffer mostly stayed on the Republican side of the House chambers.<\/p>\n

Rep. Patrick Neville, the outgoing Republican leader, said he wasn\u2019t at the Capitol on Monday and had no additional information.<\/p>\n

Monday was the first day of the special legislative session. It comes as coronavirus is raging in Colorado and an estimated 1 in 40 people are actively contagious with the disease.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers, however, felt it was critical that they return to the Capitol to pass $200-plus million in relief for people who are increasingly feeling the economic effects of the pandemic.<\/p>\n

While some Republicans were wearing masks at the Capitol on Monday, others were not. Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, was photographed wearing a mask on the crown of his head, apparently in jest.<\/p>\n

\"State
State Sen. Larry Linton, R-Colorado Springs, talks to a colleague from under a loose mask before a meeting at the Colorado Capitol on the first day of Colorado&#x2019;s special legislative session on Monday, Nov. 30.<\/span>Andy Colwell\/Special to The Colorado Sun<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Lawmakers were asked to be tested before the lawmaking term and have access to rapid testing at the Capitol each day. Capitol visitors have their temperatures screened and are asked questions about potential COVID-19 symptoms before entering the building.<\/p>\n

Many lawmakers, including those who are older or who have preexisting conditions, are opting to stay away from the Capitol as much as possible to avoid exposure. The legislature has increased remote participation to accommodate them.<\/p>\n

On Saturday night, Gov. Jared Polis announced that he and his partner, Marlon Reis, tested positive for COVID-19.<\/p>\n

This is a developing story that will be updated.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The Colorado Sun is a reader-supported, journalist-owned news outlet exploring issues of statewide interest. Sign up for a newsletter and read more at coloradosun.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more at The Colorado Sun<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Republican staffer in House was on the chamber\u2019s floor despite positive COVID-19 test<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[233,685,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-50111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coloradosun-com","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50111"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87694,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50111\/revisions\/87694"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50111"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=50111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}