A second member of the Arkansas Legislature announced Thursday that she tested positive for covid-19, adding to concerns about how lawmakers will proceed with the fiscal session set to start Wednesday.

Rep. Vivian Flowers, D-Pine Bluff, said she received word of her positive test Wednesday night and was recuperating at her parents' home Thursday.

Flowers, 50, told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that she had a "terrible fever and cough" over the weekend. She was tested Tuesday at Jefferson Regional Medical Center after her symptoms began to clear.

"My fever would spike in the day and night and then I'd wake up in the morning and my fever would be gone," she said.

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Rep. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna, announced Wednesday that he had tested positive for the virus. Murdock said he was asymptomatic.

Both Flowers and Murdock attended the special legislative session last week at which lawmakers passed emergency legislation to establish a $173 million rainy-day fund to patch gaps in the budget and respond to other problems caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The House met in a college basketball arena in Little Rock during the three-day session, in order to keep the more than 80 lawmakers who showed up seated at least 6 feet apart. The session ended shortly after midnight last Friday.

Flowers said she first developed a cough last Friday morning, the second day of the session, but did not have a fever until the weekend. Lawmakers and visitors to the Jack Stephens Center at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock had their temperatures checked upon entering the arena.

Given the typical incubation period before most coronavirus patients start showing symptoms, Flowers said she does not believe that she caught the virus while attending session.

"I'm very certain that I got this going to the store," Flowers said. "All I've done is go to the store and go to the session and go to my parents' house to take care of them."

While offering general praise for Gov. Asa Hutchinson's handling of the health crisis -- she said he is "doing awesome" -- she joined those calling for the governor to issue a shelter-in-place order except for essential services, given the large number of people she said are likely to be spreading the virus without having symptoms.

"I'm sure that there's thousands of people around the state that have it and don't even know it," Flowers said.

The news of two lawmakers testing positive came a week before the Legislature is due to meet in Little Rock to begin the biennial fiscal session.

The start date for the session is set in place by Act 545 of 2019, which established that fiscal sessions held in presidential election years shall begin on the second Wednesday in April, in order to have the state's presidential primary elections held earlier in the spring.

House Speaker Matthew Shepherd, R-El Dorado, said Thursday that legislative leaders are still discussing various scenarios for completing their work. Possibilities include having the House meet again at the Jack Stephens Center; decreasing the number of meetings held to advance budget bills; or simply gaveling in on April 8 and then holding a quick vote to recess for days or weeks.

The plan will likely be released today, Shepherd said.

Rep. Les Eaves, R-Searcy, called on Twitter on Wednesday night for the session to be delayed, though he later said that Shepherd had taken "pretty smart" steps by holding the special session in an arena, and that the law dictated when lawmakers had to conduct their business.

"I just don't know what more you can do," Eaves said. "But when you've got two legislators that have tested positive for this virus, it makes you think about it a little deeper."

During last week's special session, both chambers also approved temporary rules allowing for greater use of voting by proxy. With two colleagues already testing positive, some lawmakers said they were considering making use of the new rules.

"I'd still planned to go down, but that was before yesterday," said Sen. Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville.

Leding said he did not attend the special session and instead listened in and voted by proxy because of concerns about his wife's asthma. He said he would likely do the same during the fiscal session.

Flowers said she also would be participating in the fiscal session remotely and voting by proxy until she receives clearance to come out of quarantine. She added that she would like to see all of her fellow lawmakers get tested before they assemble for the session.

Metro on 04/03/2020