The Oregon Senate this week chased after federal dollars to boost the state’s computer industry and carved a huge, controversial exemption in land-use regulations.

You probably heard about the outcome. Here’s what was happening behind the headlines.

Passage of SB 4 was foreordained, but senators still had to combine speechifying with sitting around. Consequently, the Senate handled only the semiconductor legislation on Wednesday, while the Oregon House passed eight bills but also refused to act on several bills sought by Republicans.

A diary of the Senate day:

10:46 a.m.: Senate convenes. Janeen Sollman, D-Hillsboro, leads the Pledge of Allegiance.

10:47 a.m.: President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, recognizes National Vietnam War Veterans Day and speaks of the 57,000 Oregonians who fought in the war.

Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, tells of her father’s service aboard a Navy submarine during 1966-67. Aaron Woods, D-Wilsonville, tells of going through Vietnam to Cambodia, Laos and Thailand while working in Army intelligence. Other senators recount friends and family members who served.

11:12 a.m.: The 30-member Senate takes roll. All are present except Chris Gorsek, D-Troutdale, who is excused. Shortly after noon, Gorsek posts on Facebook that he is being released from the hospital after a nine-day stay for triple bypass heart surgery.

11:13 a.m.: Wagner addresses concerns about the air quality and the cold. (I was warned to bring a blanket or coat.) The Senate chamber is on the second floor of the historic Capitol section, which was built in 1938. Seismic-related excavation and other work is happening right below the chamber.

(Jodie Jones, who directs the Capitol Accessibility, Maintenance and Safety Project, tells me that regular testing has shown the air quality remains within acceptable levels. Another air quality test will be conducted this week. However, Tim Knopp of Bend, the Senate Republican leader, says during Thursday’s floor session that he briefly left the chamber because of symptoms he experienced.)

11:15 a.m.: Eight senators, all Republicans, give two-minute speeches known as remonstrances. Art Robinson of Cave Junction, a Republican who with Brian Boquist of Dallas forms the Senate’s Independent caucus, says no credible evidence exists that carbon dioxide is changing Earth’s climate.

Bill Hansell of Athena notes that nine days have passed since Republican leaders and Boquist jointly wrote to Gov. Tina Kotek, asking for an independent, nonpartisan investigation of the OLCC.

Suzanne Weber of Tillamook and other senators criticize the conversion of SB 348 into a reworked version of Measure 114, the voter-approved gun-control initiative tied up in the courts.

11:31 a.m.: Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber, D-Portland, moves that the Senate immediately take up the semiconductor bill, putting it ahead of other legislation on the day’s agenda. The motion carries with Boquist and seven Republicans voting “no.”

11:34 a.m.: SB 4 is 16 pages. A fast-paced computer-generated voice reads all 8,000 or so words. Throughout the 2023 Legislature, Senate Republicans have refused to waive the constitutional requirement that each bill be read in full before debate and voting.

Almost no one is listening. Senators are coming and going, retreating to their Capitol offices or getting lunch. Capitol food services are closed due to the massive construction project, but senators can order food through an outside company.

At one point, I count only 13 senators in the chamber, most of whom are either working on their laptops or chatting with colleagues.

11:36 a.m.: Eugene Democrats Floyd Prozanski and James Manning Jr. are in one conversation, Dennis Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls, and David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford in another. Kathleen Taylor, D-Portland, and Daniel Bonham, R-The Dallas, are conversing at the back of the chamber.

As the computer voice gets to Page 7, construction sounds have subsided a bit. The noise likely came from drilling of micropiles and installation of steel shoring towers beneath the Senate chamber. Heavy equipment also is operating below and outside the Capitol with motors running and back-up horns beeping.

According to Jones, the loudest construction activities are curtailed during floor sessions so legislators can be heard when speaking into their microphones. Such work includes roto hammering, drilling into columns, and chipping walls and columns.

11:41 a.m.: Knopp’s constituent newsletter arrives in my email. It leads with “Release the List,” referring to any legislators who gained special favors in obtaining liquor from the OLCC. 

11:46 a.m.: Weber is conversing with Portland Democrat Michael Dembrow at his desk. Prozanski, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, is at the rostrum with President Wagner and Chief of Staff Tom Powers.

Conversations are ongoing throughout the room, as senators migrate from one to another. Taylor and Brock Smith. Bonham and Sollman. Woods, Ways & Means co-chair Elizabeth Steiner, D-Portland, and Wlnsvey Campos, D-Aloha.

12:05 p.m.: The computer voice finishes. Democrat Sollman and Republican Knopp are co-carriers for SB 4.

Sollman begins: “Colleagues, I am thrilled today to rise in support of Senate Bill 4B: Oregon CHIPS – a bipartisan economic plan that will open the door for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to solidify Oregon’s place as a global leader in the semiconductor industry.

“I am especially thrilled that we are here on the Senate floor, voting on this bill, BEFORE the end of March. 

“What an incredible accomplishment for this body to have moved with such urgency on a bill of this magnitude. …”

12:10 p.m.: Construction noises are getting louder again.

Knopp backs the semiconductor bill while also assailing Oregon’s land-use system: “If we had a land use system that actually worked, we wouldn’t need to make any adjustments today.”

12:20 p.m.: Citing the economic uncertainty, Fred Girod, R-Lyons, questions the wisdom of spending so much early in this year’s legislative session – $200 million for this bill on top of $200 million already approved in the homelessness package. It’s unfair to give money to the computer chip industry while other industries also are struggling.

12:25 p.m.: The debate continues, although everyone’s mind probably is made up. Talking in favor are Jeff Golden, D-Ashland; Lieber; Mark Meek, D-Gladstone; and Steiner.

Bonham, Thatcher and Linthicum speak against the bill, with Linthicum talking twice

12:55 p.m.: Sollman, who describes herself as “the senator from the heart of the Silicon Forest,” wraps up the debate.

Meanwhile, in a room across the Capitol Mall, housing advocates applaud and give speeches as Gov. Kotek conducts a ceremonial signing of the homelessness package, HB 2001 and HB 5019.

1:01 p.m. SB 4 passes the Senate on a 21-8 vote and heads to the House.

1:07 p.m.: The Senate is done for the day. An exuberant President Wagner congratulates Sollman: “What a great win.”

The 34 other bills on today’s Senate agenda must wait their turn.