THE BULLETIN • WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, 2021 A3
TODAY
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
2021 LEGISLATIVE SESSION
Democrats weigh priorities, goals
BY NICK BUDNICK
Portland Tribune
Democratic leaders on Monday
said they hope for bipartisanship
in the 2021 Oregon Legislature.
But, they said, they won’t let
that goal hinder their desire to
pass laws they consider crucial.
During an online preview of
the Oregon Legislature held by the
City Club of Portland, Sen. Major-
ity Leader Rob Wagner, D-Lake
Oswego, and House Majority
Leader Barbara Smith Warner,
D-Portland, said Democrats’ goals
were forged by the pandemic,
wildfires and the calls for racial
justice in the wake of the police
killing of George Floyd in Minne-
apolis.
The agenda is “transforma-
tion through crisis,” Smith War-
ner said, citing 2020’s challenges.
“How do we learn from them and
use them as an opportunity to re-
ally make meaningful change?”
The answer, she and Wagner
said, includes crafting a two-year
budget for the state that will seek
to address economic inequities
and well as pass legislation that
includes criminal justice, the en-
vironment and addressing af-
fordability and gaps in the state’s
health care system.
Republicans who had been in-
vited were not present at the event
to challenge the Democrats’ rep-
resentations. The Pamplin Media
Group, of which Portland Tribune
is a part, is a media sponsor of the
series, as is XRAY.FM. Tribune
Managing Editor Dana Haynes
moderated the forum.
During an introduction, City
Club President Julie Davis said,
“We had hoped for a bipartisan
conversation and attempted to
work with Republican leadership
to find a time that fit their sched-
ules, but they ultimately declined
to participate.”
Wagner and Smith Warner took
“So much of the cap-and-
invest work was designed to
create to be able to generate
resources that then could
be distributed to those
communities that are most
impacted. It’s our frontier
counties out in Eastern Oregon
that are having the results of
years and years of drought. It
is our timber counties (that
saw wildfires) last year.”
Gary A. Warner/Oregon Capital Bureau file
— Barbara Smith Warner, House
majority leader, on bipartisanship
The House chamber in the state Capitol in Salem.
the time Republicans ceded by
laying out Democratic Party pri-
orities while faulting Republican
positions taken last year, when
Democratic efforts to pass climate
legislation and mandatory vacci-
nation were stymied by the Re-
publican walkout.
The Democratic leaders also
argued that, contrary to some Re-
publicans’ complaints, the Legis-
lature’s decision to limit the risk
of COVID-19 by holding many
meetings virtually won’t affect the
democratic nature of proceedings.
“It’s actually going to be one of
the most accessible legislative ses-
sions ever,” Smith Warner said.
“Every Oregonian will have the
opportunity to testify, to engage
in bills without ever leaving their
home, without having to get child
care, without having to take time
off of work.”
For the first few months of the
session, committees will hear from
the public and work on legislation
only in online meetings. Actual
in-person voting by members is
expected to start in midsession,
around April.
Asked how the Legislature this
year could address challenges ex-
pected in years ahead, Wagner
and Smith Warner pointed at leg-
islation intended to address global
warming and renewable electric-
ity, among other things.
They said Democratic goals in-
clude boosting the construction of
long-term affordable housing as
well as short-term housing such
as by purchasing motels and ho-
tels to help give homeless people a
place to stay.
They said their caucus has tried
to help rural counties where Re-
publicans predominate.
“So much of the cap-and-in-
vest work was designed to create
to be able to generate resources
that then could be distributed to
those communities that are most
impacted,” Smith Warner said. “It’s
our frontier counties out in East-
ern Oregon that are having the re-
sults of years and years of drought.
It is our timber counties (that saw
wildfires) last year.”
Asked about the one bill that
would most address racial justice
and inequities, Wagner said he
couldn’t make that judgment. “We
need to do the deep work of lean-
ing in and asking communities of
color what they need,” he said.
