Appeal Tribune Wednesday, July 12, 2017 3B
Mirth, affection, silliness punctuate
Oregon Legislature’s last days
DIANE DIETZ
STATESMAN JOURNAL
The state pie is Marionberry.
Oregon’s official state tartan is a
green, yellow and purple plaid.
The western meadowlark is the offi-
cial state songbird.
The osprey is the official state raptor.
August is Oregon Albacore Tuna
Month.
Making all those things so in the wan-
ing days of the 79th Legislature inspired
rare displays of affection, mirth and ac-
cord among lawmakers.
Last April, for instance, when the Sen-
ate adopted a bill that overthrew the
western meadowlark in favor of the tal-
oned osprey as the Oregon bird, a fight
among Senate bird lovers was brewing.
Sen. Fred Girod, a fisherman and Re-
publican senator from Stayton, intro-
duced the bill. He said meadowlarks are
too small — scarcely bigger than a robin
— and not much to see, if they’re even
around, which is seldom.
Defenders of the meadowlark cited
its gentle nature and mellifluous song.
“(We) drive a dagger through the soft
downy breast of this feathered harbin-
ger of spring,” Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-
Scappoose, said back in April.
But in July, after a bruising session,
lawmakers were finding some common
ground in their duty of naming the state’s
official this and that. The day before the
close of session, the Senate Rules Com-
mittee cracked itself up figuring who
would carry the bills from the commit-
tee to the floor.
“Sen. Ferrioli, would you rather carry
this one or the tartan one?” Senate Ma-
jority Leader Ginny Burdick asked.
“Neither, Madam Chair,” Senate Re-
publican Leader Ted Ferrioli said,
chuckling.
“Sen. Riley would love to carry the
Tartan bill; we do know that,” Sen. Arnie
Roblan, D-Coos Bay said.
“You get Marrionberries,” a commit-
tee member told Ferrioli.
“This is really a Marion County thing.
It really ought to be Sen. Courtney who
carries it,” a committee member said.
“How much do we value our lives?”
Burdick said laughing and adding “Sen,
Boquist is actually the closest member.”
“Sen. Courtney should carry it, and
the sweet co-carrier would be a Repub-
lican from Marion County,” Roblan said.
“You know, I think I’ll ask Sen. Win-
ters to carry that,” Burdick said.
The bipartisan committee put its
heads together on a bill to designate Au-
gust 2017 the Albacore Tuna Month.
But there was a problem. Without an
emergency clause, the bill would take ef-
fect long after August. Roblan propose a
solution: take the numerals 2-0-1-7 out of
the bill. And the committee did.
“Madam chair, who is going to carry
the albatross bill?” Ferrioli said.
“That would have to be the state sea-
bird,” someone interjected.
“Sen. Roblan will carry this bill and he
will also deal with any fallout that occurs
because of this bill.”
“With that happy note, we are ad-
journed,” Burdick said.
BRENT DRINKUT/STATESMAN JOURNAL
As their session came to a close, legislators were able to agree on making Marionberry the state pie — but debate raged about where you can
get the tastiest one.
In both chambers the bills, the nam-
ing bills won wide support and a lot of
good-natured ribbing.
In the House, Rep. DB Smith, R-Port
Orford, pointed out the majesty of the
amended tuna bill. “Now,” he said, “ev-
ery August in perpetuity will be albacore
tuna month.”
The House passed the bill 58-to-0.
Sen. Jackie Winters, R-Salem, com-
mended Marionberry pie to her col-
leagues in the Senate on Friday.
“The berry gets its name from Marion
County, which is home to our state Capi-
tol. Ninety percent of the world’s mar-
ionberries are grown in Marion County,”
she said.
But Douglas County-based Sen. Jeff
Kruse, a fellow Republican, said out of
an abundance of caution he had to de-
clare a potential conflict. “My bakery
makes absolutely the best Marionberry
pies on the planet,” he said.
Lawmakers resolved the state bird
question with an elegant piece of states-
manship, naming the meadowlark the
state songbird and the osprey the state
raptor.
According to the final bill House Ma-
jority Leader Jennifer Williamson read
from the floor:
“Whereas many Oregonians feel that
it is time to adopt the osprey as our state
bird, valuing the raptor as a fitting sym-
bol of Oregon’s rugged independence,
strength and resilience; and
“Whereas other Oregonians favor the
western meadowlark, already our unof-
ficial state bird, considering the song-
bird’s peaceful, mellifluous song to be an
emblem of gentle beauty and culture
within this state; and
“Whereas the question of whether the
state bird should be a raptor or a song-
bird presents a false dichotomy; and
Whereas sometimes the best answer to
an “either-or” question is “and” …
“ Whereas embracing the excellent
qualities of one bird does not derogate
those of the other; and Whereas while
most states are content to be limited to
one state bird, Oregon recognizes the
need for another, understanding that
there is room in the hearts of Oregonians
for two symbolic birds.”
But the House couldn’t quite leave it
at that.
Eugene-area Rep. Julie Fahey
sketched the outlines of a battle for an-
other day by describing this “fundamen-
tal injustice”:
“The Oregon state animal is the bea-
ver, and yet nowhere in our pantheon of
state symbols does the duck appear. So
vote your conscience on this one, col-
leagues, but I wonder if we might see a
resolution in a future session to name a
state waterfowl.”
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