Summer break in sight for Legislature and Congress

Published 9:50 am Monday, May 24, 2021

Oregon lawmakers furiously voted their way through a tsunami of legislation on Friday, knowing the calendar and clock would conspire to kill hundreds of bills at the stroke of midnight. Nearly all the 34 Senate and House committees are officially done for the session – no more hearings or votes. Any legislation still on their to-do list dies with them. 

“I’m not sure what will get left behind,” said House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland. The fate of bills that would still be in the legislative queues when lawmakers returned to work on Tuesday was also anything but clear.

As of Friday, there are only 30 days left before the constitution requires the Legislature ends the 160 day session allowed by the constitution. What began on Jan. 19 must end by June 27, no matter weekends, holidays, pandemics, partisanship or other issues.

Before beginning of the session, Kotek guessed there were about 4,000 “legislative concepts” – rough drafts of legislation that could become bills. Just under 2,500 bills were submitted. 

To keep the Legislature on a steady pace, there are four deadlines about a month apart when straggling bills are lopped off the agenda. The fourth and final of these midnight  “witching hours” is this Friday, when nearly all bills still in  at 11:59pm. Policy bills must be voted out of committee and to the House or Senate floor for final votes. With some exceptions, any bills left on the table go in the trashbin. The “safe harbors” for bills include the House and Senate rules, revenues and redistricting committees, and any joint committee made up of lawmakers from both chambers. committees close may 28. hcr 21 – committee deadlines. jan. 27 passed. app and fiscal measures.

So far, about 750 have passed by either the House or Senate. Only about 100 have gone to the desk of Gov. Kate Brown. She issued her first veto – a bill that would allow motorcyclists to “lane split” between vehicles backed up in congestion. What the Legislature found practical was deemed unsafe by Brown.

To ensure it paces itself, the Legislature has deadlines requiring that bills get a certain level of action or die. The largest group are bills that are introduced at the start of the session, sent to a committee as required – and nothing happens.

Friday waypoint: 

“How can the legislature take on multiple crises at the same time when there is a month left and a lot of work to do,” Kotek said.

At midnight, 

 Another 

There’s been plenty of controversies. The session started with the resignation of Rep. Diego Hernandez, D-Portland, on sexual harassment allegations. Rep. Mike Nearman, R-Independence, was stripped of all his committee assignments while the House and the Marion County District Attorney investigated whether he intentionally opened the Capitol door that allowed right-wing activists to charge into the Capitol and clash with police. Rep. Brad Witt, D-Clatskkamie is the subject of an internal House review into allegations by Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, that he made unwanted sexual comments to her in the Capitol.

Legislative leaders brokered a deal to divvy-up $240 million in American Rescue Plan Act aid among all the lawmakers – Democrats and Republicans – in Salem. Senators would get $4 million and House members $2 million for projects of their own choosing. The submissions will be reviewed by the Joint Ways & Means Committee to ensure they meet state law. The projects will be part of what’s traditionally called “The Christmas Tree Bill,” which is the final spending bill approved at the end of each session. While the Joint Ways & Means Committee will review the items to ensure the money is doled out in keeping with state law, there is a tacit agreement within leaders of both parties that short of a meltdown, everybody’s plan will be approved. Gov. Kate Brown has line-item veto power, meaning she could remove individual items from the spending, but a truly bipartisan deal would give the Legislature more than enough votes to override any of the governor’s objections.

Brown has had a fraught relationship with the Legislature this session, especially with Republicans. When COVID-19 first appeared in Oregon in early 2020, the governor issued an emergency decree that gave her wide power over decisions that affected public health. She could close business, require masks, and set other restrictions by executive order. Senate Republicans held a one-day walkout at the beginning of the session to protest what they said was Brown and Democratic leaders’ stranglehold on power. But Brown has extended the emergency order into June.

The political calendar on Friday showed just 30 days left until the Constitution requires lawmakers to rap the gavel for the last time and go home. 

“How can the legislature take on multiple crises at the same time when there is a month left and a lot of work to do,” House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, said at the beginning of the week.”

The Legislature continues to wade through its self-inflicted tsunami of legislation this week as it nears the first big deadline to shut down and go home.

The Senate on Tuesday passed a mammoth $9.3 billion State School Fund Bill that some advocates said was $300 million short of where it should be.

The House tinkered with layoff rules for public school teachers, the use of drones in state parks and honored a Marine from Bend who died in a training 2020 training accident.

