A copy of the "Rules of the Senate" on the desk of Sen. Lew Frederick on Monday, Sept. 20, 2021. (Photo by Amanda Loman/Oregon Capital Chronicle)
The Oregon House and Senate must continue to gavel in and out of session during the Legislature’s two-week pause in deliberations on the $4.3-billion 10-year transportation package that Gov. Tina Kotek called them back to Salem to complete.
Lawmakers in the Oregon House on Monday sent the measure aiming to avert hundreds of layoffs at the state’s Department of Transportation to the Senate and adjourned for what they believed would be the final time until the 2026 session.
But the plan for a Wednesday vote in the Senate hit a snag Tuesday evening, when the body agreed to resume debate on the package in two weeks following concerns about the health of Sen. Chris Gorsek, D-Gresham, who is recovering from surgery.
Democrats were set to rely on Gorsek’s vote in the chamber, given that any tax increases require a three-fifths majority, or 18 senators, the exact number of seats that Senate Democrats hold. Senate Republicans are united against the proposal, saying Oregonians cannot afford any of the measure’s tax hikes or fee increases. The bill would raise the state’s 40-cent gas tax to 46 cents, increase vehicle title and registration fees and temporarily double the 0.1% payroll tax that funds transit. The payroll tax increase would cost the average Oregonian about $68 annually.
But lawmakers will need to meet another requirement to keep their session alive due to a section of the Oregon Constitution limiting adjournments. Because the Oregon House passed a sine die resolution alongside its approval of the transportation package and the Senate hasn’t adjourned yet, the state’s constitution prevents the House from continuing a pause in activities beyond three days.
“Neither house shall without the concurrence of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which it may be sitting,” the state’s constitution reads.
The only way to fix that conundrum is for the House to return, which it plans to do so at 11 a.m. on Friday, just an hour after the Senate will begin its proceedings. Lobbyist Rick Metsger of the Salem-based Pac/West Lobby Group, who is also a former Oregon state senator, wrote in a newsletter Wednesday that the move “opens the door to all kinds of possibilities.”
“The House could establish a quorum and open committees on all kinds of issues,” he said. “Technically, they could pass bills over to the Senate.”
Any more introduced legislation would need to be approved by Democratic leadership in both chambers. Jill Bakken, a spokesperson for House Speaker Julie Fahey, D-Eugene, did not respond to the Capital Chronicle’s request for a comment on the record in time for publication.
Connor Radnovich, a spokesperson for Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, cited the constitutional rule in an emailed statement to the Capital Chronicle and said the Senate would be meeting about every three days until Sept. 17. The Legislature’s website calendar shows that sessions are planned for Mondays and Fridays so far.
“I am not aware of any plans,” he said when asked about more legislation. “I understand there is a lot of speculation.”
This wouldn’t be the first time that a chamber in the Oregon Legislature had to reconvene after another body during a special session failed to promptly reciprocate the passage of its legislation. In 2002, lawmakers convened to avert the strain of the 2001 recession and its dot-com bubble, but the House failed to pass the Senate’s version of the bill. At the time, current House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, was chief of staff to the Republican House Speaker Mark Simmons.
“My understanding is that it will be a gavel in, gavel out pro forma session,” said Emily Girsch, a spokesperson for the House Republican Caucus, in a statement.
Commented