The Legislature’s annual spending “Christmas Tree” was Sequoia-sized this year, with spending soaring from a massive infusion of federal aid.

What’s officially known as the budget reconciliation bill is usually one of the last approved in a legislative session as an enticement to keep lawmakers engaged while awaiting awards to their House and Senate Districts.

The funding for small and medium projects back home have always been popular with the 30 senators and 60 house members.

But 2021 had the state’s Santa impulse on overdrive with an extra $240 million to spend.

Democratic leaders in the House and Senate decided to take a portion of Oregon’s share of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act and give control of the allocations to each legislator.

Under the plan, the 30 senators could name $4 million in projects or plans in their districts, while each of the 60 house members received $2 million.

It served the dual purpose of decentralizing spending priorities from Salem and also as an enticement for Republicans to stop or at least slow parliamentary moves that had brought the pace of lawmaking to a standstill.

As part of a mid-session deal to disperse the encourge Republicans to stop or limit parliamentary practices to slow down the pace of legislation, the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate announced that a pot of $240 million in money from the federal American Rescue Plan