A walkout by most Republicans and two independent members of the Oregon Senate starting May 3 delayed action by the majority Democrats on bills related to restricting access to guns, and increasing access to abortion, and gender-transition services.
Because Oregon’s legislative rules require a two- thirds quorum to conduct business, the session ground to a halt.
The walkout enters its second week on May 8 with no end in sight.
GOP leaders are saying that the “work stoppage” is not tied to any one particular bill but rather what they say is an unconstitutional process of passing bills that fail to meet legal requirements for using language that the public can understand.
Oregon statute requires bill summaries to be written at an 8th-grade reading level, which correlates with a Flesch-Kincaid readability score of 60. The bills in question score as low as 30, corresponding to the reading level of college graduates.
“Laws are to be plainly written and easy to understand,” explained Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp.
“When the majority of bill summaries demand a post-graduate degree to understand what the bills do, we disenfranchise Oregonians across the state and violate the law in the process.”
Democrats claim the argument has no merit, although it is codified in statute. They allege Republicans are using the tactic to try to kill controversial bills that reached the chamber last week.
“The people of Oregon are not fooled,” said Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber in a press conference. “It is no coincidence that the Republicans are employing these tactics just at the time that we were about to address House Bill 2002.”
What’s in the Healthcare Bill?
HB 2002 would dramatically expand access and public funding for abortion and gender-transition procedures in Oregon. It would also allow both to take place without parental consent or notification.
Two Republicans who walked out last week are adamant about their objections and argue that the bill’s wording obscures how radical it truly is.
“The bill is a massive overhaul of Oregon healthcare to focus on a relatively small group of people and would completely upend our healthcare approach to minors,” Sen. Dennis Linthicum told The Epoch Times.
“A minor of any age could get an abortion or a minor age 15 or older could begin gender transition without parent permission or notification.”
