Oregonians will punish GOP legislators if they walk out again

I'm already irked again at Republicans in the state legislature, because they're indicating that another walkout could happen in the upcoming short legislative session over a bill to reduce carbon pollution in Oregon and stem global warming.

The leader of the Senate Republicans has said a walkout is possible, as has the leader of the House Republicans. 

The GOP leader in the Oregon Senate says there could be another walkout by Republicans over legislation aimed at stemming global warming.

Senate Minority Leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., told reporters Wednesday that a bill being prepared by Democrats in the Legislature, which they control, is similar to one that was introduced in 2019.

...Senate Republicans left the state in the 2019 legislative session in order to prevent a vote on the controversial climate change proposal. A measure to curb carbon emissions is once again at the top of Democrats’ priority list, and Republicans have signaled that another walk out is not off the table.

Newly elected House Republican Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, said a walkout is a “breakdown of the process,” but she didn’t rule it out as an option to block the climate change bill.

Republican legislators need to carry out the job they were elected to do: legislate.

That means voting on bills that come before the legislature. If Republicans want to defeat bills they don't like, and pass bills they do like, they should work harder to win elections, not throw a temper-tantrum and walk out when they fail to get their way.

Fortunately, most Oregonians feel like I do, according to a Willamette Week story, "Poll Results Suggest Oregonians Favor Political Consequences for Republican Walkout Tactics."

A new poll, paid for by a group of the state's public-sector unions, suggests voters are supportive of political consequences for senators who stage a walkout, like the one that blocked last year's carbon-cap bill.

"Fully 63% of these voters say they are less likely to vote for an incumbent senator who participated in the walkouts—and more than two in five (42%) say they are 'much less likely' to do so," according to a memo provided to WW on the poll by FM3, which sampled 750 likely November voters.

...The polling suggests a further walkout might cause trouble for Republicans in swing districts—and provide an incentive not to opt for the tactic this session.

Joe Baessler, associate director of AFSCME Council 75, says the poll, paid for by the public-employee union-backed group Our Oregon, showed similar results in those two Senate districts—those held by state Sens. Tim Knopp (R-Bend) and Denyc Boles (R-Salem)—where Democrats are looking to upset Republican incumbents.

OK, that's great news. As is reporting by OPB that union leaders plan to file an initiative that could result in legislators being kicked out of office if they have too many unexcused absences. 

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown and Democratic legislative leaders have played down the idea of trying to amend the Constitution to prevent future walkouts of the kind staged by Republicans during last year’s legislative session. 

But a top labor leader says public employee unions are planning to file a proposed ballot initiative that would threaten legislators who walk out with being tossed from office.

Joe Baessler, political director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, said polling conducted by the unions show that “voters really seem to like the idea that if you don’t show up to work, you lose your job.”

The proposed constitutional amendment, Baessler said, would oust legislators who have at least 10 unexcused absences in a year.

Excellent idea. 

I was deeply disappointed last year when Democrats let the Republicans who walked out, not once but twice, get away with zero negative consequences. No state troopers sent to bring them back. No fines. No nothing. 

If a child misbehaves and their parents don't do anything, that makes it more likely that the child will do the same thing again. Ditto for a dog that misbehaves.

So it's entirely predictable that Republicans are talking about another walkout next month, since in 2019 they were rewarded with killing the climate change bill, plus bills dealing with gun control and mandatory vaccinations that the clueless Democrats killed as an incentive to get the Republicans to stop their first walkout.

Hopefully the poll results and the proposed ballot initiative will show Republicans in the state legislature that voters are tired of their walk-out antics, and some serious consequences will befall the GOP if they stage another paid vacation to Idaho while the legislature is in session.

It sure would be nice not to see another Wanted Poster for Republicans failing to do their jobs.

 

Comments

[Skyline]

"A new poll, paid for by a group of the state's public-sector unions,......"
HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!
Oh boy; that's a good one!
Maybe we should have the Oregon Farm Bureau, or the Oregon Trucker's Association take a poll?
Thanks for the morning laugh.....

[tucson]

" If Republicans want to defeat bills they don't like, and pass bills they do like, they should work harder to win elections, not throw a temper-tantrum and walk out when they fail to get their way."

-- Isn't that what Democrats have been doing since Nov. 2016?.. Throwing a 3+ year tantrum because they didn't get their way?

Get ready to continue.

[Kurt]

Good point Skyline. I agree. Everyone seems to use polls that support their position.
Tucson: Trump has committed "high crimes and misdemeanors", as defined by Hamilton in the Federalist Papers, which specifically included the term "abuse of power". Trump pressured a foreign government to help him win a political contest. The framers were especially concerned about foreign government interference because of the history of such throughout Europe. The Americans also liked the idea of not living under a King and having free elections.
It seems that there are now many who are willing to give up those benefits for a false sense of security and a way to express their totally justifiable frustration with the corrupt government that existed before the Trump takeover.
Real campaign finance reform would have been a better approach than throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

[tucson]

We could argue the points you made all day long, but I think it comes down to this:..

I think people perceive Trump's actions as you do because they do not like the man, his style, manner and demeanor. Therefore you perceive his actions through that lens of dislike. But, If you look at his actions while pretending you don't dislike the man and are neutral about him, you will see there is no crime.

It's like a man that a woman perceives as sleazy because she has had unpleasant experiences with other men who dressed and spoke as he does. He pays her a compliment saying he likes the jacket she is wearing. She is insulted and thinks he is coming on for sex when all he was really doing was paying her an honest compliment and had no ulterior motive. She quickly exits fearing he is about to molest her.

[Kurt]

It sounds like what you are saying is that I am afraid that Donald Trump wants to molest me.
Seriously, though, he is the only orange faced clown I know of, so there is no other person that I am confusing him with.
I am a pool player. I thrive when in the company of those with his style, manner and demeanor.
I just don't want many of them to have any real power. He was great as a reality TV host, but, as is often the case, people tend to rise to stations beyond what is appropriate to their abilities.
When I call him an orange faced clown, I do not mean to be particularly disrespectful - just descriptive. Our friend Bill Maher recently said, while showing clips from campaign rally speeches, that he is a good comedian

[Skyline]

But here is the catch-22 we're in Kurt; If you don't vote for President Trump, then whom?
As a registered democrat all of my voting years, someone that voted both times for Bill Clinton, I DO NOT want any of the radical leftists running in the democratic primary in charge of our country.
An as for Uncle Joe (who's movin kind'a slow) Biden; he belongs in a memory care facility.
President Trump is going to win again MAINLY due to the ultra, ultra, radical leftists that most American's DO NOT identify with.
I do not agree with ANYTHING the democrat party stands for today. The democrat party that I signed onto as soon as I could vote has abandoned main stream America. The democrat party of our parents era no longer exists.
Sad....

[Kurt]

Skyline: Damned if we do and damned if we don"t.
Our choice seems to be between left wing fascism (Brave New World) and right wing fascism (1984).
And so it goes. The situation is desperate, as usual.