The Oregon Legislature did a double dip of lawmaking on Tuesday, breaking only for committee meetings to send even more legislation to the House and Senate for votes.

Despite a 42-day walkout by Senate Republicans that created a mountain of backlogged bills by the time the boycott ended last Thursday, House Speaker Dan Rayfield believed the end of the 2023 session was on track to adjourn in the next few days.

“Seat backs and tray tables are in their upright and locked position,” Rayfield said.

The need for speed was also colorfully underlined at the start of a Joint Ways & Means Committee meeting with a long list of complex funding bills, including the “Christmas Tree Bill,” a package of projects advanced by lawmakers for their districts and preferred issues that is usually one of the last bills of a session.

“It would be nice if we could rock and roll,” Sanchez said before the meeting quickly hit the quagmire of multiple objections from various lawmakers on spending priorities.

While Tuesday was primarily about getting the final package of bills, including the 2023-25 state budget, set for floor votes, in an important way it was the last chance for any course correction on legislation. Billions of dollars of bond authorizations, construction, and program funds sped from subcommittee to committee in a single day, with the second vote sending bills to the full House and Senate. Under Oregon law, legislation cannot be amended on the floor. Debate now will be over a straight up-or-down vote.

One illustration of the lightning fast movement of large sums was the construction funds for universities. Gov. Tina Kotek asked for just $100 million for ongoing maintenance of existing buildings. But on Monday night, materials for the Tuesday morning meetings of the budget-writing Joint Ways & Means Committee filled up with amendments and other materials. 

The version of the university construction plan that lawmakers considered at a 9 a.m. meeting on Tuesday included $219.5 million in previously undisclosed spending that mostly went to projects at the University of Oregon, Portland State University and the Corvallis campus of Oregon State University. No money was allocated for Oregon State University-Cascades, which requested $45 million in bonds to continue the build-out of the Bend campus with a new health center.

The issue was not raised in the capital construction subcommittee that morning. Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, and House Minority Leader Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville, sit on the full Joint Ways & Means Committee. During the afternoon meeting to approve the plan, neither brought up the OSU-Cascades funding. 

With the support of the Democratic majority, the plan was forwarded to the floors of the House and Senate with a “do pass” recommendation.

Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, a member of the committee, said the projects that were funded were based on the priority list of the Higher Education Coordinating Committee, and the OSU-Cascades project had a low rating by the commission that controls universities and community colleges.

Dembrow said the email he received from HECC said “There continues to be a need for the state to more strategically consider the ultimate scope and size of a fully built campus in Bend,” Dembrow said. “I agree with that last point. Should Cascades remain as a satellite of OSU or should it be its own regional university with its own board and its own appropriation? Perhaps at some point. I think it’s an important discussion to be had, perhaps soon.”

The other major funding legislation moved into place was the House Bill 5006, nicknamed the “Christmas Tree Bill.” During the afternoon Joint Ways & Means Committee meeting, several lawmakers singled out a $250 million allocation for a proposed bridge across the Columbia River at Portland. 

Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, said he was disappointed the final package did not include a plan for helping rural homeowners offset wildfire costs. Oregon ended a long-term relationship with Lloyd’s of London to provide a one-of-its-kind wildfire insurance that included a way for private property owners to get coverage and then reimburse the state for some of the costs. 

Rep. Dick Anderson, R-Lincoln City, criticized the lack of money for a behavioral health addiction program that is supported by some federal funds.

“We missed the boat here on the mental health and addiction problems,” Anderson said. “Everybody has put in some money except the state of Oregon. They are going to be the shining star, in their absence.”

But Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, tweeted a message with her happiness over local projects that received money.

“Big wins for Central Oregon in the budget – Northpoint Project in Redmond (450 units), Hawthorne Ped Bridge, Food Bank, Courthouse, Oasis Village, COCC construction,” she wrote. 

Other local projects included a Deschutes River water project and renovation of the Tower Theatre in Bend.

The floor votes on the budget and other legislation is scheduled to begin Wednesday. The House is also slated to take up the watered-down versions of House Bill 2002 (abortion access and transgender medical aid) and House Bill 2005 (gun control). The bills that passed the House earlier in the session were amended in the Senate as part of a deal to get Senate Republicans to return from a walkout to provide a quorum. The House must vote to accept the changes, which is expected to lead to a heated debate. If approved, the bills would then go to Gov. Tina Kotek.