Connor Radnovich | Salem Statesman Journal

Lee Clarkson, Statesman Journal

Oregon lawmakers introduced 258 bills in the 2020 session, but with an extended Republican walkout shutting down the Legislature, only three passed and were signed into law.

Those that made it: increased by $10 the fee for cultural registration license plates; required the Department of Education to create a form for schools to use after a student is diagnosed with a concussion; and declared that Happy Valley is no longer part of a county parks district, settling a dispute.

By comparison, 232 bills were introduced during the previous "short" legislative session in 2018 with 122 becoming law. In 2016, 124 bills became law.

As is common for the Oregon Legislature, the vast majority of bills considered this year earned bipartisan support along the way.

Democrats decide to push partisan bill

STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE

But with two weeks left to go in session, Democrats decided to move forward with a bill that did not have any Republican support — Senate Bill 1530, the greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade bill.

Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants Pass, said he asked Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, multiple times that they deal with all the other issues facing the Legislature before taking up SB 1530.

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It was known in the Capitol since before the session that a walkout over cap-and-trade was likely. Republicans walked out over a similar proposal during the 2019 session. So Republicans had no choice but to walk out again this year, Baertschiger said.

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However, with the supermajority granted to them by Oregon's voters in 2018, Democrats control the calendar of when bills are considered. The moment SB 1530 was voted out of the Joint Ways and Means Committee on Feb. 24, Senate Republicans left.

House Republicans followed them the next day.

And while the Republican walkout wasn't in protest of the bipartisan bills, or the budgets left undone, all pieces of the leftover legislation officially die at 12 a.m. Monday.

2020 session cost over $500K

Despite having little to show for the past five weeks, the 2020 legislative session cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.

For lawmakers' per diem and mileage reimbursements alone, the cost was $484,810. This does not include other expenses, such as the salaries for 90 lawmakers — $2,600 per month, double for the House Speaker and Senate President.

Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, signaled the sudden end to this year's legislative session Thursday afternoon. Both the Senate and House of Representatives adjourned with no plans to reconvene before the constitutional deadline of 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

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Among the bipartisan pieces of legislation that failed to advance were bills: fixing the state's DUI test; banning the online sale of nicotine vaping products; allowing NCAA athletes to profit from their name, image or likeness; dedicating a portion of the Capitol grounds for a Vietnam War memorial; and repealing driving privilege suspension for failure to pay a fine.

There were also resolutions that are only applicable this year, such as commemorating the centennial of Oregon's ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, or recognizing the 50th anniversary of the Portland Trail Blazers.

Bipartisan bills die, too

Gov. Kate Brown and legislative leaders have already said that a special session this spring is possible, during which some of the bills that died this session could be reintroduced for consideration.

However, senior staff says those conversations are at the very early stages.

STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE

Kelly Peterson has been advocating in the Legislature on behalf of animals since 1999 and said it was disheartening to see so many important bills fail.

Her main focus this session was a bill that would ban coyote-killing contests. During such events, participants try to kill as many coyotes as possible during a set time-frame for money and prizes.

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The bill was first introduced in 2019 and was held up by Republicans as an example of the state's urban-rural divide. It did not pass once Senate Republicans returned from their walkout last year.

This year it passed the House with bipartisan support, and Peterson said she expected the same in the Senate.

"As an Oregonian, it was really sad to see," Peterson said. "Many things don't surprise me, but this session did."

Independence sought on records

A bill that would have strengthened the independence of the state's Public Records Advocate languished in a House committee after passing the Senate without a vote in opposition.

Ginger McCall, the state's former public records advocate, said the change is essential both to ensure public trust in the position and recruit a qualified candidate.

The job of the public records advocate is to conduct trainings on public records law around the state, help resolve public records request disputes between the government and requesters, and be available to provide guidance on public records law.

STATESMAN JOURNAL FILE

McCall resigned after experiencing what she described as inappropriate political influence from the governor's office.

The bill introduced this session was the same version the Public Records Advisory Council crafted. It remained unchanged after going through the legislative committee process.

But if the bill is brought back during a special session or during the 2021 regular session, it will have to go through that process again, opening it up to potential changes that McCall said would seek to water down the necessary independence.

This version had already earned the support it needed.

"To watch a bill that has wide public support be defeated by stupid politics is just infuriating," McCall said. "It was just collateral damage, it didn't die on the merits."