Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, works on the House floor at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023. (Amanda Loman/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Transportation bill sponsor resigns from committee after complaint filed against him

With less than one week left in Oregon’s six-month legislative session, tensions are rising between Republicans and Democrats over this year’s highly anticipated transportation bill.

On Monday, seven Republican House members announced a boycott standing in solidarity with Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, who filed a complaint against Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, alleging he violated legislative rules for maintaining a respectful and inclusive environment during a Friday meeting of the Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment. Gorsek is the committee’s Senate co-chair.

With the legislative session hurtling toward a constitutionally required end date of June 29, lawmakers are scrambling to pass an unpopular bill that would sustainably fund the state’s transportation needs for maintenance and repairs. Lawmakers voted to send House Bill 2025 back to its committee for revisions in a not-yet-scheduled meeting.

Republicans have been outspoken about their opposition to the bill, which would raise and create dozens of new transportation fees and taxes and generate nearly $14.6 billion for the Oregon Department of Transportation over the next 10 years. Boshart Davis has repeatedly criticized bill sponsors for not providing a public fiscal impact until after the public hearing process.

The committee voted 7-5 along party lines on Friday to advance an amended version of House Bill 2025. During that meeting, Boshart Davis said the Legislature ought to listen to Oregonians who do not want to see spikes in fees and taxes.

“We’re left with a $15 billion tax increase with a few days left in session with a really bad process,” Boshart Davis said. “When we talk about being grossly irresponsible, that’s what this is. I will be a no on this…”

Gorsek then interrupted her and accused her of impugning the motives of the lawmakers who crafted the bill. They spoke over each other for about 20 seconds, with Gorsek twice telling Boshart Davis to “stop” and “you’ve made your point” before House co-chair Susan McLain, a Forest Grove Democrat sitting between the two, convinced them to stop.

In her letter to the Legislative Equity Office, obtained by the Oregon Capital Chronicle, Boshart Davis said she intentionally used “grossly irresponsible” to describe House Bill 2025 because it’s how Rep. Mark Gamba, D-Milwaukie, described her amendment earlier in the meeting. While multiple men on the committee spoke against the bill, Boshart Davis alleged Gorsek was only aggressive to her.

“Later, over a general discussion on the bill, he lunged at me across the dias (sic), extended a finger, and shouted at me over my objection to the bill,” she said in her letter. “His body language and speech were intimidating and aggressive.”

The House Republican Caucus put out a statement on Monday morning calling for Gorsek’s censure and removal from committee assignments.

“The dysfunction in the legislature has become a disgrace,” House Republicans said in their joint statement. “Silencing opposition, ejecting a dissenting Democrat from the committee, and hiding cost estimates until the last minute is not how democracy is supposed to work.”

Gorsek on Monday afternoon said he resigned from the committee to let lawmakers focus on completing the transportation bill.

“I have offered my resignation from the Joint Committee on Transportation Reinvestment effective immediately,” he said in a text. “I support the compromise that’s being offered from the House, and I look forward to voting in support of it on the Senate floor.”

Shortly afterward, Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, appointed Sen. Khanh Pham, D-Portland, as the new co-chair and added Democratic Sens. Lew Frederick and James Manning Jr. Wagner, who appointed himself to the committee Friday afternoon to replace Democrat Mark Meek, also resigned from the committee.

Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth, told his colleagues on the House floor in the afternoon that he also asked to be removed from the committee, saying there was “no use” in being on the panel any longer. “I’m probably not going to be engaged in caucus activities until I rebuild some trust,” he said, adding that, “if you want to play more reindeer games, find somewhere else.”

Most House Republicans were there for Monday’s session, though an early draft of their press release erroneously sent to journalists indicated they might not attend. Along with the eventual release, that document included one draft statement declaring that Republicans had boycotted Monday’s floor session in solidarity with Boshart Davis and another draft statement in which House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, called for Gorsek to resign from the Legislature.

That spurred confusion in the House, with some Republican lawmakers turning to each other to ask if they were boycotting today.

A smaller group of Republicans — Reps. Court Boice of Gold Beach, Ed Diehl of Stayton, Darcey Edwards of Banks, Darin Harbick of McKenzie Bridge, Virgle Osborne of Roseburg, Alek Skarlatos of Winston, Boomer Wright of Reedsport and Dwayne Yunker of Grants Pass — announced in separate releases that they would boycott the floor session.

Boshart Davis, Drazan, Republican Reps. Jami Cate of Lebanon, Anna Scharf of Amity and Kim Wallan of Medford and Democratic Reps. Paul Evans of Monmouth and Hòa Nguyễn of Portland also weren’t on the floor. House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, marked all but Harbick as excused.

Fahey’s office did not immediately respond to the Capital Chronicle’s request about their excused absences.

Under Oregon’s unusually high bar for a quorum, at least 40 members of the House need to be present to conduct any business, and Republicans in the minority can stop the Legislature from acting by refusing to show up. Voters sought to stop the ever-increasing use of walkouts by approving a constitutional amendment in 2022 that makes any lawmaker with 10 or more unexcused absences ineligible for reelection, though that measure is all but toothless with fewer than 10 days left in the current session.