It’s been a wild end of the week in Salem.
Of course, from the perspective of much of rural Oregon, it’s been wild since early February, the start of the long legislative session, in early February.
As of last week, of the 2,765 measures introduced in the legislative session, which is supposed to end this month, 480 have been signed by the governor.
They include, in no particular order:
– A permanent switch from standard to daylight saving time;
– Wording changes (from “inmate” to “adult in custody,” “nurse midwife nurse practitioner” to “nurse practitioner specializing in nurse midwifery”);
– A ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracting) in oil and gas exploration;
– Various limitations on landlords’ ability to charge rent and evict tenants;
– Permitting farm tractors to operate on state highways that have speed limits greater than 35 mph;
– Stiffened requirements for boater safety education;
– Bans on plastic grocery bags and straws (unless you specifically request the latter); and
– Rejection of the Electoral College system established by our nation’s founders.
The real biggie this year, though, is HB 2020, the so-called “Cap and Trade Bill,” an attempt to reduce greenhouse emissions in the state, modeled after a 2016 California law. Its intent is to force Oregonians to cut use of fossil fuels by the year 2050, to 80 percent less than what state residents logged in 1990.
While the debate isn’t on the causes of global warming, since, apparently, everyone agrees that it’s beyond doubt that the rising climate temperatures are due to greenhouse gasses emitted by humans, there has been plenty of back-and-forth in the legislature over the impacts of the proposed law on citizens.
The most immediate effect on the average citizen, if the law passes, would be at the fuel pump. The Oregonian newspaper last week published an analysis estimating that the bill, if passed, would cost Linn County residents $110 annually per vehicle in increased fuel costs.
The Democratic supermajority has made it clear that this is their baby, while the state’s Republicans and a few Democrats have resisted, arguing that the law would severely impact jobs and the state’s economy.
Republicans have argued vociferously that the issue should be voted on by the people.
Hence, knowing they were outnumbered, 11 Republican senators fled the capital – and some the state, in an attempt to block passage of the bill in the Senate. By avoiding Senate floor sessions, Republicans can deny Democrats the quorum they need to do any business. Democrats are in the supermajority with 18 members, but they need two Republicans to reach a two-thirds quorum, necessary to vote.
That’s when things got a little ugly. Gov. Kate Brown announced she would send the Oregon State Police to capture and return the rogue senators to the Capitol, which is permitted by state law. Senate President Peter Courtney issued fines against the Republicans. A GoFundMe account set up to help the senators cover the $500-per-session fine for those they’ve missed had raised almost $38,000 by early Sunday, although state ethics laws prevent them from accessing the money.
According to news reports, Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, made statements implying that he would shoot to defend himself against any OSP officer sent by the governor to retrieve him.
Then, late last week, militia groups got involved, offering protection to GOP senators and planning a rally at the capitol in support of the departed senators.
Legislative leaders cancelled planned weekend sessions because of the “militia threat” after being advised to do so by the Oregon State Police, who also recommended Gov. Kate Brown leave town.
The timing of all of this, right before Independence Day, is, well, something to think about.
This situation might seem outlandish, but it shouldn’t. It’s the result of years of roughshod domination by urban interests in Oregon’s legislature, pushing an agenda that has repeatedly set rural Oregonians back on their heels – in areas such as land use, forestry and other agriculture, small business interests, firearm ownership and more.
It’s frustration and anger that’s spilling over. The super-majority enjoyed by urban Democrats in this session means they can pretty much do whatever they want. Perhaps not surprisingly, rural interests get a back-row seat as the majority cannonball toward “progressive” objectives that, in many instances, really appear to be more about drawing lines in the sand in response to the Trump Administration in Washington than anything else.
Whatever their true motives, these moves toward gun control – which fortunately has gotten pushed to the sidelines in favor of Cap and Trade, affordable housing, tobacco taxes, paid family leave and other objectives – will cost all of us. Just like the “fair” minimum wage has replaced fast food staff positions with computer terminals and raised prices or reduced package sizes in stores as employers battle to stay profitable.
As noted earlier, we’re closing in on Independence Day, when we celebrate the birth of our nation and the establishment of principles of our “unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” set forth in the Declaration of Independence, that, increasingly are threatened by our state’s policies incentivizing irresponsibility and sloth, selfishness and entitlement, all paid for by heavy taxation. Taking money from responsible citizens and giving it to others who aren’t does not produce happiness – for anyone other than, possibly, those dictating the laws.
Ultimately, that’s what this deal in Salem is going to come down to: How many small cuts can rural – or any – Oregonians sustain before they realize those freedoms are ebbing away?
While we might debate the propriety of the strategy adopted by the fled Republicans, the bottom line is that they believe this Cap and Trade bill is a really bad deal for their consituents.
Democratic leaders are understandably frustrated with the GOP, but leadership sometimes requires tough choices.
In any case, this standoff, which stretched into its sixth day Tuesday, is drawing scrutiny to the issue itself, which might not have happened without this. If legislators and the media had more thoroughly fleshed out the likely outcomes of the PERS decision years ago, Oregon’s citizens might not have gotten burned the way we did.
Republicans are right to call for a popular vote on these issues with such far-reaching consequences – cap-and-trade, tobacco taxes, paid family leave, gun control, etc. decisions we all will to have to live with and pay the price for in coming years.
We live in a democratic republic and that means we all have responsibilities. Democracy means we get to help decide what those responsibilities will be. A general election would give us the chance to decide.