 On Monday, I will be sworn in for my third term as the State Representative for the people of Southern Klamath & Lake Counties. It is an honor to serve. I am thankful for the overwhelming support I continue to receive from the people of House District 56.
This 2021 long-session will be unprecedented. A great part of it will be virtual — meaning the Capitol building will remain closed to the public, while the legislature meets remotely and then in person from time to time to debate legislation. This is antithetical to the legislative process set up in the Oregon Constitution.
Article I, Section 26: Assemblages of people; instruction of representatives; application to legislature.
No law shall be passed restraining any of the inhabitants of the State from assembling together in a peaceable manner to consult for their common good; nor from instructing their Representatives; nor from applying to the Legislature for redress of grievances
Article IV, Section 14: Deliberations to be open; rules to implement requirement.
The deliberations of each house, of committees of each house or joint committees and of committees of the whole, shall be open. Each house shall adopt rules to implement the requirement of this section and the houses jointly shall adopt rules to implement the requirements of this section in any joint activity that the two houses may undertake.
Open means open in person — not virtual, authorized-only, semi-open or closed. We must understand our Constitution, not as we want it or need it to read, but as it was originally intended. When words become malleable, they are then meaningless and can be twisted to the desired outcome by those in power. The Constitution is meant to be a constant, objective standard and a restraint from those in power circumventing the process.
It is ironic that tomorrow, on the same day the 81st Legislative Assembly is sworn in (closed to the public), many school districts across the state will begin reopening. State government policies have declared it now safe enough to send your children back to school, but not safe enough for you to enter the Capitol building, to meet with legislators, to testify in person concerning issues that will directly impact you and your family. Furthermore, shopping at big box stores and flying on an airplane for hours with hundreds of strangers is declared “safe” by the authorities, but engaging directly in your legislative process has been deemed too dangerous for your health. These are not policies based on science, but political science. Citizens are being intentionally locked out of the legislative process under the guise of public safety.
If the Covid-19 virus is a legitimate threat to public health, then the legislature should delay its business until a date when the legislative process can be completely open to the public.
As always, I look forward to engaging with you and hearing about the issues that matter to you most. Please reach out to me by using my legislative email address which provides direct access. I will continue working hard, along with my office staff, as we navigate this brave new world together.
E. WERNER RESCHKE
State Representative, Southern Klamath & Lake Counties
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1456
Capitol Address: 900 Court St. NE, H-384, Salem, Oregon 97301
Email: Rep.EWernerReschke@oregonlegislature.gov
Website: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/reschke
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