Okay, sure, everything is on fire. (Metaphorically, literally, whichever. I’m not here to dictate your disaster truth.)
But lawmakers across the nation (in 38 states, specifically) are still grinding away in legislative sessions, doing the people’s work.
… except for where they’re, like, not.
Bye Bye Bye: After voters in their districts placed sufficient faith in these folks to represent them in the state capitol, to draft and vote on bills, to debate their colleagues, to generally do the people’s business, Republicans in Oregon have fled the state capitol rather than, like, do their jobs.
… for the third time in two years.
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- Almost every single GOP lawmaker in Oregon — in both the House and Senate — left the statehouse this week to prevent votes on a landmark piece of environmental legislation.
- The bill (SB 1530), which would cap greenhouse gas emissions and directly attach a cost to that pollution, was nearing a floor vote on Monday when Republican senators fled, denying the chamber a quorum to vote on that bill — or any other.
- The measure wasn’t actually anywhere near a House vote, but GOP representatives decided to give themselves a little vacay anyway, joining their Senate colleagues at undisclosed out of state locations the next day.
- Under the state constitution, a two-thirds quorum of a chamber’s members must be present to conduct business.
- So, despite the fact that voters gave Democrats supermajorities in both chambers in the 2018 election, at least two Republicans must be present in each for anything to get done.
- For the record, exactly one Republican in each chamber declined to join their colleagues in their complete abdication of their responsibilities to their constituents: Sen. Tim Knopp and Rep. Cheri Holt, who both represent swing districts.
- Bills that are ready for floor votes but will not receive them while Republicans refuse to do their damn jobs include:
- Permanently providing $2.5 million annually in grants to small school districts,
- Requiring the Department of Human Services to finalize about 700 adoptions hung up in paperwork delays since the summer,
- Making it easier for the state to honor deceased veterans,
- Protecting water rights for property owners, and
- Enabling the creation fo additional affordable housing in part of the state.
- Without a quorum, bills can’t be worked on in committees, either.
- For example, the Senate wants to begin consideration of a measure that would protect insulin users from unaffordable prices—which sailed out of the House 47-8.
Anyway, yeah, so these are just some of the measures that Republicans are being paid by taxpayers to not work on while they enjoy their little out of state jaunts.
- And lawmakers are running out of time to do their jobs.
- Session is slated to officially adjourn on March 8.
The thing is … we saw this coming, right?
As an erudite reader of this missive, you may recall that Republican senators in Oregon walked out last year OVER THIS VERY SAME ISSUE.
(okay yes also I mentioned it above)
… and IT WORKED.
- A couple of key Democrats balked under poor leadership, and Republicans were effectively rewarded for taking a taxpayer-funded vacation that killed a bill they didn’t like but didn’t have the votes to actually defeat the old-fashioned way.
So of course Republicans tried this same tactic again this year.
Have Democrats learned their lesson? Will they refuse to negotiate with legislative hostage-takers?
We’ll see soon enough.
No Scrubs: New Democratic majorities in the Virginia General Assembly have absolutely resulted in a lot of great things that are either heading to the governor’s desk for his certain signature or have already been signed into law.
- To name a few:
- But Democratic lawmakers in their positions of power that still have that new car smell have let down some of the folks who elected them just a few months ago, too.
- Bills to repeal Virginia’s so-called “right to work” law and create a statewide paid family leave program are dead.
- A bill to allow public sector workers to collectively bargain was watered down to only allow bargaining by employees of localities that adopt ordinances specifically authorizing it.
- A bill to allow localities to pass their own gun safety measures was diluted to restrict local power over guns to municipal buildings and parks.
- A ban on assault weapon sales is dead.
Virginia’s session still has over a week left in it, so we’ll see how things shake out in the end.
And I don’t want to be accused of looking a gift majority in the mouth, so to speak.
But as good as this year’s General Assembly is shaping up to be, there’s no denying it could have been even better for Virginians.
Gives You Hell: Republicans lawmakers in Kentucky continue to be incensed that the state’s voters had the temerity to elect a Democrat as their governor last fall.
- Consequently, they’re doing what they can to strip Gov. Andy Beshear of various aspects of his authority as the state’s executive.
- GOP lawmakers’ current play: Eliminating the governor’s power to appoint the state’s transportation secretary.
Charming.
This is obviously a high profile election, you’ve got a very competitive Senate seat and a very competitive election for essentially determining which party controls the Senate.
Hey, at least Democrats in Colorado repealed the death penalty this week. Hooray!
Welp, that’s all for this week. I’d say maybe you should think about knocking off early, but you know what? Maybe it’s your boss’s turn for a change. She’s been so great about letting you get a jump on your weekends; why don’t you return the favor for once? I mean, who do you think picks up your slack when you’re out, anyway? When’s the last time you even told her how much you appreciate that?
So yeah, print this out and show it to your boss and see what you can do to help her get out of the office this time around.