Senate Republicans on Tuesday pledged to return to the Capitol on the final day of the legislative session June 25 solely to pass bipartisan bills and budgets, something that Democratic leaders have said they won’t allow.
Work in the Senate has been stalled since May 3 when conservative lawmakers began boycotting floor sessions, alleging that bills were too difficult to read and violated a 1979 law requiring bill summaries be written in plain English. Since then, Senate Republicans have criticized Democratic priority bills they say they want tabled, including House Bill 2002, which would protect and expand rights to receive reproductive and gender-affirming health care.
Ten senators, nine Republicans and one Independent, now have 10 or more unexcused absences and are ineligible to serve their next term under Measure 113, which a majority of Oregon voters approved last year. The boycotting senators have said they plan to file a lawsuit challenging that measure.
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The boycotting senators met with Democratic leaders last week and with Gov. Tina Kotek on Monday, but those talks don’t appear to have been fruitful. On Tuesday, Senate Republicans indicated they plan to push forward with the walkout but would return on the final day of the session to ensure key budget bills and bipartisan legislation moves forward.
Senate President Rob Wagner has said he won’t allow that. As president, he decides which bills are atop the Senate’s agenda for every floor session, and he has repeatedly said he won’t agree to scuttle the reproductive rights bill to allow votes on other matters.
Lawmakers are supposed to pass a balanced budget by the end of the legislative session. However, a continuing resolution passed this month will ensure state agencies are funded until Sept. 15 if lawmakers are unable to pass a budget amid the walkout.
Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp of Bend said that Republicans had faced intimidation and retaliation from Wagner and said the Senate president was trying to silence their voices. He called Republicans the “last line of defense to hold the majority accountable.”
“Democrat leadership including President Wagner are threatening to shut down the government if they don’t get their way,” Knopp said in a statement. “That is no way to govern. We guarantee that we will be back before constitutional sine die to address the issues most important to Oregonians – homelessness, affordable housing, public safety, cost of living, job creation, and fully-funded education. We are not interested in facilitating an agenda that is unlawful, uncompromising, and unconstitutional.”
A spokesperson for Wagner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber called on Republicans to return to the floor so that the Senate could get back to work immediately.
“Senate Democrats will be here, doing our jobs, ready to pass the budget and act on urgent Oregon priorities today, tomorrow, and every day until session ends,” said Lieber, D-Portland, in a statement. “We are upholding our constitutional duty to show up for work and vote on the floor. Absent Republican senators are welcome to end this unconstitutional walkout and make government work for the people of Oregon.”
