LEGISLATIVE UPDATE Unprecedented Occurrences in the OR Legislature

UNPRECEDENTED OCCURRENCES IN THE OREGON LEGISLATURE

By: Roger Beyer

Big I Oregon Lobbyist The Oregon Legislature began the 35-day session on Tuesday, February 1st. With each legislator limited to two bills and each policy committee three, just over 250 bills were introduced. The first cutoff date for the session was February 7th, the last day for policy bills to be scheduled in the first committee. Any bill had to be voted out of committee and on their way to the House and Senate chambers by the 14th. These short timelines mean things move fast or not at all.

As the legislative session began, the soon-to-be open Governor seat had quite an impact. Tina Kotek, House Speaker, and Christine Drazen, House Republican Leader, both resigned from the legislature in January to focus on campaigning for governor. Both had recently said that they’d not leave the legislature early to run for governor, so this was unexpected. It really shouldn’t have been a surprise because Senator Betsy Johnson had also left the legislature in December to focus on her campaign for governor. These three are the front runners in the governor’s race and not being able to raise money for the 35-day session would’ve been crippling for each of them in the governor’s race.

Another surprising event, Senate President Peter Courtney announced that he was not running for reelection this year but would serve out the remainder of his current term. While Courtney had been hinting at retirement, the timing of the announcement was interesting. A leader who is retiring won’t have the power they’d have if returning. With a brandnew House Speaker, lame duck Senate President and three of the four caucus leaders also new, any negotiations needed to successfully close the session could prove challenging. The resignations, announced retirements coupled with new legislative districts, will have quite an impact on the elections later this year and ultimately who will be controlling the state government for next two years. For the first time since 2010, we will have an election without an incumbent governor on the ballot and nearly half of the legislators will be new or in new districts.

This unprecedented occurrence demonstrates the importance of being involved in our political system. Big I Oregon members need to make sure they take advantage of this opportunity by registering to vote, doing their homework on the candidates, getting involved with those you think will best represent you and, most importantly, casting a vote for that person.

Getting involved can be done in multiple ways: by financially supporting the candidate of your choice, donating to OIPAC (the political action committee of Big I Oregon), donating to InsurPac (the national Big I political action committee), attending town halls or going to campaign events where you can get to know the candidate personally and volunteering time to help get them elected. Donations can be made on our website, www.bigioregon.com, under Advocacy.

If you do any of these items and the person wins the election, you will have put yourself in a position to be the “insurance expert” for that new state lawmaker. This will pay dividends for you and your industry for as long as that person remains a lawmaker in the state.

To help you get involved and stay on top of the latest goings on, Big I Oregon has launched a new monthly political forum this year. Your executive team is working to bring you legislative and campaign info to help you navigate these confusing issues. Join us for these monthly updates via Zoom, which are free to Big I Oregon members!