“Yesterday, session was cancelled by Assembly leadership to avoid voting on our Conference’s amendment to remove the governor’s emergency powers. Today, we introduced that amendment three separate times, giving the Assembly Majority’s ample opportunity to finally take the action that many of them have been calling for. Unfortunately, when push came to shove, my colleagues’ votes fell straight along party lines and our amendment was defeated.

“Despite the accusation that our conference aimed to delay and disrupt the house proceedings, it is quite the contrary – we simply wanted to present our amendment as an option for more immediate action to take place and bring our house back to order. From critical COVID-19 relief to fiscal planning, 2021 is no doubt going to be a challenging year and I’m calling on my colleagues to do what’s right for the individuals that they represent, and that means restoring the checks-and-balances necessary for us to get back to work.”