A4
OPINION
Blue Mountain Eagle
Wednesday, March 11, 2020
Short session
needs bipartisan
overhaul
T
he Republican boy-
cott of cap and trade
effectively prevented
Democrats from enacting
climate legislation, but their
absence also prevented the
Legislature from accom-
plishing much of anything
during this year’s short
session.
That’s not how Orego-
nians want their Legislature
to function. Politics might
be the only profession where
taking off can lead to politi-
cal victory or at least a stale-
mate, but no one likes it.
Senate Republican Leader
Herman Baertschiger Jr.,
R-Grants Pass, sent a let-
ter urging Senate President
Peter Courtney, D-Salem,
to “focus on budget adjust-
ments and policy fixes,” the
original intent of the short
session, rather than pushing
through big and controver-
sial bills.
Oregonians in 2010
approved Ballot Measure
71 to amend the the state’s
Constitution to establish
annual sessions. The out-
come wasn’t even close.
Voters supported the mea-
sure about 68% to 32%. The
new law went into effect in
2011, setting up the regular
or long session at 160 calen-
dar days in odd-numbered
years and limiting the ses-
sion in even-numbered years
to 35 days.
The short session also
comes with some limiting
criteria. House members can
introduce no more than two
bills, and state senators get
one each. Interim commit-
tees can propose no more
than five bills. The executive
branch can present no more
than five bills at the request
of the governor. The same
goes for the judicial branch
at the request of the Oregon
chief justice.
Those limits made sense
then and still do. A month
and some days does not
allow much time to get
through thousands of bills
the regular session handles.
There’s scant time to hold
hearings and take input from
experts and from the people
laws could affect.
And Baertschiger is right
about what persuaded vot-
ers to approve annual ses-
sions. They wanted lawmak-
ers to deal with budget fixes
or tweak laws that had unin-
tended consequences sooner
rather than every two years
or when the governor called
a special session. But now
in year eight, the experiment
has been uneven. Lawmak-
ers — primarily Democrats
— have used the short ses-
sion to introduce sweeping
legislation.
They tried in 2018 to push
cap and trade. The com-
plex legislation did not gain
much traction. That led to
the conflict in the 2019 reg-
ular session when Repub-
lican senators took off to
block passage. And it set up
the showdown that ended
this session, which escalated
to the point of House Dem-
ocrats issuing subpoenas to
compel their Republican col-
leagues to return to the Ore-
gon Capitol.
Legislators in the two
chambers could avoid this
with rules specific to the
short session requiring bills
have bipartisan support or
bipartisan sponsors before
they get any hearing. Even
committee bills could have
that requirement, the same
for what comes down from
the governor’s office or the
judiciary.
The House and Senate
would have to adopt their
own sets of rules for this
end, but it could help ensure
controversial legislation
or bills that require a lot of
examination and fact-gath-
ering don’t make it very far.
It also would avoid walkouts
that dam up the entire legis-
lative process and put other
meaningful and vital legisla-
tion in jeopardy. And having
bipartisan support, of course,
would not guarantee any
bill’s ultimate passage.
The two chambers could
even create an end-around:
As long as two-thirds of the
House and Senate agree,
they could dig into some-
thing like cap and trade.
They already have a simi-
lar rule that allows for the
a five-day extension of the
short session.
Of course, passing these
kinds of rules would require
Democrat support. And they
should support it. The Dem-
ocrats right now look like
the stereotype so much of
rural Oregon sees them as:
political know-it-alls who
want to dictate to Orego-
nians what is best for them.
That’s the very atti-
tude that widens Oregon’s
urban-rural divide rather
than helps to close it.
FARMER’S FATE
The midnight chicken safari
I
t was nearly midnight. High
school football practice was
starting soon. And the blonde
heroine in our story — let’s call
her Sandy Dee — was just getting
her ducks in a row — or perhaps I
should say pullets in progression.
The night was dark, as she and
her son left the house. Her son
started heading for her car, but
Sandy Dee wasn’t quite ready to
leave. In her compelling South
African accent she asked her
strapping 6-foot-something son
for a little help first. She was
intentionally vague as she led her
son around the house, past the
barn and into one of the outbuild-
ings where a large dog crate sat
amidst some feathers.
“Help me load this into the
car,” she smiled in the moonlight.
I can imagine the grumbling on
the part of the uniformed football
player, as he and his mom packed
the fluttering crate back to the
back of her SUV.
Task over, her son climbed into
the driver’s seat and started off for
midnight football practice. Just a
mile down the road, Sandy Dee
motioned him to pull over.
“Aw, Mom, are you really
going to do this?” he grumbled.
“What happens if someone sees
us?”
“Just pull over and turn off
the lights!” she said, with what I
imagine to be crazed excitement
in her voice.
