GOP senators set to return to Oregon Capitol after prolonged walkout over cap-and-trade bill

SALEM, Ore. – Republican state senators will return to the Oregon Capitol on Saturday morning, ending a walkout protest that lasted more than a week and garnered national attention.

Awaiting them is a list of about 130 budget and policy bills the chamber still has to consider before the Legislature is required to adjourn Sunday at midnight.

Any bills that don't pass both chambers by that deadline are dead.

Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. said the Republicans are returning because they were assured that a sweeping greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade bill does not have the votes to pass.

The lawmakers also have a constitutional responsibility to pass budgets for state agencies, and he said they intended to do that.

The 11 Republican senators fled Salem – and the state – last week because the greenhouse gas emissions bill was scheduled for a vote.

The measure, HB 2020, would have been the nation’s second economy-wide cap on greenhouse gas emissions. Its purpose was to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Supporters said it would create new, clean energy jobs and position Oregon for future federal action. Opponents said it would drive business out of state and make gasoline and other fuels unaffordable.

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Declining to show up for floor sessions meant the Senate lacked a quorum needed to conduct business. With 18 members in the Senate, Democrats are in the supermajority, but they need two Republicans to reach a quorum of 20.

“Denying a quorum is something that should never be used until we get to a point when we no longer will talk," Baertschiger said. "It’s tough."

Baertschiger said he hoped all members of the caucus would be back this weekend, but some went a long distance from Oregon and, logistically, returning by midnight Sunday might be difficult.

11 GOP senators could return as 12

The senators who left the Capitol last week could return with one more member after GOP state Rep. Denyc Boles was sworn in Friday afternoon to replace the late Sen. Jackie Winters.

The last floor session Senate Republicans attended was on June 19.

After hearing that their Republican colleagues would be returning to the Capitol, Senate Democratic leaders said the main feeling among their caucus was "relief."

Senate Democratic Leader Ginny Burdick said even though the past two weeks have been marked by inflammatory rhetoric on both sides of the aisle, Democrats now need to focus on passing bills.

"We are determined to get through it as quickly as possible and not to have distractions and rhetoric or anything else," she said. "These are very important bills. The bills are more important than any of our feelings at this point, and we just need to suck it up and get it done for the people of Oregon."

Bills with broad support still hanging

The Senate will also still have to vote on the cap-and-trade bill because of where it is in the legislative process, but not necessarily on the substance of the bill. The paths forward include a final up-or-down vote on the policy, a vote to send the bill to a committee (including a committee that is already finished for this session), a vote to table the bill, or votes to move the bill down to the bottom of the agenda.

Republicans walked out over the climate bill, yet when Courtney declared on Tuesday that the bill did not have enough votes to pass the Senate, they were hesitant to return.

Republican senators and staff said they needed assurances that the bill really didn't have the votes. Legislative staff said Baertschiger trusts Courtney, but there is rampant mistrust in his caucus of Democrats so near the end of the contentious session.

Baertschiger said he eventually got those assurances.

"The trust in the Oregon State Capitol is probably at the lowest it's ever been and that saddens me, because it’s going to take a long, long time to regain trust amongst legislators," Baertschiger said.

Governor, GOP leader launch talks

Serious negotiations started Wednesday when Gov. Kate Brown called him and said they should talk. Brown had authorized state troopers to identify where the Republican senators were hiding and bring them back to the Capitol.

Oregon State Police jurisdiction ends at the state border.

Baertschiger returned to Oregon that evening after being informed that the state police were no longer looking for Senate Republicans.

As the walkout continued, some senators wrote that their political protest was about more than just the climate bill – they were fighting back against what they consider unbridled partisanship from their Democratic colleagues this session.

Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Steiner Hayward said that she is relieved Republicans are set to return to the building and hoped the chamber could move through their remaining work harmoniously.

"I hope that everybody, Republicans and Democrats alike, chooses to be on their most professional, civilized behavior over the next couple of days so we can get the people's work done," she said.

The Senate met Friday without any Republicans present.

Follow Connor Radnovich on Twitter: @CDRadnovich

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: GOP senators set to return to Oregon Capitol after prolonged walkout over cap-and-trade bill