Today on the House Floor, Representative Marty Wilde (D - Eugene) made a motion to pull a bill I introduced, HJR 203, to the floor in an attempt to force this piece of bipartisan legislation to be heard.
HJR 203 would ask the Oregon voters to decide if they want to align our state with the rest of the country and give the Legislature the ability to impeach the Governor and other statewide elected Executive Branch officials. HJR 203 has bipartisan support—with Republican and Democrat Chief and Regular sponsors.
Motions to pull a bill from Committee directly to the House Floor are done when a committee chair will not give a public hearing to allow the merits of the bill to be discussed—leaving the only option on the House Floor.
Representative Wilde’s “bill pull” attempt for HJR 203 failed despite bipartisan support, with a vote of 26-30 (with 4 members excused)—preventing this bill once again from being heard.
Representative Wilde has been an incredible advocate for HJR 203 this session, demanding the transparency and accountability that is sorely lacking in our government right now.
Bills like HJR 203 need a push from voters encouraging committee chairs to schedule public hearings on these important bills to have discussions.
Session is halfway over today and the priorities we have seen so far do not line up with the priorities of Oregonians.
Please reach out to Chair Barbara Smith Warner and ask her to schedule a public hearing for HJR 203 to have the discussion about expanding the checks and balances in our state government.
Representative Barbara Smith Warner, Chair of the House Committee on Rules
Rep.BarbaraSmithWarner@oregonlegislature.gov
503-986-1445
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1417 Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-378, Salem, OR 97301 Email: Rep.JamiCate@oregonlegislature.gov Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/cate
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