As Oregon lawmakers prepare to return to the Capitol for a special session Wednesday, negotiations that will determine how the session unfolds are still far from concluded.
Most notably, legislative leaders said there is no consensus on what bills will be considered and, absent that agreement, no one is certain how long the session might last, nor how contentious it could become.
“We’re going to try to pass a large number of bills,” Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said. “If you get suspension of rules, you could do this pretty quickly. If you don’t, we could be talking about a little while, which is never good in a special session.”
In an effort to reduce the risk of both coronavirus exposure and political chicanery, lawmakers want to limit the session to as few days as possible. The most effective way to do that is to suspend certain constitutional rules that slow the lawmaking process.
Suspending those rules — which include the requirements to wait a day between bill “readings” and to read bills aloud and in full on the floor before a final vote — allow lawmakers to pass bills much faster. This is frequently done toward the end of a regular session so the Legislature can adjourn on time.
However, the rules can only be suspended with two-thirds votes in the Senate and House of Representatives.
Democrats hold a supermajority in both chambers, but still need Republican votes to reach a two-thirds majority (the same reason Republicans have the power to deny a quorum).
This means that to suspend rules and limit the session to as few days as possible, both parties need to agree on the legislation that the body will consider. And, Republicans stress, not just agree on the principles of the legislation — it’s the actual text that must be considered before suspension of rules is provided.
“That’s a lot of work to know exactly what’s in every bill and every word of that bill and the impact that it can have on state law, so we don’t make major mistakes,” Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod of Stayton said. “We’re not going to give rules suspension so they can run over us.”
Following Gov. Kate Brown’s announcement that a special session would occur this week, a list of 27 possible policy proposals was circulated among legislators.
The list focused on the state’s emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic and police accountability policies that have seen a renewed interest amid nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd during an arrest in Minneapolis.
It also included bills from previous sessions that died for no fault of their own.
As of Saturday morning there were 13 legislative concepts — written legislation that has not yet been introduced as a bill — slated for consideration during a joint, 14-member “super committee” meeting at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
The bills include: banning peace officers from using chokeholds; banning use of tear gas or sound cannons by law enforcement agencies; directing the creation of a statewide database of police officer discipline records; extending small school grants for one year; modifying the new corporate activities tax; and prohibiting residential and commercial evictions during certain emergency periods.
“There is this opportunity, especially on the police accountability front, that I don’t think we’ve ever seen before and I don’t think there’s any reason not to do it right now,” House Democratic Leader Barbara Smith Warner, D-Portland, said.
