BAKER CITY HERALD • THURSDAY, JANUARY 27, 2022 A5
OREGON LEGISLATURE PREVIEW
Short session, long list of bills
BY GARY A. WARNER
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — Democrats want
to use the 2022 legislative ses-
sion to pass bills on affordable
housing, health care, job train-
ing, drought deterrence, timber
harvesting, small business re-
lief, expanding daycare, wild-
fire prevention and criminal
justice reform.
Republicans’ to-do list for
the House and Senate in-
cludes tax cuts, limiting the
emergency power of the gov-
ernor, and rolling back the
release of prisoners.
All within a 35-day ses-
sion beginning Tuesday, Feb.
1, which also happens to be
the projected peak of the re-
cord-breaking surge of hospi-
talizations because of the omi-
cron variant of COVID-19.
Also working against likely
passage of legislation is a series
of changes at the top of state
government for the first time
since 2009, switches in floor
leaders for both Democrats
and Republicans and a rapidly
approaching primary election
in May, with a general election
in November.
The long list of ideas for the
“short session” of the Legis-
lature was rolled out Tuesday
during the annual political pre-
view hosted by the Associated
Press. Gov. Kate Brown and
legislative leaders from both
parties took turns discussing
the possibilities and pitfalls fac-
ing the last regular session be-
fore the 2022 elections.
Republicans call for a ses-
sion limited to budget fixes and
technical bills. With the pan-
demic hitting health, housing
and jobs, Democrats said the
crisis situation required action
now, not next year when the
longer 160-day session is held.
“There are things that can-
not wait two years in between
the long sessions,” said House
Majority Leader Julie Fahey,
D-Eugene.
Senate President Peter
Courtney, D-Salem, said the
mountain of legislation could
be too extreme, looking more
Oregon Capital Bureau, File
The Oregon State Capitol building in Salem. The Legislature will convene on Feb. 1 for a short session.
like the amount introduced
at the start of the odd-year
“long sessions.”
“You get the feeling that
we’re in a 160-day session,”
Courtney said. “I’m just a wor-
rier, but I don’t have confi-
dence today.”
Looming over all the pro-
posals was the possibility that
Republicans could use parlia-
mentary tactics to bring the
session to an abrupt end, as
they did in 2020. Or slow it to a
painful crawl, as in 2021.
“If we see highly parti-
san and complex bills being
rushed through the Legislature
in February, Republicans are
prepared to use the tools nec-
essary,” said House Minority
Leader Vikki Breese Iverson,
R-Prineville.
Those tools are quirks in
the Oregon state constitution
rarely found anywhere else in
the nation.
Democrats currently hold
a 37-23 supermajority in the
House and have 18 of the 30
seats in the Senate. Two of the
12 senators elected as Repub-
licans have declared them-
selves independent of the
GOP caucus.
But Republicans can still halt
or hamstring a session by walk-
ing out or slowing down the
legislative process.
Oregon is one of a handful of
states that requires more than a
majority to form a quorum in
each chamber in order to con-
duct any business. Democrats
are three votes shy of the 60%
requirement in the House and
two votes short in the Senate.
During the 2020 session,
GOP leaders in the House
and Senate led a boycott of
floor sessions to block a vote
on a carbon emissions cap
bill backed by environmen-
talists, but opposed by many
businesses.
Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend,
and Rep. Cheri Helt, R-Bend,
were the only Republicans to
remain in the Capitol. Both
were locked in tight re-election
campaigns (Knopp would win,
Helt would lose).
Still short of a quorum, time
ran out on the 35 days, leaving
hundreds of bills to die with
the end of the session.
“Everybody got mad at each
other and went home, except
me,” Knopp said.
House Republicans are
more likely to use a tactic em-
ployed in 2021. The state con-
stitution requires the full text
of a bill be read aloud before
the vote on final passage.
In the past, the rule was
suspended “without objec-
tion” and only the short title
of legislation read before the
debate and vote. If there is an
objection, it takes 40 votes in
the House (or 20 in the Sen-
ate) to override the reading
requirement.
Then-House Minority
Leader Christine Drazan,
R-Canby, objected to every
bill that came to the floor, no
matter the subject. A logjam
of Democratic-sponsored leg-
islation quickly piled up.
House Speaker Tina Kotek,
D-Portland, countered by
scheduling morning-to-night
daily sessions, including
weekends.
But multiple outbreaks of
COVID-19 also struck and
Kotek, seeing a looming consti-
tutional deadline for the Legis-
lature to adjourn, struck a deal
with Drazan to give Republican
parity on the House Redistrict-
ing Committee.
The pace of passing bills
quickened up to the end of the
session. When a special session
was called to vote on redistrict-
ing, Kotek moved to reinstall
a Democratic majority on the
panel dealing with maps for
congressional districts. Drazan
tried to have Kotek brought up
for censure, but was blocked.
Kotek and Drazan are both
leaving the Legislature to run
for governor.
Though the principal com-
batants in the slowdown bat-
tle are gone, the bitterness
remains. Democrats are frus-
trated with the ability of the
minority to unilaterally thwart
majority will. Republicans say
they can’t rely on promises
from Democrats if they strike
any deals, given Kotek’s reversal
on the redistricting panel.
Brown said she hoped the
Legislature would move on
the Private Forest Accord, a
deal between environmen-
talists, forest landowners,
fishing interests and the state
that she has said would en-
sure new protections for
sensitive species on over 10
million acres in Oregon.
She asked that $200 million
be spent on workforce pro-
grams, $100 million on child-
care, and $38 million to help
small businesses and aid eco-
nomic development.
