 * “I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”
—Helen Keller
 Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82022309831?pwd=d2pHYnpFYURBTGREUmdUenlkUFdMdz09
The walkout ends
With one week left in the 2023 legislative session, we’re actually…back in session! Yesterday morning, three Republican Senators returned to our chamber to join two of their colleagues and all seventeen Democrats for the first working quorum (twenty or more members) we’ve had since May 3.
Welcoming back Senator Bill Hansell, R-Northeastern Oregon, after a long absence.
While the minority party cited a string of different reasons for the walkout, the obvious centerpiece was HB 2002, which strengthens reproductive rights protections and mandates insurance coverage for medically necessary gender-affirming care. Amidst all the noise it was hard to remember that both sides were trying to focus on the well-being of younger people seeking these services, including parental involvement whenever it wouldn’t endanger the youngster. This news coverage lays out the solution that we landed on, along with the compromise over gun safety legislation that was the second most potent cause for the walkout. (As I write these words on the Senate Floor, the downsized version of SB 2005, the “ghost-gun” bill, has just passed by a vote of 17—the entire Democratic Caucus— to five, with eight Senators absent).
Who won? That’s what Capitol watchers rush to ask, and try to answer, as this rough chapter in legislative history comes to a close. Given how intractable the deadlock seemed a couple of weeks ago, I’d say Oregonians won. In the end this session will bring more resources than ever to K-12 education (and finally a fairly adequate budget to higher ed) and housing, and some smart ways for using them. We’ll have progress to show on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, mental health treatment, early literacy programs, wildfire and drought readiness and reigning in pharmaceutical drug prices. More struggling Oregonians will be able to avoid eviction and find a pathway to community colleges and the chance for self-sufficient lives they offer. There are other outcomes I didn’t like as much, but that holds true for every legislative session.
In the end, neither party was willing to see all of this fall apart. Through the web of mixed feelings I’ll carry away from this session, that’s something I appreciate.
Two other takeaways from this six-week episode:
- One likely result of the leftover bad feelings from election season is that the majority party doesn’t listen as fully as it could at the beginning of the session for opportunities to forge agreements—or at least narrow disagreements—on big bills. We can do better.
- Walkouts have shifted from an historical rarity to a feature of almost every session. They are wearing out the fabric of human relationship that good policymaking needs, and we have to put them behind us. That’s a conversation you’ll hear more about between now and the 2024 session.
 Photo from Northeastern Oregon from the Oregon State Fire Marshal's Office
Paying for Wildfire
With wildfire season beginning—this year, the northeast corner of the state is the first to take the hit—the 2023-2025 funding level of the prevention, suppression and community adaptation programs we need is still uncertain. I’m hopeful we’ll end up with an adequate budget, but it’s not hard to see that the General Fund, the target of so many critical demands, won’t be able to carry this burden much longer. With that in mind I continue to push SB 502 to create a Permanent Wildfire Programs Trust Fund with 30% of the pending income tax kicker, a one-time charge on Oregonians that could manage this challenge for decades to come. I made the case last week in this op-ed column. The bill might get a committee vote in the last days of the session, but opposition to redirecting kicker dollars for any reason make chances for final passage slim at best.
 Voting "Aye" to limit cash in political campaigns. Credit: Blake Benard
Campaign Finance Reform? Well, a little bit…
The very modest progress we made this session on the unfinished business of regulating money in politics was swept away by the walkout. Plans are to resume the conversation with a bi-cameral work group in the interim. I suspect the short session next year will be the Legislature’s last chance to reform the system before citizens take an initiative to the 2024 ballot that does the job.
We did take one step to clean up campaign cash. This bill was the result of sketchy activity that came to light earlier this year. It’s a good bill that the minority party first brought to the table.
A heads-up to Oregon drivers
This week the Oregonian published this grim report. A DMV official summed it up this way: “What we’re saying is if you have a Oregon driver’s license ID… [or] driver’s permit, you can assume that that data associated with that credential has been compromised.”
It’s too early to know what kind of problems this might cause. The article offered this advice for those who might want to find out if anyone is trying to use their information:
“Under federal law, you have the right to receive, at your request, a free copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three consumer credit reporting companies. A credit report can provide information about those who have received your credit history. You may request a free credit report online at www.annualcreditreport.com or by telephone at 1-877-322-8228.”
A further step would be to contact the three major credit rating services to monitor, or possibly freeze, activity around your credit information:
-Equifax: https://www.equifax.com or 1-800-685-1111
-Experian: https://www.experian.com/help or 1-800-909-8872
-TransUnion: https://www.transunion.com/credit-help
Your thoughts? Questions? Suggestions?
We’ll wrap up our online Town Halls for the session at 5:30pm this Tuesday, June 20 at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82022309831?pwd=d2pHYnpFYURBTGREUmdUenlkUFdMdz09
My best until then—
 Senator Jeff Golden, Oregon Senate District 3
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