Hundreds of bills at risk as Oregon Senate Republican walkout stretches on
While Republicans have pledged to return on the final day of the session to vote on their preferred list of bills, many will inevitably end up dead at sine die.
As a walkout led by Oregon Senate Republicans drags on, grinding legislative business in the chamber to a halt, there's an increasing risk that hundreds of bills — many of them broadly popular — will fall to the wayside as the clock ticks closer to sine die.
Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp helpfully declared last week that his caucus would return June 25, the final day of the regular session, if only to pass "substantially bipartisan budgets and bills." It's unclear how many bills the Senate could conceivably pass in one day, and how many have received Republicans' seal of approval.
But Senate President Rob Wagner said last week that he wouldn't allow Republicans to pick and choose which bills they vote on, suggesting that this kind of minority rule is antithetical to democracy.
Meanwhile, the conservative senators continue to run afoul of Measure 113, a voter-approved amendment to the Oregon Constitution that disqualifies lawmakers with 10 or more unexcused absences from holding office again next term. But with at least 10 lawmakers now having crossed that particular Rubicon, it may be that the Republicans have even less to lose as time goes on.
The Oregonian reported Thursday that hundreds of bills are on the chopping block as long as the walkout continues, many of them with bipartisan support and some of them acknowledged by both sides as being vitally important. Here's a look at some of those bills.
Bills coming due
SB 337: Public defense reform
Yet to hit the Senate floor is a bill intended to overhaul Oregon's suffering public defender system. A severe shortage of public defenders, exacerbated by a backlog of cases coming out of the pandemic, has resulted in terrible outcomes for the justice system. In some instances, cases are dismissed simply because the court has failed to line up representation for the defendant. In other cases, defendants have languished in jail for weeks or months without a lawyer. SB 337 is intended to start the ball rolling on changes to the system. It has hit roadblocks in recent days, even beyond the walkout, despite seemingly everyone agreeing that changes are desperately needed.
HB 2098: Speed bumps (and bridge?)
Full disclosure, HB 2098 is nothing special — an idea to have ODOT study speed bump heights — and it never made it out of committee. What's important is what it represents. Around this time last month, lawmakers were considering making this bill the vehicle for the $1 billion that Oregon is expected to contribute in order to fund the Interstate Bridge Replacement project. In the intervening weeks, and with Senate floor sessions stalled by the Republican walkout, no one seems sure how they're going to get that funding through, if at all. While it could go to a special session, which seems increasingly likely to happen, insiders warn that the project risks missing out on vital federal funding if Oregon doesn't put up the money posthaste.
HB 2676: Crime victim compensation
HB 2676 contains a number of reforms to how victims of crime in Oregon are treated and how they are compensated, shaped by the emotional testimony of crime victims and their families, alongside input from medical professionals, law enforcement officials and others. It's incredibly popular — passing the Oregon House with absolutely unanimous bipartisan support, 60 votes in favor. While it reached Senate committees, it didn't make it to the Senate floor before the walkout began.
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HB 2513: Measure 110 reform
The 2020 voter-approved measure that decriminalized user amount of drugs and set aside cannabis tax dollars for treatment, Measure 110, has weathered a lot of criticism within the past year. According to a recent poll, just over half of Oregonians think it's been a net negative for the state. HB 2513 does not represent any kind of sweeping overhaul to Measure 110; the concept is much more simple: making the law, as voters approved it, work better. It's supposed to resolve some of the issues revealed in an audit of the Measure 110 rollout earlier this year, and clarify the Oregon Health Authority's role in administering these programs. It's also broadly popular, passing the House with bipartisan support. But it's yet another example of a bill caught in Senate committees while the walkout continues.
HB 1043: Narcan in hospitals
With deadly opioid overdoses on the rise, a number of bills this session sought to make the overdose reversal drug Narcan more widely available. Some of those bills passed, but HB 1043 did not make it through the gauntlet. The bill would require hospitals and facilities that provide drug treatment to provide patients with doses of Narcan upon discharge. It also provides immunity from civil liability for people who provide medications like Narcan. While the bill passed both the Senate and the House, it received amendments that required it be sent back to the Senate for consideration.
HB 2395: Expanded Narcan access
Another Narcan-related bill awaiting senate review, HB 2395, allows owners of buildings and facilities with public access to stock naloxone for public use with the intention of Narcan being available similar to an AED or other life-saving device. HB 2395 removes liability for people who use naloxone, including school teachers and administrators, and allows the Oregon Prescription Drug Program to make bulk purchases of Narcan for widespread distribution, among other changes.
Buildings and budgets
There are a number of other bills, too many to list, caught in the legislative process that are unlikely to pass by the end of the session. Those include some of Gov. Tina Kotek's biggest priorities, including a bill intended to streamline the construction of affordable housing.
But the most impactful, without a doubt, are the budgets. Those are the ones that Republicans are most likely to prioritize for voting — assuming their last-day gambit goes forward as they want it to — and the ones that can't be ignored without eventually creating a real crisis.
Democrats have laid out a $10.2 billion K-12 schools budget, plus a $140 million investment in early literacy programs and a $110 million drought and water security budget. Then there is the overall biennial state budget, which lawmakers would usually pass by the end of the session. While the state government is funded at current levels until Sept. 15, the budget is without a doubt something that, should it not be passed by the end of the session, will need to be taken up in a subsequent special session.
Under the barrel
Without the walkout, the bills above likely would have passed without issue. But Republicans have largely staked their walkout on two bills: House Bill 2002 and, perhaps to a lesser extent, House Bill 2005. No matter what happens, they seem intent on killing these two bills. So if the walkout ends with a compromise, they're likely the first to go.
HB 2002: Abortion, gender-affirming care
This bill would ensure that reproductive care of all kinds, including abortion, is available to people age 14 and younger. People 15 and older already have the right to make their own medical decisions under Oregon law, but HB 2002 clarifies some vagaries in existing law on when children 14 and younger can seek an abortion without parental approval. While other states allow minors to petition a judge for permission to get an abortion — often in cases of rape or incest — existing Oregon law doesn't include any specific rules or permissions along these lines for kids 14 and younger. HB 2002 also requires that insurance companies cover gender-affirming care for anyone 15 and older if deemed medically necessary by a doctor.
HB 2005: Gun control
This bill represents a package of gun control measures, with three primary parts. First, it would ban undetectable and untraceable firearms, known as "ghost guns." Second, it would raise the age to purchase and possess firearms from 18 to 21, with some exceptions for guns more likely to be used in hunting and sport shooting. Finally, the bill would give local control to municipalities for deciding whether they want to prohibit all firearms in public buildings and on public grounds.