Capital Chatter: Dangerous times for the Oregon Legislature

What election? Let’s talk about other stuff. Mostly.

O, Capitol: The 2019 Oregon Legislature could be in for a rough time if Wednesday’s meeting of the House and Senate tax committees was an indication. The problem was not politics but technology upgrades and construction underway in the Oregon Capitol.

Every so often, the loud sounds of drilling permeated the meeting room. The phone system balked when legislators tried to call in from afar. And instead of displaying a PowerPoint presentation on big screens, the computer system repeatedly showed an ironic message from Microsoft: “Leave everything to us.”

Eventually, the construction sounds stopped, and the computers cooperated.

Asking lots of questions: The new chair of the House Revenue Committee, Eugene Democrat Nancy Nathanson, plunged into her role with gusto.

Nathanson asked good questions of State Economist Mark McMullen and Senior Economist Josh Lehner as they presented the quarterly economic and revenue forecasts on which Gov. Kate Brown will build her 2019-21 budget proposal.

As House revenue chair, Nathanson will be the lead person on Democrats’ proposed tax increases. By law, legislation to create or increase taxes must originate in the House, although Republicans sometimes accuse Senate Democrats of circumventing that requirement.

Entertaining economists: McMullen and Lehner know their stuff. They also carry a well-deserved reputation for being able to keep legislators’ attention.

“You are more interesting and entertaining than a lot of people, but you should also know the bar is not that high,” quipped Mark Hass, D-Beaverton, who chairs the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee.

Speaking of taxes: Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, will try again next year to force “in lieu of taxes” payments from large nonprofits that do not pay property taxes for police, fire and related public services.

Boquist also is considering an initiative petition drive to repeal any gas tax increase included in a carbon cap-and-invest program, if passed by the 2019 Legislature.

Words from Eastern Oregon: Rep. Lynn Finley, R-Vale, was elected to his first full term last week. Among the legislative issues he wants to tackle is the shortage of volunteer firefighters in frontier Oregon.

“Oregon’s Frontier Fire Organizations are primarily staffed by an aging volunteer population, which is already limited as a result of smaller isolated populations and extensive training requirements,” Finley said in his constituent newsletter. “We have the problem of experienced firefighters retiring while not having the population base to find replacements.”

An Orygun lesson: The U.S. Capitol Christmas tree is on its way to Washington, D.C., having been cut Nov. 2 in the Sweet Home District of the Willamette National Forest.

During the tree-welcoming ceremony at the Oregon Capitol, House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, said she hoped the rest of the country would now learn to pronounce “Willamette.”

“So for all of you who will be going with this tree,” she said, “it is not ‘Will-a-met.'”

Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, told the crowd, “Trees are a big part of who we are.” He noted that trees are in the State Seal, the carpet of the Oregon House, the Governor’s Office and some versions of Oregon license plates.

Courtney called it fitting that Oregon was sending the 82-foot noble fir to the nation’s capital “to show them what a real tree looks like.”

Political winds: Courtney is more moderate than Speaker Kotek and Gov. Brown, which puts him in an interesting position as the Senate became more liberal in Tuesday’s election.

Under his leadership, the state Senate often blocked or modified controversial legislation passed by the House.

In California, timing is everything: State Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, wants Oregon to remain on daylight saving time throughout the year. Support is growing in other states.

Last week, Californians approved a ballot measure asking that state’s Legislature to approve permanent DST. That also would require a change in federal law.

Lawful politicians: The Willamette University College of Law is down the street and around the corner from the Oregon Capitol. A dozen of its graduates were elected last week as legislators, circuit court judges, appellate judges, county commissioners and city councilors.

Another Willamette law grad, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, spoke on campus early this month.

How to help the press, or not: Recent news stories around Oregon included mentions that certain public officials, or their spokespeople, had not responded to reporters’ requests for comment. Shame on those officials. I believe reporters should point out those omissions, so the public knows.

Most Oregonians are very responsive when contacted by journalists. For example, this month I’ve talked with a wide range of officials, from Huntington Mayor Candy Howland to U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden.

Other good examples:

No. 1: I called the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System this week in search of data I could not find. The receptionist transferred me to a very helpful staff member, who promised to look for the info. She quickly called me back with the information I needed.

No. 2: Before the election I was on a tight deadline to interview people on both sides of a controversial ballot measure. A spokeswoman for the “no” side volunteered to drive from Portland to Salem, where I live, so I could interview her in person that afternoon. Wow!

Meanwhile the spokesman for the “yes” side never was available despite my repeated phone messages and emails over several days.

No. 3: After their presentation on Wednesday, McMullen and Lehner patiently answered one question after another from reporters wanting to make sure they understood the revenue numbers and the economic reasoning. Those conversations undoubtedly improved the accuracy and quality of the subsequent news stories.

In contrast, some public officials and their spokespeople routinely sabotage themselves and undermine their causes by not returning phone calls and emails.

Readers, I welcome your thoughts. Please email me. If by chance I fail to respond, pester me. I’ll deserve it.

Dick Hughes, who writes the weekly Capital Chatter column, has been covering the Oregon political scene since 1976. Contact him at TheHughesisms@Gmail.com, Facebook.com/Hughesisms, YouTube.com/DickHughes or Twitter.com/DickHughes.