Judging Oregon's First Annual Session

Wolves.  Guns.  Trees.  Bar pilots.  Teen dating.

Before the recently completed legislative session in Salem, you would not have expected those subjects to make the short list of issues to be considered during the four-week sojourn at the Capitol. But they all came up.

To many observers, the list of not-so-important, complicated and controversial issues made for a confusing session. Every legislator had the freedom to introduce two bills each and almost all used it, meaning there were 180 bills in the hopper at the start of the session. Each interim committee had authority to introduce five bills each, which is how you get to nearly 300 bills.

Governor Kitzhaber, for his first official experience with a short, regular legislative session, came to the Capitol with the next steps on four ambitious reform proposals — health care transformation, education, early learning and health care exchange. Those four measures would tax any legislative session, regardless of length

Officials who pushed for the annual session would have called out three issues that should occupy legislators for those four weeks — rebalancing the sometimes-volatile state budget, handling emergencies (fires, floods, other natural disasters) and fixing unintended problems in bills passed the previous session.

To veteran Salem observers, those issue priorities made sense, especially adjusting the budget at a time when tax revenues dipped more than expected, caseloads for some state agencies grew and federal revenue vaporized.  

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Accurate Expectations for Short Session

Many Oregon legislators have lived through the different pace of the "experiments" with two short legislative sessions – one in 2008 and one in 2010. A number of new legislators and — perhaps more important — Governor Kitzhaber have not had the special experience.

That raises questions about proper expectations for the short session, which comes amid a lingering recession that has resulted in declining state tax revenue projections and just before the campaign season formally launches that will determine which party controls the House and Senate. The special session is scheduled to end no later than March 5, the day before the filing deadline for the May primary and November general elections.  

There are at least five major issues on the special session platter. Four of them are there because of initiatives by the governor as he seeks to re-make state government. The issues are:

         *  The need to balance the state budget in the face of a continuing recession that is sapping general fund resources for K-12, higher education, law enforcement, prisons and social services. The prospect of spending cuts is viewed as so dire that SEIU and AARP have bought advertising to decry further reductions in home, health and long-term care.

         *  Taking the next steps in the governor's education investment strategy, which will consolidate education management and funding priorities from kindergarten through graduate school under his leadership and an appointed education czar.

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