By Ben Botkin and Julia Shumway
Oregon Senate leaders on Thursday reached a deal that brought a handful of Republicans back to the floor, ending the longest walkout in state history and clearing the way for the Legislature to pass a budget and start working through hundreds of backlogged bills.
The deal reached Thursday included watering down Democratic measures intended to guarantee abortion access and prevent gun violence, as well as considering a Republican proposal that would allow the Legislature to impeach statewide elected officials. Democrats also agreed to shelve a sweeping constitutional amendment that would have removed an unenforceable ban on same-sex marriage and prohibited discrimination against LGBTQ people.
Democrats and Republicans also reached a deal to “substantively” fund 988, a hotline for people in mental health crises. And senators on Thursday read new, easier-to-read descriptions of each bill before voting on each measure, another concession to Republicans who initially said they walked out over the Legislature violating an obscure state law that requires bill summaries to be written at an eighth-grade reading level.
Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, said legislative leaders reached an agreement in time for the Senate to move through backlogged bills by a June 25 deadline while still taking off weekends and the Juneteenth holiday on Monday.
“We have achieved major bipartisan victories already the session on housing and on semiconductors,” he said. “And I fully expect if you look at the legislation that is out there right now, that we are going to continue to make incredible progress on behalf of Oregon families.”
Some details of the deal were still being worked out Thursday as five Republicans joined Democratic colleagues on the Senate floor for the first time since May 3. Among them: whether Democrats would waive the $325 daily fines absent Republicans began accruing earlier this month.
Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, described Republicans’ presence as a show of good faith, saying he wanted to finish the session “in an extraordinary bipartisan way.”
“For our part, we are here for the quorum today in good faith to work through this calendar so thank you, Mr. President,” Knopp said.
What came next illustrated just how long it has been since the Senate came to work. A Senate employee speed-read the titles of more than 120 bills sent by the House over the past month before the chamber moved onto voting on bills.
This story first appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
