We are now into the final week of session and nearing the end of what has been nearly a six-month process and to coin a baseball term, we are in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. The last possible day for adjournment is Sunday, June 29^th, but as we write this, legislative leadership is working on trying to finalize deals to potentially get out of the building by 25^th or 26^th. This session has been different than in recent years as there have not been any walkouts (though there is still time), and priorities going into session were more narrowly focused (though we did set a record for the most bills ever introduced).

The remaining big-ticket items outstanding this last week include working out the transportation package, wildfire funding, passing the remaining budget bills and working out whether some gun bills are going to be moved. The mood of the building over the last month, and especially the last week or so has turned a bit sour as patience has begun to wear thin. Many legislators have been told some of their top priorities are not going to move forward, and there remains a lot of disagreement between the two parties (and even within the parties) about how these last items of business should be worked out.

Final Legislative Report

2024 Oregon Legislative Session 

Prepared by: Markee and Associates

 The 2024 legislative session adjourned late in the day on Thursday, March 7^th around 8:15 PM.

OMBA

Final Legislative Report

The long Memorial Day weekend has come and gone and we are now less than 30 days from the constitutional adjournment date of June 25th. Since our last update, while there have been a handful of meetings between Senate Republican Leadership, the Governors Office and Senate Democrats little has changed. Thus far, it still seems more likely than not Senate Republicans will continue to deny a quorum until a day or two before the 25th with the idea of simply passing the budget bills. As mentioned previously, the House continues to function normally, and budgets are still being moved though the committee process. Currently, the House tentatively plans to complete its business and then recess during the mid-June time frame with the hope the Senate at some point will begin passing bills again. While there are still four weeks or so left until we truly know how all of this is going to pan out, we thought it might be helpful to attempt to shed light on some of the most likely scenarios.

• Senate R’s comeback early, sometime in the next couple of weeks:  If this were to happen, we should see a reduced number of bills pass between now and the end of session.  Most bills  in the process would likely come up for a vote, however based on negotiations, some bills could die.

• Senate R’s comeback on June 24^th or 25^th : Under this scenario, we should see all budgets pass and a few policy bills.  This would require the Democrats to allow for the Republicans to dictate the last few days of session and something that seems unlikely to us right now.  That said, it is the desire of the Governor’s office that they would like all budgets passed by July 1^st.  Most policy bills under this scenario would require rules suspension, meaning the republicans would control which policy bills would be allowed to have a final vote.

• Senate R’s come back, but session ends without budgets passing:  If the Senate R’s comeback on the final day or two of session there is a good chance that the democrats say it is too late and would not allow the R’s to dictate what bills/budget is considered on the final days of session.  Under this scenario it is very similar to if they don’t come back at all and we will see a special session to pass budgets and possibly more.

• If we have a special session (or more than one) the timing would be very much up in the air.  The Legislature has passed a continuing resolution that allows for all current state agency budgets to continue at the current level until September 15^th.  Legislative Democratic leadership would like to try and schedule something for a week in mid-July to mainly focus on budget and little to no policy bills.  It sounds like from our conversations that the Governor would like to have all budgets in place by July 1^st and if there is a need for a special session, to do so, immediately following the June 25^th constitutional sine die.  Under either scenario we will get a good idea about what budgets could look like in the coming weeks as the assembly still plans to roll these out of Ways and Means.

In any event, and as things change (and I am sure they will in the coming days) we will be sure to let you know. In the meantime, we are happy to answer questions if there are any.

2023 OMBA 1^st Quarter Legislative Update

Spring is nearly here, and the legislature has now been in session for two months. Policy committees are running at full speed and with the reduced building capacity due to construction on the building, all committees are running on a much tighter schedule as all of the normal committee rooms aren’t able to be used. As 1^st chamber policy deadlines near, legislative leadership and individual members are working furiously on their bill priorities. All bills must be scheduled for a work session in their chamber of origin by March 17^th and must be moved out of committee by Tuesday, April 4^th. The next policy bill deadline will be on May 19^th, where bills must be moved out of 2^nd chamber committees. An example of this would be a House Bill which moved from committee and passed the House, must be moved out of a policy committee in the Senate.

Prepared by: Markee and Associates

The 2022 legislative session adjourned late morning on Friday, March 4^th. It was the first time in nearly two years the public was able to access the capitol building despite committees being conducted completely virtually. While it was yet another unusual session to navigate as access was complicated due to building construction and a number of other factors, the overall tenor of the session was somewhat less contentious than the last several sessions. Marked by completely new house leadership and the upcoming retirement of the longest serving Senate President in Oregon’s history it was also a symbolic passing of the baton. In the House, Representative Dan Rayfield was voted in as Speaker, and Rep’s Vikki Breese Iverson and Fahey were chosen as Republican and Democrat leaders, respectively. Additionally, Rep. Tawna Sanchez was appointed as the House Co-Chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee after a vacancy was left open when Rep. Rayfield was chosen to lead the House. In the Senate, Senator Peter Courtney who has presided as President since 2003 concluded his last session, and Senator Knopp replaced Senator Girod as Republican leader. To recap, the current make-up of the legislature is controlled by the Democrats who hold a super majority in both chambers, holding an 18-10-2 (two Republicans to switched to Independent Party last year) advantage in the Senate, and 37-23 in the House. While the last two years, since the pandemic began saw multiple special sessions to resolve COVID related issues, including housing and direct medical needs, as well as impacts realized by the active fire seasons, this session still had several matters legislative leadership were looking to address. Some of the most notable included: data broker legislation (HB 4017), figuring out how to best spend federal funds, rebalancing agency budgets, as well as a bill (HB 4002) on agricultural worker overtime pay (which was probably the most contentious).