Senate Republicans are in the final phases of preparing to leave the state and walk out from the Oregon Legislature over a controversial greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade bill.

Two Republican senators confirmed to the Statesman Journal that several members of their caucus have identified locations to stay outside of Oregon and have purchased, or are in the process of purchasing, plane tickets to get there.

Senate Bill 1530 is expected to move from the budget writing Ways and Means committee to the Senate floor late this week or early next week.

"As soon as Ways and Means passes out 1530 to the full Senate, I think we'll walk," said Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton. "It's for everyone to decide, but it will be enough to deny a quorum."

Democrats hold a supermajority of 18 members, but a walkout denies the Senate a two-thirds quorum of 20 needed to conduct any business on the floor.

Senate Democratic Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, said Oregon voters sent each lawmaker to the Capitol to work on legislation, not leave the state for a "taxpayer-funded vacation."

"Hard-working Oregonians do not have the ability to abandon their jobs and still get paid— they would be fired," she said in a statement. "Why should senators be treated differently?"

Both Republican senators, along with a third, said each member is making the decision on whether to stay or walk based on what they believe their constituents want.

During their nine-day walkout last year over a similar greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade proposal, all 11 senators left. It was triggered by the bill receiving a second reading in the Senate.

Girod said they would not wait for a second reading this year. After a bill is read a second time it must receive a vote of some nature on the Senate floor, which is what Republicans want to avoid.

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One Republican senator said that between three and seven of the 12 Senate Republicans are purchasing or have already purchased plane tickets. Girod confirmed that tickets were being purchased, but did not know how many senators had done so.

Some of the uncertainty is due to discretion.

"Everyone's kind of secretive, even within the caucus," Girod said. "We don't want people knowing where we're going."

"I know where two senators are going and that's it," he said. "I don't even know where I'm going."

The Senate Republican Office declined to confirm that senators have already purchased plane tickets heading out of state. Staffers said many senators have been prepared to leave since the session began because the cap-and-trade proposal would be back for consideration.

SB 1530 would set gradually declining limits on statewide carbon emissions and create a marketplace for polluters to buy credits, or allowances, for each ton of emissions they release annually.

Republicans say the bill would increase the cost of living in rural Oregon and do little to combat climate change, while Democrats say cap-and-trade is the only way to reduce the state's carbon emissions and the bill has protections for rural Oregon.

However, cap-and-trade isn't the only policy being considered in the Legislature this session. A walkout threatens all bills still in the legislative process. This has caused concern on both sides of the aisle.

Still, the 2019 walkout is considered a success among Republicans in the Capitol.

The previous version of cap and trade — House Bill 2020 — died after losing Democratic support while Republicans were away. The walkout also rallied many rural Oregonians to Republicans' side through Timber Unity, which has continued through to the 2020 session, including a truck procession and rally of about 2,000 people at the Capitol earlier this month.

Molly Woon, deputy director of the Democratic Party of Oregon, said the 2019 walkout made Oregon a target of national ridicule. It's also not how democracy is supposed to work, she said.

Moreover, the strategy is unpopular with voters. A January poll from FM3 Research showed that nearly 60 percent of Oregon voters oppose walkouts.

"The important thing here is that we know this isn’t popular with voters," Woon said. “It may be popular with a bunch of people who are dug in on the right already."

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SB 1530 was sent to the full Ways and Means Committee during a public hearing and work session late Wednesday. As of Thursday morning, it did not have a hearing scheduled in that committee.

Eleven of the 12 Republican senators were present for the floor session Wednesday morning.

Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, was the one absence. He was excused by the Senate President's Office for the remainder of this week for a "legal hearing in Indiana," according to his request for excusal form.

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Contact reporter Connor Radnovich at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or 503-399-6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich