Energy bill passes Ore. House as bill readings delay Legislature

SALEM, Ore. — When the Oregon Legislature began its whirlwind 35-day session two weeks ago, Republicans employed a rarely used tool to stall the legislative process.

The issue centers around the fact that each bill is being read aloud in its entirety before lawmakers can cast votes, a constitutional requirement usually avoided on the first day of the session by a two-thirds vote in both chambers. But without support of the Republican minority, the bills are being read in full. The GOP is pushing the tactic because it is unhappy with the policy changes being proposed by Democrats.

That became problematic Monday when that tactic prompted House lawmakers to hold a marathon floor debate for more than six hours, forcing the delay and eventual rescheduling of several committee hearings and floor votes to the following day.

“These obstructionist, D.C.-style politics are not what Oregonians expect from the Legislature. To be clear, these political stunts won’t stop us from standing up for Oregonians’ priorities.” House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson, D-Portland, said in a statement.

By the time lawmakers finished reading the 18 pages of House Bill 4036 — a highly controversial proposal that would make sweeping changes to Oregon’s energy policies by eliminating coal power in Oregon by 2030 and double the state’s renewable energy standard by 2040 — the day was wrapping up and lawmakers had limited time for debate.

“The bill applies to about two-thirds of the power use in Oregon … it affects about 1.4 million Oregonians,” said Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario. “The bill is exceedingly complex, and I’ll tell you that in order for me to understand the bill — and I still don’t — I called some of my friends in the utility business and talked to them about it at length and had them review it for me. There are parts of this bill that are great, there are others that are perfectly horrid.”

House lawmakers ultimately approved that package by a 37-20 vote, sending the proposal to the Senate for further debate.