By Herman Baertschiger Jr.

Senate Minority Leader Baertschiger is a Republican who represents District 2, which spans Josephine and northern Jackson County.

Sadly, with the Senate passing statewide rent control, Senate Bill 608, we can see the beginnings of a new way of governing here in Oregon. Democrats now have the supermajority in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Portland Democrats can pass anything. Period.

SB 608 is the first example of this new way of governing. There were no amendments allowed. No ideas from the minority party were heard. Only Democrats had their say. The bill was passed out of committee with three Democrat “yes” votes, and two Republican “no” votes. This bill has been on the fast track from the start and went to the floor of the Senate where it passed without any Republican votes. This is the first statewide rent control measure in Oregon — and in the United States — passing without bipartisan participation or consideration of different ideas.

Oregonians may not recognize it, but the state is changing the way it governs. Democrats are not changing the constitution, but they are slowly shifting power and authority to the executive branch.

The new Oregon energy tax, House Bill 2020, will change the way Oregon pays for energy. HB 2020 will make gasoline much more expensive, especially for rural Oregon and the urban working poor. Even more disturbing is the way the bill shifts power to the executive branch, which will have sole discretion to distribute the funds and write their own rules. This bill takes power away from the Legislature — the people — and moves vast amounts of money and authority to the executive branch.

Oregon is moving closer to a centrally controlled form of government. The new Oregon.

Oregonians who live outside of our bigger cities and the urban poor have little chance to add to the discussion. Democrats are in full control and are, for the first time, leaving Republicans out of conversations, including HB 2020. Democrats will try to make it look like many Oregonians had input, but the reality is that the fundamentals of the bill will stay the same. A new way to govern in Oregon.

Cap and trade is the new costly green deal for Oregon that will start the transformation to a new style of central governing. As the Legislature relinquishes its power to the executive branch, elected representatives will slowly lose their ability to represent their constituents, and a new form of governing will appear.

History teaches us that as one branch of government becomes more powerful the other branches become less effective until they are no longer useful. Checks and balances are gone. A new type of governing is being created.

The new Oregon: out of balance.