SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico legislators are grappling with the public health risks of convening their next session in January amid surging statewide rates of coronavirus infections and deaths.

A panel of leading legislators on Friday unveiled a proposal to move committee meetings to the downtown Santa Fe convention center to provide more spacious rooms for in-person committee hearings.

Democratic House speaker Brian Egolf described a possible hybrid attendance model for the upcoming 60-day session that would close off public access to the Statehouse for floor debates and votes — but allow public attendance and comment at committee meetings in the convention center. A new coronavirus testing regimen for lawmakers and staff also is under consideration.

“It allows us to have committee meetings with high ceilings, an excellent ventilation system,” Egolf said.

Under ordinary circumstances, the Capitol's committee rooms and corridors are tightly packed with lobbyists, pages and vendors of snacks and Native American jewelry, while the central rotunda serves as a staging ground for political demonstrations, business displays and artistic performances.

Several legislators balked at the hybrid proposal during an hourslong discussion Friday of potential health risks, constitutional requirements and whether the plan would undermine public compliance with emergency health orders that currently ban public gatherings of more than five people. Legislators are exempt from the requirements.

Rep. Debbie Armstrong of Albuquerque urged colleagues to postpone the session entirely until later in 2021. She said holding committee meetings in the convention center could compound the spreading of COVID-19, and noted that some legislators may decline to wear masks.

She said a new surge in infections is likely after Christmas and New Year's Day celebrations and prior to widespread application of a coronavirus vaccine.

“I fully expect it will be worse in January,” she said. “I hope to God I am wrong. ... Even a few months (delay) could make all the difference in the world."

Under state law, New Mexico's unsalaried Legislature convenes in mid-January for 60 days in odd-numbered years and 30 days in even years.

That work could be delayed to a later “extraordinary session” with approval by a three-fifths vote of both legislative chambers, or a special session by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, said Raúl Burciaga, lead attorney to the Legislature and director of the Legislative Council Service.

Lujan Grisham called together a special session in June to approve temporary voting reforms, budget amendments and economic relief legislation in response to the pandemic.

The Capitol building was open to legislators, staff and journalists but not the general public — with committee meetings and floor session broadcast over glitchy webcasts. Several Republican senators attended without wearing masks.