SALEM, Ore. — Leaders of the Oregon Legislature spoke Friday about the need to bridge divides that exist in the state, days ahead of the start of the 2019 session.
Speaking at The Associated Press Legislative Preview, lawmakers described an Oregon that is divided between urban and rural, Democrat and Republican.
The November election gave Democrats a three-fifths supermajority in Oregon’s Legislature with greater power to impose taxes, but Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said they must wield power carefully.
He recalled that Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., had told him that while Baertschiger represents a minority in the Senate, most people in his district around Grants Pass are Republican.
Courtney said he wants legislation from the session that begins Tuesday to benefit the entire state of Oregon.
He pointed out that Republicans could jam up legislation by sitting out votes. Quorum rules say 20 senators must be on the Senate floor and 40 representatives on the House floor for votes to take place, Courtney said. Democrats fell short of those numbers in the elections, with 38 seats in the House and 18 in the Senate.
House Democrats have pledged to help build a future for all people in the state “and not just people from Portland,” House Majority Leader Jennifer Williamson told Capitol correspondents.
Baertschiger lamented that the days when his district was vibrant — in which families could buy a house, a car, and send their kids to college — disappeared in the last 40 years. He said state and federal governments should reevaluate policies that restricted harvesting of natural resources.
“One thing that has just jumped out, and that I recognize very much, is the divide in Oregon, and it really upsets me,” Baertschiger said. “The struggles in rural Oregon are different than the struggles in urban Oregon and vice-versa, and I don’t think the Legislature really recognizes that.”
Rep. Carl Wilson echoed that, saying there were too many empty storefronts in downtown Grants Pass. The priority of Republican House members is “making rural Oregon prosperous.” He said they would try to block legislation they deem dangerous to rural Oregon’s economic health. He said that whenever minimum wage goes up “our fortunes take another shot.”
Gov. Kate Brown, also appearing at the AP event, said Friday that boosting funding for Oregon’s struggling education system is her number one priority heading into the 2019 Legislature, while
“The time is now for us to make significant investments in our education system,” Brown said
Brown has a $2 billion education investment package that would come some type of tax increase in her proposed state budget, in addition to her base budget.
