Out to the Oregon Legislature,
where the GOP walkout continues,
Republicans have stopped all the
work in the state Senate because
most are refusing to show up.
They're protesting over a bill involving
abortion and transgender services and
a second bill involving gun rig.
Republicans tell me the
Democrats are not negotiating.
The Democrats tell me the Republicans have
not said what they want to end the stalemate.
So there's that.
In the meantime,
the Senate continues to wait quietly,
with no work being done there.
This is day 11 of the boycott.
There has been some communicati.
Senate Republican leader Tim Koe
told Democrats the Republicans d
end their walk out to pass budgs
that are substantially bipartisn
and bills that are constitution.
That's sort of coded talk for h,
set aside those bills that we he
and we'll vote on everything el.
It actually has been done before, by the way.
Back in 2019,
it was done to end a similar
Republican walkout.
Then Senate President Courtney
Peter Courtney agreed to kill
two or three bills on that the
Republicans really did not like.
They included cap and trade,
which limited carbon emissions.
In return,
the Republicans did come back to
the Senate and voted for budgetd
bills that kept the state worki.
But this time the Democrats
are rejecting Canop's offer.
They've said House Bill 2002.
Which involves allowing children
younger than 14 to get an abortn
without their parents permission
and mandatory insurance coverage
for transgender care.
The Democrats have said that
is not up for discussion.
It will not be changed.
It will not be killed.
So at least for now,
a 2019 style compromise is not a possibility.
That has led some to question whether
Democrats are even negotiating in good faith.
In the meantime,
we're digging into the meaning
of Measure 113.
Which voters passed last year by a large
margin to avoid walkouts like t.
Measure 113 says that lawmakerso
have 10 or more unexcused absens
cannot hold office in the follog
term once their current term en.
What you're looking at is the et
wording in the Oregon Constitutn
that was added thanks to Measure 113.
It does not actually say they ae
prohibited from running for off.
See that?
But the Secretary of State's ofe
argues it's a qualification iss.
They put out a statement reading if a
candidate is not eligible to hold office,
the filing officer cannot allow
them to be on the ballot.
And by the way,
that is different from the
explanatory statement issued wih
the initiative when voters passd
it to change the law last year.
That statement said if someone
reached that 10 absence thresho,
they could still run and win the
election the following term,
but they could not actually hold
office and serve in the legisla.
Secretary of State's office args
that court rulings have supportd
their position that the lawmaken
question could not even run for election.
But Independent Senator Brian Boquist,
one of the four lawmakers with 10 skips,
has said the elections division
has no authority on the absence
clause of the Oregon Constituti.
They will avoid it completely.
The first day a legislator can file to run
in this next election is September 4th,
September 14th and Boquest
seat is up for 2024.
That means he's going to need
to file if he wants to run,
so time will tell if he actually makes it
on to the ballot or if the Secretary of
State's office wins and keeps him off.
So far 3 Republicans have joined
Boquest with 10 unexcused absen.
They are Senator Dan Bonham of the Dolls,
Senator Dennis Lithicum of Klamath Falls,
and today, Senator Cedric Hayden
of Fall Creek hit Absence #10.
Following our story last night
on the GOP walkout,
you were quick to fill our e-mail and
voicemail boxes with messages like this.
These lawmakers we have in Sale,
who pays them? I think you and .
If they're doing this crap,
if I didn't show up for work
after 10 days, I'd be fired.
It's totally ridiculous.
These guys ought to just be fir.
Start from scratch. Ridiculous.
And Mike told us democracy has
been described AS2 wolves and a
sheep voting on what's for lunc.
In this case, the sheep are not showing up.
We spent some time today and lat
night talking about how Republis
have signals that they could
challenge Measure 113 in court.
And several of you agree with a viewer
named Christina who left us this voicemail.
It is absolutely ridiculous that
they are going to fight somethig
that we as Oregonians voted on,
which was if you're out for 10 days bye,
they have to realize that we voted on that,
do your job and like you said,
there has to be some compromise going
on within the state and obvious.
Nothing's happening.
Yep, that's true.
In a little editorial of my own,
I talked about how compromise sd
rule the day in the legislature.
One way to do that would be if the Oregon
Senate was made-up of representatives
from each county Now, yes, yes,.
I hear those of you yelling that
the US Supreme Court already sad
no to that idea several decades,
but for the sake of argument,
it is an option.
But a few of you simply said,
Nah, I'm wrong.
While your comments about compromise seem
like they make sense on the sur,
it's kind of like giving your kd
a cookie when he has a tantrum
because he can't have his cooki.
If you reinforce the behavior,
then the behavior is going to continue.
No, we should not compromise bee
they walk out compromise in the
process to get the bill to the floor.
Yes, compromise in the leaders offices.
Before it gets to the floor, ye.
But compromise because they threw a tantrum?
Hell no.
All right, thank you for that,
Greg wrote to us.
If Senate Republicans want to pass laws,
they need to get a majority of
Oregonians to vote for them andt
obstruct the will of those who haven't.
We need a new ballot measure to make the
quorum a simple majority of the Senate.
And I'm betting we'll get it.
Sooner the better.
And perhaps that is on the hori,
Greg, but it won't help the
situation as it stands right no.
The Chamber of the Oregon Legislature
once again stalled and deadlocked with
a lot of business left on the t,
including the budget,
and just over a month left in the session.