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The Oregon Senate Republicans on Thursday carried out their first on Capitol Hill boycott of the legislative session, in what has become an increasingly common tactic by the party which holds a minority of seats in both houses of the Legislative Assembly.
Unlike 2019 and 2020, when Senate and House Republicans walked away to kill greenhouse gas cap proposals and other Democratic proposals, Senate Republicans decided not to run. this time to protest Governor Kate Brown’s COVID-19 restrictions. They set out their reasoning in a letter to the governor.
All 11 House Republicans were out Thursday morning, as was Senator Brian Boquist of Dallas, who recently transferred his party’s registration to the Oregon Independent Party. Senator Tim Knopp de Bend, who has remained during some of the previous Republican walkouts, has joined his party this time around. Oregon House and the Oregon Senate are both required by state constitution to have a two-thirds quorum to conduct their business, which in the Senate means Democrats need ‘at least two senators from outside their party.
It was not immediately clear how many absent lawmakers could have been excused in advance, as Senate Speaker Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said one or two of them said in advance that ‘they wouldn’t be at the in-person session. Thursday morning. But the 11 Republican caucus members signed a letter to the governor insisting she “immediately reopen schools because science says it’s safe” and increase the amount of COVID-19 vaccines available to Oregonians older, especially in rural areas.
“Our previous efforts to bring these issues to your attention have not been recognized,” the 11 Republicans wrote in their letter. “So we are protesting at today’s meeting. In this show of solidarity with Oregonians who are failing by the current direction of your policies, we hope that this action will reflect the importance of these problems. “
While the researchers found that schools can safely reopen, this requires significant modifications and an immediate reopening of schools “for full in-person instruction” that Senate Republicans demanded would not be sure. At a minimum, educators and students must wear masks and maintain a social distancing of six feet, which has forced schools that return to in-person teaching to bring students back to class for only part of the week.
Republicans also cited the fact that five days ago, Oregon was the third last in the country for immunization of the elderly, among 31 states with data on the issue, according to a report in The Oregonian / OregonLive.
Nationally and in Washington, DC, Republicans are making the hesitant return to in-person education a major issue as they seek to attract parents concerned about the academic progress and socio-emotional well-being of their children. children and frustrated after a year of juggling work and virtual learning. Republicans in the Oregon Senate have a mixed record in favor of widespread immunization and COVID-19 safety. In 2019, one of the bills they managed to kill via a walkout reportedly closed a loophole in the state’s vaccination mandate for schoolchildren.
In a special legislative session on December 21, Senator Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, tore off his face mask in the Senate and launched into a speech against Democratic leaders’ requirement that lawmakers wear masks to protect against the deadly virus. Heard, who called his legislative colleagues “crazy” as he took part in a January 6 protest against the 2020 presidential election results and the governor’s COVID restrictions outside the State Capitol, was recently elected president of the Oregon Republican Party.
Courtney, the Speaker of the Senate, said Thursday he had no warning that Republicans and Boquist would not show up at Thursday’s session, where the only agenda was the introduction of 67 bills. The Legislature conducted most of its business through online committee meetings at the start of the five-month session, with weekly in-person sessions in each chamber to introduce bills. House and Senate leaders said this week they will start holding more floor sessions and start voting on bills in March, but the Republicans’ withdrawal from the Senate even before floor votes lifts questions about the results of the Legislative Assembly during that session. In 2020, Republicans’ withdrawal from the House and Senate over a cap-and-trade proposal killed many other bills, many of which were uncontroversial and even some Republican priorities. Some of these proposals resurfaced during this session, contributing to the potentially record-breaking bill stack this year.
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