20 bills that died in the Oregon Legislature after Republicans walked out

Starting in the second to last week of the session, nearly all Oregon Senate Republicans refused to attend floor sessions, preventing all other lawmakers from passing bills. Beth Nakamura/Staff

Oregon’s Legislature was supposed to meet for five weeks. But three weeks in, Republicans walked out and, day after day, stayed away.

Unable to pass bills, Democrats gave up Thursday and abruptly adjourned the session.

Republicans walked out to accomplish one thing: to kill Democrats’ carbon-capping climate bill. Mission accomplished, at least for now. It’s dead.

Here are 20 other bills that got traction but died because Republicans stopped all legislative action.

>> A trio of bills to enact an unprecedented effort to restore forest health and quadruple the number of acres subjected to thinning and controlled burns: Senate Bill 1514, Senate Bill 1516 and Senate Bill 1536.

>> A bipartisan bill to provide $45 million to open homeless shelters and to allow them to be located regardless of zoning, planning and design rules. House Bill 4001 would also have given Eugene and Salem $5 million each, Bend and Medford $2.5 million and McMinnville $1.5 million to open super-shelters that would offer not only shelter but also connections to health care, public assistance, social services and other community supports. Cities and counties would have gotten a share of $27 million in one-time help to create or operate shelters with low barriers for entry.

>> A bill granting independence to the state’s government transparency expert, who currently answers to the governor. The Senate passed Senate Bill 1506 unanimously before the Republican House boycott killed it.

>> Senate Bill 1552 would have greatly expanded community mental health treatment.

>> House Bill 4010, which would have trimmed a capital gains tax break for wealthy investors and required legislative economists to study its potential impacts on future state revenue since no one in the state has quantified the likely impact.

>> A bill to clarify Oregon’s new $1 billion-a-year business tax for education and lessen its impact on agricultural producers, House Bill 4009.

>> A bill to require most businesses and state and local government agencies to accept cash. House Bill 4107 contained a bipartisan-backed prohibition on discrimination based on culturally associated hairstyles.

>> A bill requiring out-of-state facilities to meet Oregon’s standards before an Oregon foster child could be sent to live there, Senate Bill 1566.

>> A bill to begin state regulation of the drug kratom and ban sales to minors under 21, House Bill 4013.

>> A bill that would require schools to offer free breakfast to more than 100,000 additional children, Senate Bill 1520.

>> A requirement that guns be stored safely, House Bill 4005.

>> A bill to permanently increase the state’s tourism lodging tax, with the implicit understanding that millions from the tax would go to help put on the Eugene 2021 world track championships, House Bill 4047.

>> A bill to delay 2006 voter approved campaign contribution limits until at least July 2021 and create a task force to recommend new contribution limits, House Bill 4124.

>> A bill that would have provided $50 million to fast-track affordable housing, House Bill 5201.

>> A bill that expands requirements for public officials in Oregon to disclose their financial conflicts of interest, House Bill 4123.

>> A bill authorizing nearly $300 million in borrowing to help update and expand buildings on a half-dozen public university campuses, House Bill 5202.

>> A bill that would have required the Department of Human Services to prioritize finalizing roughly 700 pending adoptions that have been delayed by paperwork. Since Oregon has approximately 7,000 children in foster care, that could result in a 10 percent reduction in the caseload. The state’s child welfare program is also one area where lawmakers wanted to direct a chunk of the nearly $500 million revenue windfall economists predicted in a November forecast.

>> A bill capping how much patients could be charged for insulin, House Bill 4073.

— Hillary Borrud | hborrud@oregonian.com | 503-294-4034 | @hborrud

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