Posted on 06/21/2019 5:09:47 AM PDT by reaganaut1
Tensions boiled over in the Oregon Capitol this week as Republican state senators vanished in an effort to delay a vote on a climate change bill they oppose. On Thursday, Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, ordered the state police to find them and bring them back.
It was only the latest chapter in a season of partisan division and frustration in the nation’s statehouses, where, for the first time in more than a century, all but one state legislature is dominated by a single party. In Oregon, where Democrats dominate both chambers, Republicans were unapologetic about their efforts to slow the state’s adoption of an emissions-reduction program by disappearing — and keeping the Democrats from having enough lawmakers present to call a vote.
Brian Boquist, one of the Republican senators who went missing, issued what sounded like a warning to any police officer who might try to arrest him.
“Send bachelors and come heavily armed,” Mr. Boquist said he told Travis Hampton, superintendent of the Oregon State Police. “I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.”
It was the second time in six weeks that Oregon Republicans have walked out of a session to try to prevent a vote. This week, all 11 Senate Republicans left, holding the Democrats short of a 20-person quorum needed to vote on the climate change bill, fiercely opposed by Republicans.
Across the country this year, legislatures like Oregon’s, dominated by Democrats, have veered to the left, pushing through bills on issues like abortion rights, health care and limits to rent increases for tenants. Legislatures controlled by Republicans have moved firmly to the right, pushing through sharp restrictions on abortion access and permissions for schoolteachers to be armed.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“Send bachelors and come heavily armed,”
That is a great quote.
because folks no longer can find a middle ground that is not destructive to both sides, so off the cliff the lemmings say instead of looking at the hole and saying, man don’t know diddly, look in our heart find love, find life
“look in our heart find love, find life”
You are a wise person, thank you.
When I lived there from 2002 to 2011, I saw Portland turn into a very scary place for Conservatives and Businesses.
Intel and Nike are the only thing holding Oregon on a semi-solid financial footing.
Portland is very close to full on Communist which means the next stage is arresting and shooting those who object.
The difference between CA and OR is people in OR really, really believes that business is bad.
You own 10 acres of trees for the planet, Good.
You own a forest and harvest trees for lumber, you are Satan and deserve to be killed.
We live in southern Oregon and harvested 30 acres of douglas fir trees, planted 8500 baby trees in their stead that are now four feet tall in two years. Would they still kill us?
I won’t he a hypocrite like her (as a State Senator Brown herself once supported a walk out by Oregon House rats over redistricting), and castigate her for doing this. I would have supported Texas invading Oklahoma to bring those democrat State Senators back in 2004.
This is why a quorum should just be a majority and not a supermajority. We could see this tactic being used a lot by both sides in any state with this issue.
I agree with you re: quorum rules. It makes no sense for quorum to be higher than the number of votes needed to pass something. Of course, if quorum was 50% +1 and a legislature can pass something with 50%+1, then you could have legislation pass with only 25%+1 of members voting for it. Maybe the quorum should stay at 2/3 but with the quorum requirement being waived automatically if 50%+1 of members vote for a measure.
I always thought it ought to take an absolute majority (not counting vacant seats of course) to pass anything (why not?), that would get around the problem.
You’re assuming that you’ll always have perfect attendance, which won’t be the case. I wouldn’t want one of Trump’s judicial nominees to get 49 votes for and 44 against and to have the nomination defeated. Besides, Congress always has permitted bills and nominations to be aporoved by majority of those voting, not of total membership.
Good point. Your workaround would work. Or something similar like having a quorum be 50%+1 but requiring at least say 40% of the total membership to vote to pass something.
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