The BulleTin • Sunday, June 27, 2021 A5
OREGON CAPITOL
Lawmakers wrap up session with drama-free final day
BY CHRIS LEHMAN
The Oregonian
The last day of the 2021 Or-
egon legislative session was
largely free of drama or sur-
prises. But by the time the fi-
nal gavel dropped at 5:37 p.m.
Saturday, lawmakers had ap-
proved billions of dollars in
spending that will touch nearly
every corner of the state.
“This is truly historic,” said
Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene, as
he urged the House to approve
a bill that would fund more
than $2 billion in construction
projects at universities, Na-
tional Guard armories, and a
slew of other state government
buildings.
“Take note of that. You won’t
see that very often,” he said, re-
ferring to the overall amount
contained in the bill.
That sounded good to
Holvey’s colleagues, who ap-
proved the measure 56-0 with-
out debate.
All told, the House approved
18 bills and the Senate 46 on
the final day of what turned
out to be a 159 session — one
day short of the maximum
allowed length for odd-num-
bered years under the Oregon
Constitution.
The closing hours featured
breezy approvals of agency
budgets, a bill to extend health
insurance coverage to low-in-
come Oregonians regardless
of immigration status, a mea-
sure that would regulate kra-
tom and a bill to require public
schools to provide free femi-
nine hygiene products to stu-
dents.
The Senate gave final pas-
sage to the final eight bills in
a package of 22 designed to
improve law enforcement offi-
cers’ training, regulate officer’
conduct and increase their ac-
countability for misconduct.
The eight included bills to limit
use of tear gas and rubber bul-
lets, require large law enforce-
ment agencies to gain national
accreditation and create model
training for workers across
the criminal justice system to
help them better interact with
people who have experienced
trauma.
Most passed easily with bi-
partisan support. But a bill
to require state licensing of
private security guards and a
linchpin bill to create a state-
wide commission to set con-
duct and discipline standards
for law enforcement officers
and disallow police unions
from negotiating a local dis-
cipline matrix as part of the
union contract both passed
more narrowly, on an 18-10
vote. Bills need 16 yes votes to
pass the Senate.
In the House, the only bill
The closing hours featured
breezy approvals of agency
budgets, a bill to extend
health insurance coverage
to low-income Oregonians
regardless of immigration
status, a measure that
would regulate kratom
and a bill to require public
schools to provide free
feminine hygiene products
to students.
123RF
that sparked any significant de-
bate was a measure that would
direct utilities to develop wild-
fire mitigation plans, bolster
state firefighting capacity and
require some property own-
ers to establish buffers around
homes and other buildings.
The bill will also make a down
payment on the vast backlog
of forest restoration work that
many fire, forestry and envi-
ronmental officials believe will
be critical to restoring forest
health and reducing wildfire
Trump airs old election grievances
during campaign-style rally in Ohio
BY JILL COLVIN
Associated Press
WELLINGTON, Ohio —
Donald Trump on Saturday
reprised his baseless election
grievances and painted a dysto-
pian picture of the country un-
der Democratic control in his
first campaign-style rally since
leaving the White House.
His mission, in part, was to
exact revenge on one of the
Republicans who voted for his
historic second impeachment.
Trump’s event Saturday night
at Ohio’s Lorain County Fair-
grounds, not far from Cleve-
land, was held to support Max
Miller, a former White House
aide who is challenging Re-
publican Rep. Anthony Gon-
zalez for his congressional seat.
Gonzalez was one of 10 GOP
House members who voted to
impeach Trump for his role in
inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insur-
rection at the Capitol building.
Trump wants them to pay.
In his remarks, Trump re-
visited some of the false claims
familiar from his fruitless chal-
lenges of President Joe Biden’s
election victory. “On the eve-
ning of Nov. 3 the election was
over and then all of a sudden
things started closing down all
over,” he said of election night.
“We took a massive victory,
they did, into something that
should never be allowed.”
In fact, Trump was describ-
ing a legitimate vote counting
process that saw Biden take
the lead as the night wore on,
as Democratic-leaning cities
in key states and results from
mail-in ballots were reported.
Trump administration election
officials and top election offi-
Tony Dejak/AP
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., talks with supporters before a rally
at the Lorain County Fairgrounds on Saturday in Wellington, Ohio.
cials in Republican-led states
affirmed the validity of the
election outcome.
In another echo of the past,
the crowd chanted “Lock her
up” at the mention of Hillary
Clinton, the Democrat he de-
feated in 2016.
Traffic was backed up from
the fairgrounds into town,
where pro-Trump signs dot-
ted residents’ lawns. On street
corners, vendors sold “Trump
2024” flags and other mer-
chandise as supporters arrived.
The rally, held five months
after Trump left office un-
der a cloud of violence, marks
the beginning of a new, more
public phase of his post-presi-
dency. After spending much of
his time behind closed doors
building a political operation
and fuming about the last
election, Trump is planning a
flurry of public appearances in
the coming weeks. He’ll hold
another rally in Florida over
the July Fourth weekend unat-
tached to a midterm candidate
and will travel to the southern
border in the coming week to
protest President Joe Biden’s
immigration policies.
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severity.
The bill was on life support
in the final week until a special
joint committee was created to
allow the chambers and parties
to hash out their differences. In
the end, it passed with mini-
mal opposition.
As lawmakers endured the
typical wait for the paperwork
needed in order to complete
the final day’s business, House
Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Port-
land, thanked representatives
for their work during what a
session unlike any in Oregon’s
162-year history.
“We’re here because we’re
motivated by the people we
serve,” she said, noting that
lawmakers—like many Orego-
nians—have endured wildfires,
ice storms, and pandemic-re-
lated shutdowns over the past
year.
“This work requires a lot of
sacrifice,” said Kotek. “I don’t
want to see you in July. I want
everyone to take a break.”
Kotek also noted that Cap-
itol staff members have also
endured challenging work-
place circumstances, tearing up
as she told of seeing a janitor
clean her desk one night, and
realizing the amount of work
that the facilities staff had done
to keep lawmakers safe during
the pandemic.
The Capitol itself remained
closed to the public during the
entire session. Even with Gov.
Kate Brown’s announcement
that most coronavirus-re-
lated restrictions will be lifted
no later than Wednesday, the
building’s door remained shut,
and lawmakers kept wearing
masks right up until the end of
the session.