Oregon legislators OK hundreds of bills in final sprint

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- With just hours to go before a constitutional time limit kicked in, the Oregon House and Senate adjourned Sunday afternoon after finishing a sprint of hundreds of budgets and other bills -- all necessitated because the Republicans walked out for 6 weeks of the session.

Once the session was officially completed, the Democratic leaders in the House and Senate said that, despite setbacks, they are pleased with the progress made in addressing housing, behavioral health and education issues.

“We had a very clear sense of what Oregonians cared about and what the biggest priority issues were that we needed to take on this session: housing and homelessness, behavioral health care, community safety, supporting our schools and our teachers as we come out of the pandemic," said House Majority Leader Julie Fahey. "And so, we made huge progress on all of those things this session.”

Kate Lieber, the Senate Majority Leader, said the legislature "increased penalties for possession of fentanyl, and that's really been something that's been plaguing our communities. We regulated unsterilized ghost guns, that's a bill that has been around for a long time and we finally got that across the finish line. And we restructured our public defense system.”

It was a mad dash to pass the remaining legislation this weekend. But legislators managed to pass a variety of last-minute bills, including:

• a bill that would permanently create a child tax credit
• bills that address staff shortages at hospitals and among teachers
• legislation designed to help Oregon reach its climate change goals
• a bill that reduces the annual rent increase cap

One of the most impactful bills passed Sunday was the adoption of the 988 Implementation Act. If Gov. Kotek signs this into law -- as expected -- it would provide continued funding for statewide mobile crisis support.

But the reason for the sprint to the legislative finish line -- the GOP walkout -- remained close to the surface for the House Majority Leader.

“I would like to see the end results of Measure 113, and if there is a court challenge to that," Fahey said.

It is likely that courts will decide the fate of at least seven Republican/independent senators who amassed 10 or more unexcused absences from floor sessions, which under a 2022 ballot measure would make them ineligible to seek re-election in 2024. Four other Republican senators are up in 2026, the Portland Tribune reports.

But Fahey said she fully expects "there will be consequences, and it will be clear in the future to future legislators that if they decide to walk out and check out the government for 6 weeks that they will not be able to serve in this body.”

Lawmakers return February 5 for an election-year session of 35 days.