NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG: The Freight Train is Underway

By Representative David Gomberg, House District 10

2/5/2024

Dear Neighbors and Friends,

Early today, Monday, February 5, 2024, your Oregon Legislature gaveled in for the start of the 35-day “short” legislative session which convenes every other year. In alternate years we meet for a longer six-month period.

As a now senior member, I was honored with the responsibility to present the Credentials Report. It is the first motion of the session affirming who is elected or appointed to represent each of our 60 House districts.

I made this report last session as well when a third of the members were new. The responsibility of announcing 60 names can be daunting. But the first time your name is read into the record, it’s a meaningful thing. It needs to be done with solemnity and respect.

With the approval of Credentials and a few other formalities, the freight train that is the 2024 Legislative Session pulled out of the station. It will be a fast trip to adjournment on March 10^th. And if nothing falls off the rails, we have scheduled big deliveries on major issues for Oregon that include addiction and drug use, housing and homelessness, education and summer programs, funding of wildfire response, and fixing our roads and highways.

Closer to home, big issues of consequence to the Coast are on the schedule as well: preserving Marine Reserves, the future of Wind Energy, and funding needed water and sewer projects up and down our coastline. (Watch for amendments to the placeholder bill.)

Capitol renovations are now in their fourth year closing much of the building and disrupting the rest.

Looming over the Capitol is a fragile truce between Democrats and Republicans that is as pervasive as the pounding of jackhammers and noise of renovation construction that has continued around us for four years and counting. At this point, there don’t appear to be issues or conflicts ahead that could break down progress or result in walkouts.

Nonetheless, seven times since 2019, groups of legislators have boycotted proceedings to prevent individual bills and in fact, all legislative action from moving forward. In 2023, we suffered our longest walkout – over 40 days – and only in the final hours were compromises struck that allowed us to return and rush through hundreds of critical bills.

The Oregon constitution requires that two-thirds of lawmakers must be present for a “quorum” that allows business to proceed. In more than 45 other states, that rule is a simple majority. The result is that here, a small minority of legislators can shut down the government. In recent years, we’ve had walkouts over guns, abortion, climate, school funding, the drawing of legislative districts, and whether summaries of legislation are written at an eighth-grade reading level.

I understand the passion and commitment that leads some members to use this ultimate procedural protest. But I also strongly believe that not every extreme tool should be available as debate and negotiation evolves. Walkouts are not good for the process of government and not good for Oregonians.

We don’t want Oregon to be the place where legislative walkouts are easy. The cost is great. The benefit is limited. And for that reason, I have again sponsored legislation to ask voters to change our quorum rules. I do not expect it to move. The conventional wisdom and relevant polling conclude that most voters don’t understand what a quorum is. And in the ultimate irony, we could well face a walkout over allowing a bill to prevent walkouts. We want that fragile truce to continue.

If this procedure is to be properly addressed, another initiative and statewide vote may be needed.

Sitting in the Chamber waiting to confirm a quorum is not present.

Oregonians have signaled clearly that they want the walkouts to end. They did that when they overwhelmingly passed Measure 113 in 2022.

That measure is the really big legislative news this week. Thursday the Oregon Supreme Court decided when the measure’s penalty of not being able to run for re-election takes effect. In a unanimous ruling, the Court concluded that voters intended that any member with more than ten unexcused absences would lose the right to run for re-election right away.

I will spare you the legal arguments about free speech, the awkward wording of the measure, implied commas, and whether the “next” election possibly means the election after the next election. You can read all of that here and here.

The bottom line is that the Court conclusion means six members of the Senate will be leaving – not this session but soon after this session when their terms are finished. Four more will leave when their terms end in January 2027.

One result of the decision this week has consequences for the session that began today. While the ruling might deter walkouts in future years, members who have already been barred from reelection have nothing to lose walking out this session.

As I said earlier, it is unclear whether there will be any controversial legislation that would compel a walkout. Leaders of both parties have largely expressed a desire to focus on bipartisan, non-controversial issues, including housing, behavioral health, and adjustments to Measure 110, Oregon’s drug decriminalization law.

Of course, things can change quickly and questions or procedures that are not controversial today may suddenly become controversial tomorrow. Let’s hope this freight train makes all scheduled stops and arrives at adjournment on schedule.

Ultimately, the Court ruling will bring new faces to the Capitol. But it will not largely change the partisan balance. Republican members leaving from overwhelmingly Republican districts will almost certainly be replaced with new Republicans. But this is a building where relationships, knowledge of the process, and experience matter. The question is, how effective can a largely new and potentially inexperienced Republican caucus be? Of the current 13 Republican members of the Senate, only three are unaffected by the Court ruling: Dick Anderson (Lincoln City), David Brock Smith (Port Orford), and Fred Girod (Lyons).

The new session also brings another change for our district. I have new responsibilities. In a decision made by the House Democratic Caucus last week, I have been selected to serve in the House Democratic Leadership team as an Assistant Majority Leader.

What does this mean?

