Maryland legislators release plans for 2021 session amid rise in COVID-19 cases

As Maryland braces for a winter surge in coronavirus cases, top lawmakers are planning how to bring the General Assembly together for a session in Annapolis this January.

In a pair of plans released last week, House and Senate leaders outlined measures that will strictly limit public access to the State House and will keep lawmakers at a distance from one another.

House members will be split into two groups, with about half of the 141 delegates meeting from a "chamber annex" in the House Office Building. The House will still meet as one body, and the two groups will be connected via a live stream.

"The main goal of this plan is to allow all of us to execute our constitutional responsibilities to the fullest extent possible, in the safest way possible, for the full 90 days of the regular session," House Speaker Adrienne Jones wrote in a memo to delegates.

Read more: https://www.delmarvanow.com/story/news/local/maryland/2020/11/09/maryland-legislators-release-plans-2021-session-amid-covid-19/6219229002/