Capital Chatter: Halfway through legislative session, and we have questions

Published 4:30 pm Thursday, April 6, 2023

The 2023 Oregon Legislature passed its halfway point this week. How would you rate lawmakers’ performance?

Senators and representatives, Democrats and Republicans, worked together to speed two high-priority packages through the tedious process of lawmaking. The House on Thursday completed work on legislation to bolster Oregon’s semiconductor industry, sending SB 4 to bolster to Gov. Tina Kotek for her blessing. Kotek already has signed the homelessness and housing package.

However … 

The majority of this year’s 4,922 bills, resolutions and memorials are deemed dead, many of them buried in committees from which they cannot emerge. Eighteen bills have become law.

And so, here are five questions as the Legislature enters its second half: 

1. How will the new leaders handle the final weeks? 

Thursday was the 81st day. The Oregon Constitution requires the session to last no more than 160 days, which means adjourning by Sunday, June 25.

This is the first 160-day session without Oregon’s most-experienced presiding officers – Democrats Peter Courtney as Senate president and Kotek as House speaker. Their styles differed from current Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, and House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis. 

A visible symbol of that difference is the disappearance of the massive conference table from the Senate president’s personal office. Adults in custody built the table as a gift to the Senate president and lawmakers. Courtney liked the symbolism of having everyone “at the table” to negotiate legislation.

Wagner, who prefers a more informal style, replaced the table with couches and chairs. Courtney and the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department worked to find a new home for the table, which currently is in a meeting room at Silver Falls State Park while its final destination is prepared.

2. How much will get done?

By my count, the Senate has approved 248 pieces of legislation; the House, 212. Fewer than 30 have passed both chambers.

To give the chambers time to catch up, no committee meetings are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday. Senators were told to prepare for 12-hour floor sessions on those days and the following two Mondays, April 17 and 24.

Protesting the majority Democrats’ agenda, Senate Republicans have slowed the process by requiring that all bills be read in full before voting. Wagner and Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp of Bend have not talked about what Republicans would want in return for dropping that time-consuming requirement.

House Republicans also employed that tactic on a couple of bills this week.

3. Will the Legislature yet implode? 

Legislative sessions typically endure at least a few blowups. The good feelings and bipartisanship that accompanied the housing and infrastructure packages will be tested as Democrats push gun control, reproductive health and other controversial issues.

Most bills passed by the Legislature do so with bipartisan support. However, Democrats control the agenda, and many Republican bills never make it to a floor vote.

It’s also not unusual for measures to win approval in either the House or Senate but subsequently die in the other chamber. Often that’s because advocates were so focused on building support in the first chamber. Opponents use that to their advantage, sometimes abetted by legislative leaders who didn’t want to cause a ruckus in the first chamber. 

Or sometimes it’s a matter of deciding a bill has questions that can’t be resolved in time.

4. How will the May revenue forecast change the political dynamic? 

The Legislature’s budget-writing committee begins a five-stop statewide tour with a 10 a.m. public hearing on Saturday at Portland Community College’s Sylvania campus. Other sessions to get public comment are April 14 in Newport, April 21 in Roseburg and April 28 in Ontario. A virtual public hearing is scheduled for May 3.

But legislators won’t know until May 17 how much money they have for the 2023-25 budget. That day is when state economists deliver their next revenue forecast, which sets off the biennial frenzy of financial decision-making. 

Speculation is widespread that there might be less money than was predicted in February’s forecast. Overall state spending will go up, just not as much as advocates say is needed to keep existing programs running, let alone finance many new projects.

5. Will Gov. Kotek be hands-on or hands-off?

Oregon’s new governor had two successes with approval of the semiconductor and homelessness/housing legislation. She also has advocated for literacy improvements, behavior health and other issues. However, the Legislature already has shown it will deviate from her proposed budget. 

No longer a legislator herself, how will the state’s chief executive approach political crunch time? Will Kotek stay above the fray or prod legislators? How will her fellow Democrats, as well as the minority Republican and Independent legislators, interpret her involvement … or lack thereof?