Spring Break? Not at the Capitol
The Takeaway
While many Oregonians took a breather for spring break, the Capitol was buzzing with lawmakers scurrying to move bills through a daunting schedule as committees race to meet their first major deadline. Traditionally, the chamber of origin deadline, which requires policy committees to advance bills to keep them alive, acts as a filter, narrowing the legislature’s focus to the issues most likely to reach the finish line. Unfortunately, for this session, the filtering is more like opening the floodgates.
In previous sessions, the presiding officers took a hands-on approach to managing policy bills, often directly determining the fate of most measures. This year, they’ve shifted course, granting committee chairs broad discretion, as long as their bills don’t create new fiscal costs to the state. The rationale is sound: chairs are closest to their committees and best understand the policy mechanics, players, and relationships. In practice, however, the looser reins have made it easier for controversial and undercooked bills to advance through the process. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the House Behavioral Health and Health Care Committee, which is long known for marathon hearings during these deadlines. The committee has 84 bills scheduled for work sessions during its two meetings next week.
The logjams facing committees — and bottlenecks soon to appear on the House and Senate floors — were largely avoidable. Before the session, the presiding officers and minority leaders—a group of power brokers calling themselves the “four corners”—spent months negotiating limits on the number of bills introduced by rank-and-file members and committees. Those talks faltered after turnover in several leadership posts, and unlimited bill introductions persisted, resulting in more measures introduced for the session than any other. Now, with no effective cap on bill introductions and a flood of bills making their way to the floor, lawmakers are bracing for long, tense, and politically fraught floor sessions.
It is not just the volume of legislation changing — it is the tone of the institution itself. Oregon once prided itself on avoiding the bombast of national politics. In this session, the transformation is hard to miss. A new generation of lawmakers, shaped by the hyperpartisan national political and media environment, is often louder outside the building than in it, replacing the quiet art of Capitol politicking with social media, video shorts, and podcasts. It is great for campaign posturing but less than ideal for those with an interest in the state’s evolving policy landscape.
⚾ Play Ball! Legislature Explores Public Financing for Major League Baseball
The legislature’s tax-writing committees operate outside of the policy committee deadlines, but that did not mean a calm week. On Monday, the Senate Finance & Revenue Committee introduced a landmark proposal to extend state bonding authority for the construction of a Major League Baseball stadium in Portland. The financing mechanism dates back to a 2003 law dedicating state bonding money if Portland landed a baseball team, paid back from the income taxes of home and visiting players and staff. However, the existing law only provides $150 million in public financing, nowhere close to the costs of a stadium in today’s world. The approach, called a “jock tax,” is common for professional sports financing, and carries the support of Governor Tina Kotek, State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, and Portland Mayor Keith Wilson.
Podcast: Oregon Explores Disconnect From Federal Tax Law
We joined the state and local tax team at Greenberg Traurig LLP for the latest episode of their GeTtin' SALTy Podcast to unpack the legislature’s attempt to delink Oregon from the federal income tax. While it may sound like a wonky technical fix, the shift would have long-term ripple effects for individuals, businesses, and the state’s revenue outlook.
- In a recent poll by DHM Research for The Oregonian, Portland-area residents are split on their perceptions of Gov. Kotek. Additionally, they are skeptical about the region's ability to address homelessness.
- A Marion County Circuit Court Judge issued a temporary injunction preventing the state from blocking Gov. Kotek's executive order requiring project labor agreements for most state construction projects.
- While Oregon continues to report surplus revenues, Washington state is experiencing sizable budget shortfalls. Earlier this week, Democrats unveiled $17 billion in new taxes.
- Oregon's local governments are in their budget season, with nearly 60 percent reporting budget shortfalls of varying degrees. Multnomah County admitted some of its shortfall stems from using short-term money to pay for long-term services.
