Wow. Another topsy-turvy week in the state capital – the city.
One thing we’ve noticed this year is that there seems to be more communication coming from the capitol – the building – and that’s a good thing in some ways. In fact, we’re receiving multiple emails every day about legislative achievements – or problems. Communication is always helpful.
Admittedly, there’s a strong flavor of self-service in the dispatches that literally fill our computer inboxes.
Here’s a sample just from from Monday.
11:01 a.m.: “Republican, Independent Senators Violate the Constitution, Will of the People” headlines a press release notifying us all that Republican Senators Daniel Bonham of The Dalles and Dennis Linthicum of Klamath Falls, along with Independent Brian Boquist (a former Republican), who represents Polk and Yamhill counties, had reached 10 unexcused absences, thus “violating” the constitutional limits voters approved in last November’s elections, making them – per Measure 113 – ineligible to run for re-election.
2:38 p.m.: Senate Republicans responded with accusations that Democratic Senate leaders did not act in good faith in meeting with the GOP over the weekend to try to work out their differences. They accuse the Democrats of “instead using their slim majority to justify moving forward with an extreme, unlawful, and unconstitutional agenda.”
When Measure 113 passed, it wasn’t likely a shock for many. Frankly, walkouts – which, by the way, were first employed in Oregon by Democrats – are literally a last resort for the minority party, to deny the quorum necessary to do business. Like a lot of last-resort options, they’re not really a good one.
But Republicans, who complain that their concerns and arguments are basically ignored by the majority opposition, say the issues run even deeper this time than, say, 2019 when they opposed that gross receipts sales tax bill disguised as an education bill, and then again in 2020, when they opted to walk out to combat the cap and trade legislation.
They argue that bills such as HB 2002, which would effectively remove age restrictions for both abortions and sex-change treatments, eliminate parents’ rights almost completely, going beyond the pale of just bad law.
Abortion is already virtually unthreatened in Oregon, except in the minds of those who want to further expand its grip on the state, so the intent here appears to be to bolster its invulnerability even further in the state.
Progressive inclinations aside, how many of us really think it is right for a 10- or 12-year-old survivor of the COVID pandemic to choose an irreversible procedure that will change her or him for life? That’s why Republicans are walking out, they say. They charge that the Democrats pushing this have given lip service, if that, to true discussion of the pros and cons of this and other laws.
Republicans are definitely in a hard spot. If these veteran senators go away, that’s going to be a setback for rural Oregonians, particularly those with conservative interests in such areas as moral issues – abortion, gender health, gun laws, environmental policy impacting many of the ways Linn County residents and others who live outside the metropolises make their livings, law enforcement policy, etc. etc.
It takes time to gain a foothold in the legislature and even if a legislator’s views run counter to the majority, there’s strategy and relationships that can work in one’s favor.
A question that rises in regard to these walkouts, and the pending penalties, is “is this worth it?”
There’s no question that some of the legislation Republicans have been complaining about is almost an “in-your-face” thrust at Oregonians who don’t share the progressive views of the urban majority.
Opponents describe House Bill 2002 as a direct assault on parental rights and, frankly, despite the golden-tongued defenses we’ve heard from its supporters, that’s exactly what it is. Exactly where does a parent’s authority end when it comes to a child’s access to abortion or sex-change operations? To put it bluntly.
Oregon youths can already have abortions without a parent’s OK at age 15. This law would remove limitations for nearly all. Go ahead, kids, do whatever you want.
Is this really what Oregon voters want? As has been stated on this page before, we’re coming –or have come – to the point where the public needs to speak up, loud and clear, if they don’t like what they’re seeing.
Legislators listen, even to those who aren’t in their district. That’s because they know that when someone gets motivated enough to speak, they’re likely the tip of the iceberg of others who feel the same way.
It’s not too hard to visit oregon legislature.gov and copy email addresses. Maybe they’ll listen to you.