Democrats enjoy lopsided ma-
jorities in the House and Senate
that allow the party to approve
revenue-raising measures without
relying on Republican support.
In the past, to ensure a measure
of bipartisanship, Senate President
Peter Courtney, D-Salem, at times
sought to make sure Democratic
bills had at least one Republican
senator in support.
It’s not clear that will happen in
this session.
Asked about bipartisanship,
Wagner said the two parties don’t
always agree on the role of govern-
ment, so “I’m not sure that neces-
sarily bipartisanship is the goal. I
think the goal is focusing on what
is the legislation that is needed for
all Oregonians.”
Today is Wednesday, Jan. 27, the 27th day of 2021. There
are 338 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
In 1756, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born
in Salzburg, Austria.
In 1880, Thomas Edison received a patent for his electric
incandescent lamp.
In 1901, opera composer Giuseppe Verdi died in Milan,
Italy, at age 87.
In 1944, during World War II, the Soviet Union announced
the complete end of the deadly German siege of Lenin-
grad, which had lasted for more than two years.
In 1945, during World War II, Soviet troops liberated the Nazi
concentration camps Auschwitz and Birkenau in Poland.
In 1967, astronauts Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, Edward H.
White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a
test aboard their Apollo spacecraft.
In 1972, “Queen of Gospel” Mahalia Jackson, 60, died in
Evergreen Park, Illinois.
In 1973, the Vietnam peace accords were signed in Paris.
In 1984, singer Michael Jackson suffered serious burns to
his scalp when pyrotechnics set his hair on fire during the
filming of a Pepsi-Cola TV commercial at the Shrine Audi-
torium in Los Angeles.
In 1998, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, on NBC’s “To-
day” show, charged the sexual misconduct allegations
against her husband, President Bill Clinton, were the work
of a “vast right-wing conspiracy.”
In 2006, Western Union delivered its last telegram.
In 2010, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad tablet
computer during a presentation in San Francisco. J.D.
Salinger, the reclusive author of “The Catcher in the Rye,”
died in Cornish, New Hampshire, at age 91.
Ten years ago: Tens of thousands of Yemenis demand-
ed their president step down; taking inspiration from
Tunisians’ revolt, they vowed to continue until their U.S.-
backed government fell.
Five years ago: The Ferguson, Missouri, Police Depart-
ment agreed to overhaul its policies, training and practic-
es as part of a sweeping deal with the Justice Department
following the 2014 fatal police shooting of 18-year-old
Michael Brown.
One year ago: China confirmed more than 2,700 cases
of the new coronavirus with more than 80 deaths in that
country; authorities postponed the end of the Lunar New
Year holiday to keep the public at home. Senators faced
increasing pressure to summon former national security
adviser John Bolton to testify at President Donald Trump’s
impeachment trial, after a draft of Bolton’s forthcoming
book said Trump had wanted to withhold military aid
from Ukraine until it helped investigate Democrat Joe
Biden; Trump denied having said that to Bolton.
Today’s Birthdays: Actor James Cromwell is 81. Rock
musician Nick Mason (Pink Floyd) is 77. Ballet star Mikhail
Baryshnikov is 73. Latin singer-songwriter Djavan is 72.
Chief U.S. Justice John Roberts is 66. Actor Mimi Rogers is
65. Rock musician Janick Gers (Iron Maiden) is 64. Political
and sports commentator Keith Olbermann is 62. Rock mu-
sician Gillian Gilbert is 60. Actor Bridget Fonda is 57. Actor
Alan Cumming is 56. Rock singer Mike Patton is 53. Rapper
Tricky is 53. Actor-comedian Patton Oswalt is 52. Actor
Josh Randall is 49. Country singer Kevin Denney is 43. Ten-
nis player Marat Safin is 41. Rock musician Matt Sanchez
(American Authors) is 35. Actor Braeden Lemasters is 25.
— The Associated Press