Essentially, I have earned a seat at the table where policy and political decisions are prioritized. All of the current members are from our larger cities. So this is an opportunity to bring forward a rural perspective.

As I said in the press release distributed after my election, “Geographic diversity is critical when it comes to making decisions that impact our state, especially when it comes to issues like transportation, economic development, housing, and infrastructure. I’m committed to bringing a unique perspective from rural Oregon to the House Democratic Leadership Team.”

Committee chairs largely decide what bills are heard and which ones die, change, or move forward.

In a long session like 2023, we can introduce as many measures as we wish. In a short session like this one, members are limited to only two bills. So we’re in legislative session and working to pass bills we like or avoid passage of bills we don’t like that have been introduced by members. How does that work? In simple terms, let’s take a look at how the sausage is made.

Idea: We start off with an idea about how to improve or change some aspect of our state. Ideas can come from my experience, staff suggestions, other legislators, advocates, lobbyists or people like you.
Crafting a Bill: Often, in order to gain understanding and then craft a bill, we form a workgroup, holding meetings with advocates, people with lived experience, experts, and other legislators. Then, we file a request with legislative attorneys to transform this idea into legal language that fits into current statutes. We invite other legislators to co-sponsor the legislative concept or “LC” and then file it with the Chief Clerk’s office. At that point, the concept becomes a bill and is assigned a number.
Public Hearing: Each bill is assigned to a relevant house committee. The Chair then decides whether to schedule a public hearing where all are welcome to share written, or personal testimony on why they support or oppose the bill. Throughout this process, legislators may work with stakeholders and others (including opponents) to make any necessary changes (amendments) to the bill.
Work Session: The committee members meet about the bill a second time, discussing amendments and estimated cost, if any. Then the committee votes on whether to advance the bill to the House “floor” for a full vote by all 60 representatives.
Floor Carry/Floor Vote: The chief sponsor gives a floor speech outlining the bill. There may be debate or questions. Then, the entire house votes on the bill. A majority of 31 votes is needed for most bills. New taxes require a 3/5 approval.
Onto the next Chamber: After the bill passes the House, it will move to the Senate and repeat the same process.
To the Governor: Once the bill has passed by both chambers, it is off to the Governor to be signed into Oregon law! Photo-op!

Passing legislation isn’t easy. Nor should it be.

Now if a bill begins in the Senate, the same thing happens in reverse – a bill is initiated by a senator, goes to a Senate committee, Senate floor, House committee, then House floor.

If a bill costs money, it follows a different process. It is reviewed in the policy committee and if approved, will not go to the floor but rather to the Joint Committee on Ways & Means (JWM) for a budget review. If it passes out of JWM, it goes directly to both chambers for a vote.

There is one way for a bill to become law and a thousand ways for a bill to die. There are way more things that can go wrong than tend to go right. Said another way, in 2023 more than 3,000 bills were introduced and about 300 made it to the finish line.

The odds of a bill making it all the way through the legislative process to be signed by the Governor and to become law are slim. That’s a good thing. It should be difficult for a bill to become a law.

The chief sponsor gives a floor speech outlining the bill. There may be debate or questions. Then, the entire house votes on the bill.

Here are some examples of what can go wrong:

Most bills are simply never scheduled for a hearing by the Committee chair. Time runs out and the bill dies.
Sometimes a bill gets a hearing but a work session is never held. Again, that’s the Chair’s decision and the bill dies.
You run out of time to fix errors or make amendments before the deadline. The bill dies. But in some cases, a bill can be moved to the Rules Committee which does not have a deadline. It’s not dead yet. It’s just mostly dead. (Princess Bride fans need to click the link.)
Lots of bills go off to Ways & Means. Some are heard. Most languish in a big filing cabinet there until session ends. It depends on money, budget priorities, and the decisions of the Committee co-chairs.
Occasionally a bill doesn’t receive enough votes on the floor to pass. That’s unusual. If a bill has an uncertain future, leadership will often try to poll members to see if there are enough votes. And if there are not, the bill may remain in committee.
Finally and frequently, a bill can pass one chamber and get bogged down in the other chamber. Or as we say in the House, the Senate is where good bills go to die…

The bills, the schedule, the hearings, and the debate are all recorded and made public on the Oregon Legislative Information Service (OLIS). You can track measures by sponsor, subject, or bill number. It is a great tool and I urge anyone interested in your legislature, your government, or your state to learn more. You can sign up for alerts when a bill is scheduled for any action.

Here’s the best explanation of OLIS I’ve found yet:

As I said, the freight train has left the station, and we’ll see where this 35-day trip takes us. I’ll do my best to keep you informed. But if something interests you in particular, do sign up for alerts. Because by the time I write you next Monday, the session will be 20% finished.

So that’s the news as of noon, Monday, day one. I want to close by reminding everyone that our US Senator, Ron Wyden will host one of his ongoing Town Halls in Lincoln County on Saturday, February 10, at the Lincoln City Cultural Center at noon. I will be there. Hope you are too.