The return of parliamentary guerilla warfare in the Oregon Legislature loomed Tuesday with the return of robotically-read bills in both the House and Senate.

The metallic speed-reading female voice is a tool the majority Democrats have used to offset the minority Republicans’ use of a constitutional quirk to require bills be read in their entirety before final passage.

The full readings, along with a boycott to prevent a two-thirds quorum for the Legislature to conduct business, has slowed or stalled sessions in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Official optimism from both parties that 2022 would be different now faces a challenge. 

Both chambers had the bill reading machines going on Tuesday, as Republicans and Democrats considered their next moves.

The fragile political peace threatened to unravel after a key panel voted Monday along party lines to advance a highly contentious farm labor bill.

The House Business and Labor Committee approved House Bill 4002, which would end exemptions of agricultural workers from state overtime pay laws.

The vote sent the bill for a pit-stop in the House Revenue Committee, after which it could advance to the floor of the House for a final vote.

House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, has singled out the farm labor overtime bill as a possible trip-wire for the use of tactics that could slow or stall the remaining 20 days of the 35-day session.

Democratic leaders still hope to move ahead with an ambitious agenda on housing, health, environment and criminal justice legislation. 

“It’s not a big deal, we’ve been here before and we showed we can pass our bills,” said Stephen Watson, spokesman for the Senate Democratic caucus. “We are going to do what we need to do to get the work of the people done this session.”

But Republicans said the communication and compromise they are seeking with Democrats has not been sufficient.

“House Republicans are still pushing for an Oregon solution to HB 4002,” said Andrew Fromm, spokesman for the House Republican caucus.

The “Oregon way” or “Oregon solution” is a catchphrase for taking the best ideas from both sides of the political aisle. It was popularized in the 1970s during the governorships of politically moderate governors such as Republican Tom McCall and Democrat Bob Straub.

Fromm noted the committee vote on Monday along a 7-4 party line vote despite comments by some Democrats that the farmworker overtime exemption was “the original sin” of state labor law, but House Bill 4002 could make the situation worse.

Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, said given the choice between failing to change the exemption and any economic fallout from the bill, he would “bite the bullet” to begin a possibly painful reform.

“Sometimes our job is to right the wrongs of the past,” Evans said.

Fromm said Democrats who voted for the bill despite reservations called into question “the ability for Democrats to consider any sort of compromise because of pressure they’re getting from advocates.”

Republicans from both chambers caucused Tuesday morning to discuss their next moves. The meetings delayed the start of the day’s legislative sessions, much to the consternation of Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem.

“I’m working on self-control,” he said. “I am sorry about this, I did not anticipate this,” he said.

Democrats hold a 37-22 majority in the House and 18-12 in the Senate. But two quirks in the Oregon Constitution leaves Republicans with ways to control or kill the pace of legislation.

Oregon is one of the few states requiring more than a majority to make a quorum to do any business. Though 17 members of the Senate were on the floor, Courtney could not start because the constitution requires two-thirds — or 20 of the 30-member Senate — answer the roll call.

Another two-thirds requirement in the constitution has allowed Republicans to enforce an archaic rule that bills be read in their entirety before final passage. In less contentious times, the requirement was routinely waived. 

The time-consuming reading — sometimes done by machine — limits the amount of legislation that can be considered within the normal time periods that lawmakers meet. That’s especially problematic in the 35-day session.

Since 2019, Republicans have used a walkout or slowdown to force compromise from Democrats or, in the case of the 2020 session, kill all work until the legal time period ran out.

The parliamentary tactics have been used by both parties in the past and occasional attempts to extract them from the constitution have fallen short. They remain the law of the land.

“These are tools,” House Chief Clerk Timothy Sekerak, said last year. “If a tool is available, someone is going to use it.”