Senate Rules committee approves remote voting for Senator Sears through end of session

The Senate Rules committee approved an extension allowing Senator Sears to vote remotely through the end of the legislative session.

The presiding officer reminded members that the Rules policy includes an automatic two-day remote participation allowance for health reasons and emergencies and said Senator Sears had availed himself of that allowance. Secretary Bloomberg suggested preemptively granting permission for Sears to continue remote participation "through the end of the session" because the precise duration of his need was uncertain. An unnamed senator (Speaker 2) agreed that authorizing remote voting "through the end of the session" was preferable to specifying a fixed number of days. The presiding officer called for a vote; members answered "Aye" with no opposition recorded.

The committee's approval authorizes Senator Sears to participate and vote remotely through the end of the session. The presiding officer said they would communicate the committee's decision to Senator Sears. The record does not include a roll-call tally or the medical details prompting the remote participation request.