NORTHWEST
East Oregonian
A2
Saturday, May 8, 2021
Democratic allies float ballot measures to end GOP walkouts
By DIRK
VANDERHART
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — The Demo-
crat- and labor-backed group
No More Costly Walkouts
Coalition says it’s committed
to putting a measure before
voters in November 2022.
The group, which formed
to push back against obstruc-
tion tactics used by Repub-
lican lawmakers, says it’s
serious about ending the
practice. So serious, in fact,
it’s preparing a stunning 10
distinct concepts that could
appear before Oregon voters
next year.
In a press conference on
Thursday, May 6, the No
More Costly Walkouts Coali-
tion unveiled eight initiative
petitions aimed at penalizing
lawmakers who walk away
from the Oregon Capitol, and
limiting their ability to use
delay tactics. At the same
time, the group announced
it has gathered at least 1,000
signatures for two existing
proposals, enough to gener-
ate ballot language and begin
collecting tens of thousands
of signatures required to
qualify for the November
2022 ballot.
The proposals — which
represent mere options for
a ballot measure, not ideas
the coalition would pursue
Andrew Selsky/Associated Press, File
In this June 29, 2019, file photo, lawmakers convene at the Oregon Senate after the minority
Republicans ended a walkout they had begun over a carbon-emissions bill they said would
harm their rural constituents.
en masse — appear to be the
most likely route Democrats
and their allies will take to
attempt to stop Republicans
from stymieing priority bills.
The GOP’s tactics have
included walkouts in 2019
and 2020, where lawmak-
ers fled the state in order to
ensure Democrats did not
have a quorum necessary to
pass a contentious climate
change proposal. More
recently, Republicans in both
chambers have insisted that
bills be read in full before a
vote, a strategy that dramat-
ically slows the passage of
bills.
“Oregon deserves better
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than lawmakers who walk
off the job, or keep others
from working,” said Reed
Scott-Schwalbach, vice pres-
ident of the Oregon Educa-
tion Association. “When
lawmakers take an oath of
office, they promise to show
up for Oregonians each and
every day. ... If lawmakers
can’t do that on their own,
we will change the rules so
that they have to.”
The 10 concepts floated
by No More Costly Walkouts
amount to different combina-
tions of five central themes.
They are:
• fining lawmakers $500
and stripping their pay for
each unexcused absence, and
prohibiting them from using
political donations to replace
lost salaries or pay fines
• ensuring days in which
the House or Senate cannot
secure a two-thirds quorum
do not count against the
constitutional time limits for
legislative sessions
• changing the two-thirds
quorum requirement to a
simple majority if quorum
is denied for five cumulative
days during a session
• preventing senators or
representatives with 10 or
more unexcused absences
from running for reelection
• eliminating the constitu-
tional requirement that bills
be read in full before a final
vote when bills are posted
at least 24 hours ahead of
time, and requiring a simple
majority vote to waive a full
reading in other instances
No More Costly Walk-
outs says its own polling
shows that voters support
all of those proposals by
strong margins. Exactly what
permutation of the concepts
the group ultimately pursues
will be dictated by ballot
language crafted by the
Department of Justice or
courts.
“We will be moving
forward with measures
depending on, frankly, how
voters respond to the differ-
ent variations of them,” said
Patty Wentz, a consultant
hired by the coalition. “The
thing that I would take away
from the fact that there are so
many versions is that we are
really serious about moving
forward with a measure or
measures. There will be
lawmaker accountability
measures around walkouts
and gridlock on the ballot in
November 2022.”
The coalition pushing the
potential ballot measures
is made up of a variety of
progressive and left-leaning
groups typically support-
ive of Democratic poli-
ticians, including major
public employee unions, the
Oregon League of Conserva-
tion Voters and the Planned
Parenthood Action PAC.
Campaign finance records
show that a political action
committee affiliated with
the group has received all
of its financial support from
organized labor, House and
Senate Democrats and Gov.
Kate Brown.