They parked off to the side of
the road, and her son obediently
turned off the lights. Gently open-
ing their car doors,
they walked qui-
etly to the back of
the vehicle. Feel-
ing a bit like a
criminal, Sandy
Dee noiselessly
opened the back
Brianna
door and unlatched
Walker
the dog crate.
She instructed
her son to man the crate door as
she pulled out the first black and
white hen.
“Hello girl, it was nice to know
you. Enjoy your new life. Good-
bye!” she sing-songed as she gave
the chicken a little push over the
fence into the neighbor’s pasture.
She did this five times. Picking
each bird up, petting it lovingly,
then setting it off to make friends
with the goats and horse who
occupied the pasture.
“Mom, why are you talking to
them?” he groaned in embarrass-
ment as she was saying goodbye
to the last one, giving her an extra
big push as she fluttered down
to her next adventure. Sandy
Dee ignored him, and he contin-
ued, “And what if a cop stops us
because we’re littering chickens?”
“Well then we’ll have to think
up a Plan B real quick!” she
laughed with a carefree shrug and
started back toward the passenger
seat. “I’m more worried about sit-
ting through your football prac-
tice in a vehicle that smells like
chicken poop! Let’s hide the crate
down here in the bushes and pick
up it up on our way home.”
So they pulled out the dog
crate and nestled it down into the
bushes and weeds, feeling more
criminal-like that ever — but also
not wanting to breathe that fowl
odor for the next few hours. Foot-
ball practice went well, and at
2:15 a.m., Sandy Dee and her son
once again pulled over along their
neighbor’s fence and killed the
car lights. They got out and began
feeling around in the weeds to
find the left-behind dog crate.
“Now if a cop sees us,” her son
moaned, “he’ll think we’re steal-
ing dog crates!”
“Well then you better hurry
your butt up and get that crate in
the back!” Sandy Dee hollered,
making a crazy dash for the pas-
senger door.
Or at least that was Sandy
Dee’s confession when I noticed
five new chickens in my pas-
ture the next morning. Sitting on
my porch, with a notepad and
coffee, I watched my new hens
fluffing around the pasture for
delicious morning treats, and
imagined my friend and her son
doing a drive-by-chickening.
Humming the song from Grease,
I put my pen to the paper, and
wondered: What do city people
do for fun?
Look at me, I’m Sandy Dee
Pranking friends with poultry
Won’t go to bed
till the hens wings are spread
I can’t, I’m Sandy Dee
Brianna Walker occasionally
writes about the Farmer’s Fate
for the Blue Mountain Eagle.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
we can still be polite but not they have been assigned to. How
Stop shaking hands think
does search and rescue experience
shake hands for a while.
David Irwin qualify one to be an IC? Why is
because of virus
Mt. Vernon
To the Editor:
The coronavirus (COVID-19)
has not stopped at airport gate-
ways in Seattle and Portland. Lots
of us are frightened, especially
older folks.
I think a small step for those
of us who are involved in social
activities is to stop shaking hands
until this epidemic is not so
pervasive.
My favorite alternative is to
use the Vulcan salute when greet-
ing others, where you spread your
ring and index fingers to form a
“V.”
That may not be the choice for
everyone, but it is a good start! I
Health officials
should be in charge
of coronavirus
response
To the Editor:
I understand that the Grant
County Court recently appointed
a deputy sheriff to be the inci-
dent commander of a new task
force to address the new corona-
virus. Every IC I have worked
with had a vast amount of expe-
rience dealing with the program
our county health department not
in charge? What is the purpose of
our county Office of Emergency
Management? I would feel a lot
more comfortable having some-
one with health experience deal-
ing with the on going COVID-19
outbreak. If we have an outbreak
in Grant County, I would hope
we would make use of the health
professionals and our emergency
management coordinator that
Grant County already has in place,
instead of a deputy sheriff expe-
rienced only in search and res-
cue. Come on, Grant County, you
deserve better.
Chris Labhart
John Day
WHERE TO WRITE
GRANT COUNTY
• Grant County Courthouse — 201 S. Humbolt St., Suite 280,
Canyon City 97820. Phone: 541-575-0059. Fax: 541-575-2248.
• Canyon City — P.O. Box 276, Canyon City 97820. Phone:
541-575-0509. Fax: 541-575-0515. Email: tocc1862@
centurylink.net.
• Dayville — P.O. Box 321, Dayville 97825. Phone: 541-987-
2188. Fax: 541-987-2187. Email:dville@ortelco.net
• John Day — 450 E. Main St, John Day, 97845. Phone: 541-
575-0028. Fax: 541-575-1721. Email: cityjd@centurytel.net.
Blue Mountain
EAGLE
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