Despite headlines to the contrary, the Legislature is more collegial than most Oregonians realize. Democratic House Speaker Dan Rayfield was less heavy-handed than his predecessor, Tina Kotek, who now is governor. But Republican legislators and their constituents still got left behind during the 2023 Legislature.

So said Rep. Vikki Breese-Iverson, R-Prineville.

“As the minority party, you don’t have a lot of say in anything,” she said. Often the minority’s role becomes one of making legislation less-bad.

She took over as House Republican leader in late 2021 when Christine Drazan stepped down to run for governor. Breese-Iverson had political campaign experience, which Republicans sorely needed to break the Democrats’ super-majority in the House. Republicans won three House seats previously held by Democrats, raised a record amount of money and, for the first time in years, recruited Republican candidates for all 60 House seats.

I hit the road last month to interview the Legislature’s top Democrats and Republicans: Breese-Iverson; Rayfield, who lives in Corvallis; Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego; and Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, Bend. I wanted to hear what this year’s legislative session was like for them – politically and personally – and what they foresee for the 2024 session. My two Senate interviews will publish next week, following today’s publication of the two House columns, so readers can compare the differing viewpoints.

Breese-Iverson and I met at her real estate and district legislative office in Prineville. This was before she resigned as caucus leader, having held that role less than two years. We followed up by email. I also interviewed new Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich of Hood River.

Being caucus leader amounted to a full-time job. Breese-Iverson said she now will have time to pursue her legislative district and personal goals, while also seeking re-election next year in House District 59. A former legislative aide, she is a business owner, real estate agent and fifth-generation rancher.

“When you’re in the Legislature, it is extremely helpful if you have signed the front of the [paycheck] as well as the back of the check,” she said. “There’s a lot of folks that have signed the back as they deposited the check. There are not as many who signed the front as the business owner or manager, trying to figure out how keep the business running and make profit.”

The LinkedIn profile for her husband, Bryan Iverson, who works in political campaigns, marketing and business development, says he and Vikki are “the main two political consultants east of the Cascades.”

When the couple are in Salem, their teen-age sons are responsible for taking care of the animals on the family’s 5,000-acre Pilot Butte Hereford Ranch before heading off to school each day.

During our conversation, I recalled a legislative hearing several years ago at which a Portland legislator was surprised to learn agricultural producers often don’t know their product price before going to market. 

“If you’re never in that industry, if you’ve never sat at the table in those conversations or tried to grow the product and go to market, you don’t know. And if all your exposure is going to the grocery store and purchasing it, you don’t know,” Breese-Iverson said. “Which is why, as a legislature, we come together from different areas of the state with different backgrounds.

“We should sit at the table and listen to each other.”

Does that happen often?

“I haven’t seen it happen too often,” she said.

Breese-Iverson said political candidates and the news media highlight the most contentious aspects, creating a public impression that the Legislature is not working, is corrupt and is quite divisive.

In contrast, she and new Rep. Emerson Levy, D-Bend, formed a working relationship because each represents part of Redmond. “We need to be able to collaborate,” Breese-Iverson said.

They recently held a joint town hall in Redmond. Afterward, an editorial in The Bulletin called them “two political warriors who don’t see politics as warfare with no place for compromise.” 

D’s and R’s talked better during the 2023 session, she said, but not enough better. More Republicans were at the table, but they were treated as if they still constituted a super-minority. And an inordinate number of Republican bills died.

The session began with multiple challenges for building relationships. A third of the House members were new. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, many returning legislators lacked experience in attending in-person committee meetings. Noise from the Capitol reconstruction project sometimes drowned out speakers’ voices.

The initial honeymoon produced significant bipartisan legislation on homelessness and the semiconductor industry, with Republicans having an equal seat at the table. Lawmakers overwhelmingly supported the bills.

Breese-Iverson said she kept pushing Rayfield to do more early in the session instead of leaving so much for the end.

House and Senate Republicans worked well together, she said. But unlike their Senate counterparts, House Republicans did not start the 160-day session by insisting that bills be read word-for-word aloud before being voted on. They were willing to take a chance on having a more collaborative process under Rayfield than transpired under Kotek, whom Breese-Iverson did not enjoy as speaker.

“We started with all the good intentions,” she said. “I don’t know If we finished with all of them trying per se. But, you know, politics kick in.”

As legislative deadlines hit, lawmakers encountered harsh realities: “What do you mean my bill is dead?”

Meanwhile, House Democrats moved ahead with controversial bills on reproductive health care (House Bill 2002) and firearms (HB 2005). The legislation was handled in a way that avoided Senate hearings after House passage – a long-practiced tactic that Republicans decried.

“You effectively flip the switch … and keep the public out the process,” Breese-Iverson said. “That’s when there are breakdowns. That’s when people stop talking.”

She added, “While my Republican colleagues and I had spirited discussions throughout the 2023 session, we stood together litigating HB 2002 and HB 2005 on the House floor.”

House R’s were part of the negotiations that ended the Senate walkout and brought the session to a close. “Make no mistake, though. Senate Republicans had the trump card in discussions,” Breese-Iverson said. 

She and Republican Leader Helfrich expressed similar ideas about next year’s session, which the Oregon Constitution limits to 35 days. Though not final, Republican priorities likely will include:

— Housing, including version 2.0 of HB 3414, which died in the 2023 session’s final hours.

— Public safety, including revising Measure 110 and taking a harder line on drug possession and use. Helfrich said Democrats have shown little interest in recriminalizing small amounts of addictive drugs.

— Government accountability. “Recently there has been a pattern of agencies failing to act with the transparency and accountability Oregonians deserve from their government,” Breese-Iverson said.

As caucus leader, Helfrich said, he will have a similar collaborative style to Breese-Iverson’s. However, “I’m more the direct approach – talking to people and sitting down having a conversation on either side of the aisle.”

He said: “There’s going to be hard work. There’s going to be discussions. There’s going to be some irritations going on. But I want to sit at the table and be that voice of reason for all Oregonians.