On a House floor inside a shuttered Capitol, a metallic artificial woman’s voice droned for hours doing the people’s business.

The battle pitting 19th century rules vs. 21st century technology was the latest twist in a battle of wills between House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, and House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby.

The high-pitched monotone droned through every word of a 170-pages bill to change the name of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission to the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission. .

The 60 lawmakers were sheltering in place in their offices, a move to minimize the exposure to COVID-19 which had already halted House proceedings twice this month.

With 37 seats, the House Democrats hold a more than three-fifths majority that allows them to pass legislation with any support from the 23 Republicans. The same goes for the Senate, where Democrats hold an 18-11 edge, with one independent who supports most of the Republican agenda.

Two years ago, then-House Minority Leader Rep. Carl Wilson, R-Grants Pass, lamented the shriveled number of House Republicans were “not even legislative speed bumps” to House Democrats’ political juggernaut.

But Oregon’s constitution hold an oddity and an anachronism that have allowed the Republican superminorities to slow and even stop the Democrats in their tracks.

Oregon is one of a handful of states in which a quorum – the number of lawmakers present to do business – is greater than a majority. In Oregon it’s two-thirds, which translates to 40 House members or 20 senators. Beginning in 2019, Republicans have walked out four times in the Senate, wiping out the 2020 session. Republicans states the express been wielded That left Drazan with two parliamentary weapons that required 40 votes. The first was a quorum to do any business – a weapon used once by the House and four times by the Senate in recent years.

Drazan instead chose to wield an anachronism: The constitution requires that ever bill be read in its entirety before a final vote. This is a leftover from time well before lawmakers could access the latest version of legislation on their cellphones anywhere in the world.

In more conciliatory times – just about always – a motion is made to suspend the reading of the bill and have it announced “by title only.” If there is an objection, it takes 40 votes to suspend the rule anyway. Three votes short of the two-thirds needed, the result is that the bills are read in full – sometimes taking hours.

. The first, a walkout to  

The House is scheduled to return to the Capitol on Tuesday after yet another delay that has created a lumbering pace to lawmaking in the first 70 days of the 160-day legislative session of 2021.

House Speaker Tina Kotek is battling the same trio of troubles that have plagued the Legislature since January: COVID-19, immovable deadlines and a war of tactics to either speed up or slow down the pace of lawmaking.

Kotek has planned 19 hours of floor time this week in order to offset Republican’s requiring that all bills be read in their entirety.

The full reading of a bill is an anachronism of a time long before digital versions of legislation that can be called up on a cellphone anywhere in the world. But the rule remains on the books, mostly as a tool to pump the brakes on the assembly-line of legislation awaiting consideration.

In more conciliatory times, just the titles of bills can be read “without objection.” Republicans have objected on every bill, though the overwhelming majority have been the kind of bland bipartisan legislation typical of early in a session.

, instead of just the titles as in more politically conciliatory times.

The 60 House members will be returning from their second absence forced by a positive COVID-19 case among staff. 

House Speaker Tina Kotek plans on bringing the chamber’s 60 lawmakers back to the Capitol on Tuesday, hoping to rev-up the lumbering lawmaking that has market the first 70 days of the session.

The Oregon House plans on returning to the Capitol on Tuesday having lost more time to the three biggest problems of the 2021 session of the Legislature: COVID-19, immovable deadlines and tactics to either speed up or slow down the pace of lawmaking.

On Tuesday, it will have been 70 days since the 160-day legislative session began on Jan. 19. Under the constitution, the Legislature has to adjourn no later than June 28. 

Coming into the session, Democrats had laid out a series of priorities: COVID-19 and wildfire recovery aid, reform of policing, 

In the wake of COVID-19 and the 2020 election, Democrats counted on two years to move their agenda with supermajorities in both chambers and Gov. Kate Brown in her final two years in office.

COVID-19 had its upside as voters had shown their approval for big government action, from direct subsidies to bigger and new public programs.

Republicans picked up one seat in the House and the Senate stayed the same. Democrats reclaimed the Secretary of State’s office, with the election of former Sen. Shemia Fagan, D-xx. 

The coronavirus-caused collapse of the 2020 U.S. Census has cast in doubt Democrat’s ability to shape future districts to their liking and position a new 6th congressional district where it would be a certain blue seat.

Despite warnings from Kotek of less than than normal to consider bills, the avalanche of what Kotek said was up to 4,000 legislative proposals clogged the legislative assembly line.

Kotek has asked lawmakers to double mask and is implementing a computer reading system for the bills.

Kotek said the House had 42 bills on its agenda for Tuesday – 37 of which had been approved unanimously. Most of the 34 bills coming after those were also non-controversial.

“This is the standard stuff we normally do,” Kotek said. 

Kotek said she was trying to balance keeping lawmakers and staff safe while not throwing away the agenda that she and House Democrats were elected to pass.

“The goal for me this session is to do the peoples business safely,” she said.

Republicans have blamed Kotek and Democrats for trying to push through an overly large and wide agenda.

“This session is anything but ‘business as usual.,” Drazan said last week. “With the building closed, people need us to focus on balancing the budget, supporting public health, recovering from natural disasters and fixing the damage done by the shutdowns for our kids and communities.”

The Senate, the main focus of 

Senate Republicans caused bad memories to resurface when they walked out without opposition to a specific bill, but a general protest against the Capitol being closed for a year, Gov. Kate Brown’s emergency orders,

Senate Republicans employed that tactic earlier this year not to protest legislation but in opposition to Gov. Kate Brown’s COVID-19 restrictions.

Decisions before debate

Oregon’s legislative rules do not allow for bills to be amended on the floor. It’s yes or no or send it back to committee. When a key bill like the firearms bill comes to the floor it is with the expectation that the Democratic leaders have counted heads and know the outcome ahead of time.

The Senate debate over weapons in public buildings illustrates the reality in Salem. Republican after Republican got up on the Senate floor to slam the measure and their quotes were published and broadcast across the state. But despite the expected defection of Sen. Becky Johnson, D-Scappoose, the result was never in doubt.

The bill now goes to the House, where the margin for passing the bill is even more comfortable for Democrats – that will give Kotek and Democrats at least one key victory.