Yes, it is unseemly, and, yes, El Somnambulo wishes he didn’t have to write this.
But there are real and immediate potential impacts to Senator Adams’ death, and they must be dealt with very quickly.
First, it is essential that the Senate select a new President Pro-Tempore. Unlike the positions of majority/minority leader and majority/minority whip, the President Pro-Tem, like the Speaker of the House, is elected by the entire legislative body. In addition to legislative duties like assigning bills to committee and making committee appointments, the Pro-Tem is also the Administrative Officer of the Senate. He/she approves or disapproves expenses, sets salaries, makes personnel decisions and the like. While the legislative business of the Senate might be able to continue w/o a Pro-Tem for the next four days, the ongoing operation of the Senate cannot.
El Somnambulo suspects that the two caucuses might agree to temporarily designate a President Pro-Tempore, likely Tony DeLuca, to fill out the remainder of this session, with Sen. Blevins serving as the Senate Majority Leader. Since they were second and third in line respectively behind Adams, that would seem to make the most sense for the sake of continuity. The Majority Whip position, currently held by Blevins, would likely go to someone who has held the position before, possibly McDowell or Marshall. That would also make sense as the Whip is often responsible for putting together the legislative must-lists, which are lists of prioritized bills, and on-the-job training is not really something that anyone would want in the last week of session.
From a ceremonial standpoint, the Senate in theory could function as it is now. It would just mean that Lt. Governor Matt Denn would have to pretty much preside over the Senate full-time until the session ended.
There can be no doubt that Adams’ death will make it exceedingly difficult to resolve the State’s budget crisis by June 30/July 1. The General Assembly had only been scheduled to be in session for four more times. This was surprising as both houses generally work four days in the hump-week before the final day of session. Any postponement of legislative action makes the timetable that much more difficult to meet. If an entire day is lost, good pieces of legislation might also get lost in the shuffle.
In addition, the Big Head Committee is presumably down a member. Sen. Nancy Cook was one of Adams’ closest friends/allies, and it is not clear how she’ll function this week. The $800 million deficit is not going to resolve itself. That is why El Somnambulo believes that there is now a major possibility that some sort of ongoing stopgap funding to keep State government in business will be agreed to by June 30, and (‘bulo does not wish to appear crass, but there it is) Adams’ death can be used as an excuse. Of course, that means that the General Assembly would have to come back into session to hammer out the real budget. Perhaps being forced to miss beach time will finally focus the legislators on the task at hand.
Adams’ death will also make it difficult for the Senate and the House to coordinate with each other. While Bernard Brady, the Secretary of the Senate, is beyond compare when it comes to keeping things running smoothly, he does not have the authority to coordinate legislative must-lists, for example. Which is all the more reason why the Senate will sadly have to move swiftly to replace Adams.
Probably beginning today.