• No sales tax … this year: The Oregon Legislature opened its 2017 session on Wednesday.

Lawmakers’ search for more revenue — increased taxes — won’t culminate in a sales tax, at least not this year. Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, made that clear during a Q&A with journalists as the Senate Democrats presented their legislative agenda.

Democratic and Republican legislative leaders say they want long-term reform in Oregon’s tax structure. However, Gov. Kate Brown is focused on short-term fixes to help fill the enormous holes in the 2017-19 state budget.

Republicans accept that some increased revenue will be necessary. In part, that is because 21 percent of Oregon’s population is under age 18 and 16 percent is over age 65. Both cohorts require a disproportionate amount of state-funded services, from “free” public education for young people to in-home care and other services for seniors.

“Our love is not unconditional but we’re willing.” — Sen. Ted Ferrioli

Senate Minority Leader Ted Ferrioli, R-John Day, said Republicans were willing to make concessions to solve the budget dilemma. “Our love is not unconditional but we’re willing.”

But along with increasing revenue, the state also must cut expenses. “We think that PERS reform is absolutely critical,” Ferrioli said.

The Senate committee dealing with PERS began meeting Wednesday afternoon. S teven Patrick Rodeman, executive director of the Oregon Public Retirement System, pointed out that the only way to reduce PERS costs is to reduce the pension benefits going forward.

SIDE NOTE: As a neophyte lawmaker in the 1980s, current Senate President Peter Courtney introduced a sales tax proposal. Voters eventually trounced a state sales tax that was modeled on the proposal from Reps. Courtney, D-Salem, and Tony Van Vliet, R-Corvallis. Afterward, Courtney told me that Oregonians would never pass a retail sales tax.

• Oregon Republicans are different creatures than in Congress: Inside the Oregon Capitol, there is no debate about whether “climate change” or “global warming” is real. Both parties accept that combatting human-caused climate change is a priority for Oregonians. Instead, the Legislature’s political battle is over the means, the costs and the validity of the supposed outcomes.

There also appears to be little political will for repealing a state law that prohibits state and local law enforcement from being enforcement agents for federal immigration policy. The Trump administration has threatened to take federal funding from states or communities that don’t enforce immigration regulations. Brown said the state law dates to the late 1980s. It has improved public safety because undocumented immigrants are less afraid to cooperate with local police.

• On this day, the Capitol made beautiful music: For their opening day music, state representatives were treated to the musicianship of 11-year-old Meiling Larson of West Salem. She played a piano piece, “Beautiful Oregon,” that she composed when she was 8.

In the Senate, the Portland State University Chamber Choir performed a stunning rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” A single voice broke the audience silence afterward: “Wow.”

The performances in each chamber earned standing ovations.

• E cumenical words: Imam Muhammad Najieb, director of the Muslim Community Center of Portland, opened the House session on Wednesday by reciting the first chapter of the Quran in Arabic and then English. This was his second time leading the Legislature in prayer.

In the Senate, former Sen. Charles Starr gave the invocation.

• M ore state troopers at the Capitol: Uniformed Oregon State Police officers were noticeable throughout the Oregon Capitol on Wednesday. That was among the security changes, Courtney said. In the past, retired state police officers — dressed in plainclothes — provided much of the security.

• D on’t call me by name: Legislators have forced civility. When giving floor speeches, they don’t address one another by name. Instead, they say something like, “I disagree with my very good friend, the distinguished senator from the West Valley.” On Tuesday, Senate aides were distributing reminders of what each senator should be called.

• O ne fewer legislator: Silverton Republican Vic Gilliam — from the Christmas tree district — resigned his House seat this week, after just being re-elected in November. He has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, and it continues to progress.

His close friend, Salem Democrat Brian Clem, had considered not seeking re-election in 2016 but decided to run once Gilliam said he also would.

Gilliam uses a motorized wheelchair and has difficulty speaking. Clem would sometimes read Gilliam’s questions for him during legislative committee meetings, and Gilliam and Clem sat together during the inauguration of Gov. Kate Brown on Jan. 9.

State law requires that the county commissioners from the legislative district — Marion and Clackamas — pick a successor from the same political party as his. That also is how Gilliam first joined the Legislature. He replaced Mac Sumner, who resigned due to his lung cancer.

Gilliam has been a passionate advocate for Oregon seniors, working across party lines to toughen state laws against elder abuse.

He is someone who learned from his mistakes, such as a speech early in his legislative career that criticized Courtney. Gilliam regretted the harm those comments did to his relationship with the Senate president.

In the House, Gilliam was beloved by his colleagues, regardless of their party affiliation. House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, praised him in a statement, saying, “He served his community with honesty and integrity, and he is without a doubt the funniest guy in the Capitol.”

That sentiment was echoed on the House floor on Wednesday by House Republican Leader Mike McLane, who told of Rep. Mike Nearman making a wisecrack during the Republican caucus meeting.

Nearman, McLane said, “is no Vic Gilliam.”

D ick Hughes has been covering the Oregon political scene since 1976. Contact him at TheHughesisms@Gmail.com.