Bye-bye bills: What began in January as a lawmaker’s bright idea, pet policy, lobbyist’s request or constituent wish list turns to trash on Friday. The Legislature’s fourth and final “witching hours” – self imposed deadlines – passed at the stroke of midnight. Any policy bill that has not been sent to the floor of the House or Senate is dead for 2021.

Beat the clock: The Legislature has up to 160 days in odd-numbered years to get its work done and go home. The Oregon Constitution requires the House and Senate to shut down no matter what. This year, lawmakers have until the end of Sunday, June 27. 

Bottled up in “safe harbors”: Not all bills die Friday. Budget bills won’t be wrapped-up until the final days. The House and Senate rules and revenue committees are “safe harbors” without a pre-adjournment deadline. Bills in any of the ten joint House-Senate committees have no expiration date prior to the end of session. 

Hot stuff, zombies and 

Prior to the session, House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, estimated that up to 4,000 bills were percolating around the capital as what are known as “Legislative Concepts.”

Here’s where things stood with bills and resolutions as of Friday:

Introduced: 2,500

Engrossed (passed by one chamber): 

Enrolled (passed by both chambers): 68

Introduced: prior to the beginning of session. About 2,500 bills and resolutions were formally introduced during the session. As of Monday, 

On the dotted line: Gov. Kate Brown has five days sign or veto bills while the Legislature is in session. The bill becomes law if no action is taken. After the Legislature ends the session, Brown has 15 days to sign a bill or strike items from spending bills (line-item veto). Brown can also veto a bill in whole. In a reverse of the rules during the session, a lack of action on a bill by Brown kills the legislation after 15 days – what is referred to as a pocket veto.

The effect of inaction by the governor is reverse of when the Legislature is in session.  House and Senate adjourn the session, Brown has 15 days to act on a bill. She can either approve it, make changes to financial allocations (a line-item veto), or veto the bill. If she does nothing, the bill is dead at the end of the 15 days, what’s known as a pocket veto. Bills become law on Jan. 1, unless given a specific date in the bill. 

Emergency!

that has not been sent to the Legislature for a full vote expires in committees.  The Oregon Legislature takes the first steps to close up shop this Friday. It’s the final day for bills to be voted out of committees and sent to the floor of the House and Senate to become law. Anything left on the table at the stroke of midnight goes in the trashbin. Most of the 33 House and Senate policy committees will hold informational meetings, but the focus switches to the final showdowns on the floor.

Safe harbors and Graveyards: There are a few “safe harbor” committees where bills can to to get away from the clock. 

On Friday, the Oregon Legislature will begin closing up shop for 2021. It’s the final day that bills can be voted from committee to the floors of the the House and Senate to become laws. While t

Introduced: just under 2500. engrossed – 406 through first chamber. enrolled 68

balanced budget

Brown acts: During the legislative session, bills passed by both the House and the Senate then go to Gov. Brown, who has five days to sign or veto the bill. If no action is taken, it becomes law. After the session is over, Brown has 15 days to take action and the lack of action means the bill does not become law – what is known as a “pocket vetol.”

Finish line in 4-6 weeks: The Legislature has until June 27 to wrap-up the 2021 regular session, according to the Oregon Constitution. When the 160-day clock started Jan. 19, legislative leaders had targeted Friday, June 18 as their final day. But with pandemic and partisan delays, lawmakers say its more likely they will use up closer to the whole legal period, which would require shutting down by 11:59pm on Sunday, June 27.

. When the The Legislature has until June 27 to finish its business according to the timeclock set by the Oregon Consitution. When business began back in January, legislative leaders hoped to be gone by When it started the 2021 session on January 19, 

Nearman unlikely to return: June 29: Nearman court hearing in Marion Court.

eight petitions for walkaways.  nov 2022 ballot. 

101 such parks. Prineville reservoir. Dark sky places. International Dark Sky Association. Absence of light pollution, support in community. April 19. 72 campsites. five deluxe cabins. oregonstateparks.reserveamerica.com.

Raquel Moore-Greene: Rule 27. Prohibit virtual or electronic means. 

Adjournment: Sine Die. Pocket Veto. Gut n Stuff. Suspend the Rules. Quorum call. Call of the Senate (or House). 

approved a controversial bill that requires school districts conducting layoffs to retain teachers with “less seniority if release of teacher would result in lesser proportion of teachers with cultural or linguistic expertise.”