Knopp said the short ses-
sion was not the right time for
major policy initiatives. But he
believed there was room for
Democrats and Republicans
to agree on essential worker
pay, tax cuts on some essen-
tial items such as diapers, and
job training programs that can
quickly fill the employment
gaps faced by many businesses.
“Employers need workforce
now,” Knopp said.
Senate Majority Leader
Rob Wagner, D-Lake Os-
wego, noted the Legislature has
worked through one regular
and five special sessions during
the pandemic. Some state and
federal data is showing the cur-
rent omicron spike — the sixth
to surge through Oregon since
February 2020 — is showing
signs of waning.
“We’re turning the corner on
this last wave — I hope it’s the
last wave,” he said.
Knopp said the two-year-
old COVID-19 pandemic had
warped the usual workings
of the Legislature, with on-
line Zoom meetings replac-
ing in-person hearings and
the lack of the kind of casual
conversations that can some-
times lead to consensus. He’s
looking forward to a legisla-
tive session in the future that
brings back near-normal op-
erations in the Capitol.
“Here’s hoping that’s the
2023 long session,” he said.
Baker County
CHURCH
DIRECTORY
THE CHURCH OF
JESUS CHRIST OF
LATTER-DAY SAINTS
Sunday Worship
First Service 8:30 am
2nd Service & Sunday School
10:00 am
Jr. High & High School Youth
Tues 6:30 pm
Youth Pastor Silas Moe
675 Hwy 7, Baker City • 541-523-5425
FIRST
PRESBYTERIAN
CHURCH
Sunday Worship Service
10:30 am
1995 4th Street, Baker City
541-523-5201
firstpresbaker.blogspot.com
9-11 AM - Baker City 1st Ward
10:30 AM -Noon - Baker City 2nd Ward
Noon-2 PM Baker Valley Ward
EVERYONE WELCOME!
(541) History Center
Family
Everything Free
Tues & Fri 1-4 PM
Wed & Thurs 10 AM -1 PM
Wed Evenings 5-8 PM
2625 Hughes Lane, Baker City
541-523-2397
Third & Broadway
541-523-3891
Sundays
9 a.m. Sunday School
10 a.m. Worship Service
Thursdays
5-6 p.m.
Free Community Dinner
6-7 p.m.
Celebrate Recovery
Sunday School
8:30am
Pastor Troy Teeter
1250 Hughes Lane, Baker City
(Corner of Cedar & Hughes)
541-523-3533
www.bakernaz.com
2177 First Street • Baker City
Entrance on 1st Street
Corner Church & First Streets
541-523-4812
Coffee is 9:15 AM - 9:45 AM
www.bakercitysda.com
17th & Pocahontas, Baker City
541-523-4913
Daily Masses:
M, T, Th, F 9 am
Day Chapel in Cathedral
Wed Daily Mass 9 am
at St. Alphonsus Chapel
Sat 8 am at Day Chapel
Baker City Saturday Mass 6 pm
Baker City Sunday Mass 9:30 am
St. Therese in Halfway 2 pm Sat
St. Anthony's in North Powder
11:30 Sun
541-523-4521
Corner of First & Church, Baker City
SAINT
ALPHONSUS
HOSPITAL CHAPEL
Established
1904
WORSHIP GATHERING
10:00 AM
Open to all patients,
family and friends for
reflection and prayer.
Harvest Cafe Open
9:00 AM - 9:50 AM
3720 Birch St, Baker City
541-523-4233
www.BakerCityHarvest.org
St. Alphonsus Hospital in
Baker City
CHRISTIAN
SCIENCE CHURCH
Elkhorn Baptist
Church
Sunday Service
10:00 am
Sunday School 10 am
Morning Worship 11 am
Evening Worship 6 pm
Discovery Kids Worship
6:30 pm
3520 Birch St, Baker City
541-523-4332
www.ChristianScience.com
3rd & Washington, Baker City
541-523-5911
St. Stephen’s
Episcopal
Services at 9 am
1st & 3rd Sundays, Holy Eucharist
2nd & 4th Sundays, Morning Prayer
5th Sunday, Morning Prayer
Saturday Worship
11:00 am
St. Francis De
Sales Cathedral
bakercalvarybaptist.com
Sunday Worship
9:45am
SEVENTH-DAY
ADVENTIST
CHURCH
Baker & Haines
United
Methodist
Churches
Baker UMC, 1919 2nd St, at 11am
Haines UMC, 814 Robert St, at 9am
or join us on Zoom at 11am
https://greaternw.zoom.us/j/5415234201
Meeting ID: 541 523 4201
669 900 6833 US (San Jose) (Audio only)
or follow us on Facebook
Pastor Michele Holloway
ST. BRIGID’S IN THE
PINES COMMUNITY
CHURCH
11:30 a.m. Services
1st & 3rd Sunday
Holy Eucharist
East Auburn Street, Sumpter
541-523-4812
A Mission of St. Stephen's Episcopal
Church in Baker City
FIRST
LUTHERAN
CHURCH
Service at 11 am
Live Streaming on
Facebook
1734 Third Street, Baker City
541-523-3922
firstlutheranbakercity@gmail.com
AGAPE
CHRISTIAN
CENTER
Sunday Services
10:00 am & 6:30 pm
South Highway 7,
Baker City
541-523-6586
The church directory is published once monthly. Information for this directory is provided by participating churches, please call 541-523-3673 for more information.
Thank you to the participating churches and these sponsors:
Cliff’s Saws & Cycles
Whelan Electric, Inc.
523-5756 • CCB 103032
2619 Tenth • 523-2412
1950 Place • 523-4300
1500 Dewey • 523-3677