Senator objects to advancing SB888 substitute while deployed colleague absent; questions staff negotiations

During floor consideration of the substitute for Senate Bill 888, a senator raised a sustained objection to moving the substitute forward while another senator (from the fifth district) was absent and, as stated on the floor, deployed. The senator pressing the inquiry said it was inappropriate to perfect the bill without the deployed member and asked whether the absent senator’s chief of staff had authority to negotiate on his behalf.

“I don't think it's right to have this debate on this bill when he's not here,” the senator said, pressing the point that an elected member who is deployed should be afforded deference. The senator said he would seek assurances that the absent member’s concerns had been addressed before consenting to perfection.

The sponsor of the substitute, the senator from the second, responded that the absent senator’s chief of staff had been present during negotiations and that caucus members participating in the discussions believed the absent senator’s concerns were accounted for. “It's my belief…based upon the many hours and weeks of discussion, the follow-up with the senator before he left,” the sponsor said, adding that he hoped the senator would return healthy and that negotiations produced an agreed place for the bill.

The exchange left the question of explicit on‑record assent from the absent senator unresolved in the transcript; the chamber proceeded to adopt and declare the substitute perfected after additional colloquy and a voice vote.

The floor colloquy underscores procedural tensions about staff-led negotiations in members’ absence and how the Senate balances deference to absent colleagues with the practical need to advance negotiated measures during the legislative session.