One of the Oregon brothers charged in
U.S. Capitol siege to remain in custody
By MAXINE
BERNSTEIN
The Oregonian
SALEM — A federal judge
on Tuesday, May 4, declined to
release college senior Matthew
Klein, one of two Oregon
brothers accused in the Jan.
6 breach of the U.S. Capi-
tol, after finding his parents
unsuitable to supervise him
pending trial.
The ruling came after pros-
ecutors submitted examples
of text messages that showed
Klein’s mother and father
warning Matthew’s younger
brother, Jonathanpeter Klein,
that “braggers get caught.”
Their mother also sent
texts to Jonathanpeter Klein
warning him that his “phone
is not encrypted,” that he
should “(b)e careful what
(he) say(s)” and that he should
“clear (his) phone” or that he
should “(p)ull a Hillary and
use a hammer” and “bleach”
to destroy the phone, accord-
ing to court records.
Matthew Klein, 24, and
Jonathanpeter Klein, 21,
both have pleaded not guilty
to conspiracy to defraud the
United States, aiding and abet-
ting in the obstruction of an
official proceeding, obstruc-
tion of law enforcement during
civil disorder, destruction of
government property, entering
J. Klein
M. Klein
and remaining in a restricted
building or grounds and disor-
derly conduct in a restricted
building or grounds.
Matthew Klein’s lawyer
had urged his client’s release
to his parents in Baker City,
describing them as deeply
religious Christian mission-
aries and very responsible
people. Matthew Klein wants
to continue his education at
George Fox University, said
defense attorney Steven R.
Kiersh.
“We would like to see him
get back and complete his
college program, but, primar-
ily, he would be — be required
— again, without any opposi-
tion — to stay on the premises
where his family members
can monitor his conduct and
where, quite frankly, pretrial
can monitor his comings
and goings,” Kiersh argued
last month in a Zoom hear-
ing before the judge based in
Washington, D.C.
Kiersh also sought to
distinguish Matthew Klein
from his younger brother, tell-
ing the court that Jonathan-
peter Klein is accused of being
a member of the Proud Boys,
not Matthew Klein.
His lawyer argued that
Matthew Klein was following
the direction of then-President
Donald Trump after attending
a rally in Washington, D.C.,
before marching to the Capi-
tol and didn’t assault anyone.
“It was the President of
the United States who told
the crowd to go march to
the United States Capitol,”
Kiersch said. “This was not
Matthew Klein saying do it.”
But federal prosecutor
Christopher K. Veatch coun-
tered that Matthew Klein
played a larger role than his
brother in the Capitol breach,
noting Matthew Klein helped
others scale a wall on the west
side of the Capitol to allow
them to get inside.
After he and his brother
entered the Capitol, and
then left the building about
10 minutes later, the two
wrenched open another door
on the north side of the Capitol,
Veatch said.
Once they got the door
open, Jonathanpeter Klein
walked away, but Matthew
Klein put on his goggles,
held out his Gadsden flag and
confronted law enforcement
officers before he was doused
with pepper spray, Veatch said.
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IN BRIEF
Oregon resumes paying grants
to Black Oregonians after
settling Cares Fund lawsuit
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SALEM — Oregon once again began
distributing grants last week through its
unique $62 million coronavirus relief fund
for Black Oregonians.
Organizers of the fund distributed $49.5
million to Black Oregonians, Black-owned
businesses and Black-led nonprofits across 31
Oregon counties last fall, but they agreed to
hand over their remaining funds to a federal
court and stop allocating grant money in
December 2020 after a John Day logging
company and Portland coffee shop challenged
the constitutionality of the state fund.
The state and organizers of the fund
reached a settlement with John Day logging
company Great Northern Resources in March,
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allowing them to recoup $5.3 million from the
court to distribute to Black Oregonians.
Fund organizers began distributing that
money last week. They are using the funds
to provide grants to people and organizations
that applied for support late last year, but never
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As part of the settlement, Oregon is also
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The court is continuing to hold an additional
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