Legislative walkouts

Legislative minorities have used walkouts as a negotiating tool many times in Oregon. Here are some of the most significant ones prior to Thursday's walkout:

May 7, 2019: Senate Republicans walked out for four days to protest a $2 billion tax package for K-12 schools. They later struck a deal with Brown, getting Democrats to kill bills addressing guns and vaccine exemptions. The deal also included a “reset” on the cap-and-trade bill and a promise not to walk out again.

March 8, 2007: Senate Republicans staged a brief walkout over a tax deal. Gov. Ted Kulongoski asked the Oregon State Police to fetch two Republican senators from Corvallis for a vote. The senators returned voluntarily without being arrested.

June 25, 2001: House Democrats staged a five-day walkout to prevent a Republican maneuver to redraw state legislative districts without the governor’s signature. The walkout strategy was supported by then-Senate Minority Leader Kate Brown, who now is Governor.

April 14, 1995: Ten Senate Democrats walked out, holing up in a Salem restaurant and denying Republicans a quorum, after Republicans decided to kill an award named after the late Sen. Frank Roberts, a Democrat.

1971: Both House and Senate Democrats staged walkouts during the session, but neither lasted more than a day. Senate Democrats walked out to protest Republican leadership’s refusal to consider ratification of a federal constitutional amendment lowering the voting age from 21 to 18. State Police rounded up missing lawmakers, who were at a Salem legislator’s house. House Democrats also walked out, although the reason is unclear. Oregon State Police were unable to locate the missing legislators, who were hiding in the Senate Majority Leader’s office.

Source: Oregon Senate Majority Office, Statesman Journal archives