Many chairs in the chamber held something. A brochure. A chemistry paper. A stack of books. A sweater.

Cleaning crews moved those items to sanitize more than 100 desks within the Alabama House of Representatives. It’s not at all clear when state representatives might return to their seats.

“We’ve got 105 legislative districts in the state,” Alabama House Speaker Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, said on Thursday. “For us to come into a chamber and work, we’ve got people touching every area of the state coming into one room in one place and conducting business. I’m very mindful of that."

The House was scheduled to return to work on Thursday after its regularly scheduled spring break. But it’s been evident for more than a week that legislators can’t get back to normal business any more than anyone else can.

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After gaveling in a chamber Thursday with one representative present — House Majority Leader Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville — McCutcheon announced there was no quorum to conduct business. Under the rules of the chamber, the absence of a quorum allows the speaker to set a date to reconvene amid a public emergency.

McCutcheon made it clear to the legislative staff and reporters in the chamber that the return date was still up in the air. Under the Alabama Constitution, the current session must end by May 18.

“We’re trying to see at what point in time the curve may flatten,” he said. “All those things are under consideration.”

The outbreak has thrown an ambitious legislative agenda — covering prisons, mental health, and possible gambling legislation — into uncertainty. McCutcheon Thursday suggested lawmakers might have to perform legislative triage. Budgets; local bills, and economic legislation, he said, could take precedence over other business.

“I think the time will dictate how aggressive we can be,” he said. “We must prioritize the legislation we address based on the time we have left.”

McCutcheon said addressing the state prison crisis “would be up there high on the list,” though he said they were waiting to get reports on the possibility of new facilities in the state.

The outbreak has significantly clouded the budgets, once the sunniest part of the Legislature’s business this year. The governor's proposed $7.5 billion education budget for 2021, if enacted, would have been the first to exceed the pre-recession 2008 budget in real terms.

But the economic downturn will likely drag down income and sales taxes, which combined accounted for 91% of the 2019 education budget. Legislators have been unwilling to this point to commit to any changes to what has been proposed. McCutcheon said Thursday he wasn’t sure about the potential impact of an aid package approved by Congress, or whether the downturn could lead to cuts in the current year’s budget.

“If I had the answer to that I wouldn’t be in Alabama right now,” he said. “I’d be on Wall Street.”

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The Education Trust Fund and General Fund budgets must get approval by Oct. 1. McCutcheon said Thursday he hoped state budgets could go to Gov. Kay Ivey's desk by midsummer when districts begin budget planning. The governor could call the Legislature into special session to approve budgets if they are not approved by May 18.

McCutcheon said legislators would consider revisiting changes to unemployment compensation. The Legislature last year approved a bill that moved the maximum time for unemployment benefits from 26 weeks to 14 to 20 weeks. The speaker said he expected to see some proposals “based on what the federal government does.”

The speaker said Thursday he did not know of any House members diagnosed with COVID-19. But he said the outbreak had quickly become their priority.

“They’re concerned about their hospitals," he said. "They’re concerned about health care and testing, and the companies closing their doors and people losing their jobs. It’s one of the priorities of being a legislator in this body, to be concerned about that.”

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman at 334-240-0185 or blyman@gannett.com.