At the start of session, I had high hopes for the legislative process and the promises of bipartisan cooperation. However, as the session continues on, I have been very discouraged. Once we started to discuss topics including abortion and gun violence, any semblance of bipartisan/bicameral efforts quickly dissipated. When discussing the lives of our children, there should be no party lines. As mother and a former educator, I wish that everybody could just get along. But alas, that is not how life at the Capitol tends to be. Despite the recent disappointment, I will continue to use my voice to advocate for our beautiful district.
In addition to the lack of support on the Safe School package, there have been very few attempts by the majority party to demonstrate the spirit of bipartisanship. The Business and Labor Committee is another unfortunate example of this. Out of all the bills that "survived" following the chamber deadline, only 7% were Republican Chief-Sponsored bills.
This week we held extra committee meetings in order to meet the April 4th chamber deadline. The deadline marked the last day for policy committees to move measures introduced in their chamber (i.e. Senate bills in the Senate, House bills in the House) out of committee. If they did not move by this date, they "died" and cannot be considered again this session. The deadline did not apply to Ways & Means, Revenue, Rules, and other joint committees.
Now that the chamber deadline has passed, we will have extended floor sessions starting next week in order to work through all of the legislation. Once we have worked through the House bills we will begin to hear more Senate bills and vice versa.
Budgets are starting to be passed which is a process that I do not take lightly because we are spending YOUR money. Oregon has the highest effective tax rate for those middle-class families earning $75,000. Your hard earned money should be spent with care and used effectively by the government.
Read on below to learn more about some of the good, the bad, and the ugly happening at the Capitol.
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