Majority Caucus Leaders Ask Public to Stay at Home While Lawmakers Return to State Capitol

Majority Caucus Leaders Ask Public to Stay at Home While Lawmakers Return to State Capitol

JEFFERSON CITY — Members of the Missouri Senate will return to the Capitol on Tuesday, April 7, to finalize the Fiscal Year 2020 supplemental budget. With a statewide stay-at-home order in effect and dire warnings from the U.S. Surgeon General, the public is asked to stay home and utilize the digital tools available online (senate.mo.gov) to monitor legislative proceedings.

“The goal is to protect the public, staff and members of the General Assembly present in the Capitol building,” said Senate Majority Floor Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia. “Cooperation by everyone during these extraordinary circumstances is vital as we work to achieve this goal.”

Capitol personnel have taken steps to minimize exposure to COVID-19:

  • The public will only have access to the Capitol through the South Carriage Entrance.
  • All persons seeking to enter the Capitol will have their temperature taken and will be subjected to a series of screening questions related to their health, travel and known COVID-19 exposure.
  • Members of the public will only have access to the Joint Committee Hearing Room on the first floor and the visitor galleries on the fourth floor; social distancing requirements will dramatically limit seating availability. The public will not have access to legislators’ offices or the surrounding hallways.
  • Video of committee hearings will be live-streamed; audio of Senate floor debate will be live-streamed as usual.

For more information, please contact Stuart Murray, Senate Majority Caucus Communications Director. (573) 522-7973 — Stuart.Murray@senate.mo.gov