It looks increasingly likely that Oregon lawmakers will convene next week to vote on an initial response to the coronavirus health and economic crisis, Sen. Arnie Roblan and Gov. Kate Brown said Tuesday.

Roblan, a Coos Bay Democrat, is a co-chair of the Joint Special Committee on Coronavirus Response which is developing proposals for the broader Legislature to take up. He said the Legislature will likely assemble next week, rather than this week. Gov. Kate Brown is expected to make the call soon.

House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, was pushing for lawmakers to convene this week since, with the end of the month approaching, many hard-hit Oregonians have bills piling up, spokesman Danny Moran said. But the logistics did not work out.

A few weeks after Republicans in both chambers walked out and essentially shut down business at the Capitol to kill a climate change bill, lawmakers from both parties were largely in agreement Tuesday that the state must broadly prioritize aid to ensure Oregonians have adequate food, shelter and healthcare to get through the crisis. Assistance to small businesses is also a top priority. Top Democrats and Republicans will now work out the details of exactly how to achieve that through legislation.

Rep. Paul Holvey, a Eugene Democrat and co-chair of the coronavirus committee, urged his colleagues Tuesday to “just try to keep together as much as we can because these are trying times. People are going to depend on us."

The co-chairs of the committee are going to summarize members’ priorities in a letter to legislative leaders, Roblan said. The committee received an unusually large amount of public comments from people affected by coronavirus and the state’s response.

Lawmakers from both parties said they hope the healthcare response can include a boost for mental health services. “The stress that we’re all under is real,” Rep. Janelle Bynum, D-Happy Valley, said. "They’re not imagining it. And that we’ll take care of each other — I think that’s important.”

Tuesday was the fourth lengthy and wide-ranging meeting of the committee, which looked at dozens of potential spending and policy proposals, from preventing commercial and residential foreclosures to expanding the state’s family leave act for parents during public health emergencies and boosting spending on food assistance.

Democrats and Republicans on the committee have raised concerns that the state will have a limited amount to spend on aid, especially as the economic slowdown cuts into tax revenues. Unlike the federal government, Oregon must by law maintain a balanced budget and reserves built up during the good economy could quickly be drained.

Brown, in remarks Tuesday, similarly emphasized the need to be fiscally restrained. “The bottom line .. is we have far more needs than we have resources,” she said. “As you are well aware, the economy is tumbling down."

Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, appealed to the committee Tuesday morning to focus in on the state’s most immediate needs since this will likely be the first of multiple special sessions this year to address coronavirus impacts.

Although the Capitol is closed to the public, it appears lawmakers will have to gather there to vote on legislation. Floor session and committee meetings are all streamed live and archived on the Legislature’s website. Legislative lawyers are still exploring what options are available to minimize the potential spread of coronavirus during voting, for example if a suspension of parliamentary rules could make it possible for lawmakers to take turns voting individually on the chamber floors in order to maintain safe distances.

-- Hillary Borrud; hborrud@oregonian.com; @hborrud

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