The Republicans are back doing business after a long and historic walkout. Recently, Republican members showed up in the Oregon Senate which allowed there to be enough legislators to pass important legislation. This ends a six-week walkout that halted the work of the legislature and blocked hundreds of bills – the most important included abortion, transgender health care, and gun safety. The Republican boycott prevented the Senate from reaching a two-thirds quorum needed to pass bills.
The boycott began on May 3 and is reportedly the second-longest of any U.S. state, after Rhode Island. The Dems had to find ways to bring them back to get things done. In the Oregon legislature there are 17 Democrats in the 30-member Senate. In order to get a quorum to pass bills, at least three Republican or independent members must show up to make a quorum. Compromises were made.
Democrats were able to concede to a deal to end the walkout agreeing that in cases where minors seek abortions but want to avoid telling their parents, such as in cases of incest, a provider would have to obtain approval from a second provider. GOP Minority Leader Sen. Tim Knopp had hinted at ending the boycott only on the session’s last day — June 25 — in order to pass “bipartisan” legislation and budget bills.
The Republican were up in arms after the Dems put forth a sweeping measure on abortion and gender-affirming care. Their walkout had other strategies attached to it. The walkout blocked the approval of the two-year state budget. There was also a gun-safety measure that the GOP opposed that would increase the purchasing age to 21 for semiautomatic rifles.
It was the old abortion measure that got under the skin of Republican lawmakers which allowed doctors to provide abortions regardless of a patient’s age. In addition, conservatives did not like that medical providers were not required to notify the parents of a minor in certain cases. The Democrats did not feel that they lost much. They said the compromised measure will still ensure abortion access and protect caregivers from anti-abortionists among other things such as health insurance covering medically necessary gender-affirming care.
This was history in the making as this was the longest walkout in the Oregon Legislature’s 163-year history. Dems pushed a ballot measure in 2022 that disqualifies lawmakers with 10 or more unexcused absences from reelection. And, June 1 marked the date the Senate Democrats voted to fine senators $325 every time their absence denied a quorum.
