California lawmaker had to vote in person with newborn baby
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SACRAMENTO, CA (KCRA) — A California lawmaker was forced to bring her crying baby on the floor of the state Assembly to vote in person on a housing bill when her request to vote by proxy was denied.
The Assembly had recently changed its rules to allow members at high risk for the novel coronavirus to vote from home. But Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon denied Assemblywoman Buffy Wicks’ request, saying she did not qualify as “high risk” for the disease.
Wicks brought her newborn daughter to work on Monday, bouncing her beneath a blue-and-white striped blanket as she gave a speech on the Assembly floor, urging her colleagues to pass a housing bill before midnight.
The remarkable moment prompted applause from some of her colleagues and quickly spread on social media, generating criticism of the decision to deny Wicks’ proxy request — including an editorial in the San Francisco Chronicle that began with the line: “Shame on Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon.”
Rendon later apologized to Wicks on Tuesday night, saying “my intention was never to be inconsiderate toward her, her role as a legislator, or her role as a mother.”
“The Assembly needs to do better. I commit to doing better,” Rendon said.
In an interview, Wicks said she wasn’t angry with Rendon denying her request, saying “we’re all dealing with how we manage this new world” and said she hoped her experience would serve as a “teachable moment.”
“I think it touches a chord of what a lot of women are feeling around the country right now, especially with COVID,” Wicks said. “It’s not really about me, it’s about the constraints I think families are feeling across the board.”
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