Some Republican lawmakers returned to the Oregon Senate on Saturday, ending a walkout over a carbon-emissions bill they said would harm rural voters.
A TV reporter interviews self-employed logger Bridger Hasbrouck outside the Oregon Statehouse in Salem on Thursday.
Democrats have an 18-12 majority in the Senate but need at least 20 members — and therefore at least two Republicans — present to vote on legislation. “That’s a bill that's been many, many years in the making,” Gelser told reporters Saturday."I think there’s a lot of heartbreak, but today is one day and we’ll come back and address it. We have to. Our planet demands it.”
One of the Republicans absent Saturday was Sen. Brian Boquist, who had told state police to come heavily armed and to send bachelor officers if they were going to forcibly return him to the Senate during the walkout. Senate Minority leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., on Friday refused to condemn Boquist's words, saying only that the comments were unhelpful.
Democrats had said the climate legislation was critical to make Oregon a leader in the fight against climate change and will ultimately create jobs and transform the economy. The Republicans wielded power disproportionate to their numbers this session. They walked out of the Senate last month to block a school funding tax package. They returned only after Gov. Kate Brown brokered a deal in which Democrats dropped legislation on gun control and children’s vaccination requirements.
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