OPINION
The Session Ahead Will reason and the common good have a chance when our elected representatives gather in Salem next month? The toxic politics of our nation's capital couldn't poison public life here--or could they? One true test lies in the Oregon Legislature's upcoming session. On the surface, it appears the going may be smooth and productive. After all, as The Oregonian reported a few weeks ago, Senate President Brady Adams' budget proposal nearly parallels Gov. John Kitzhaber's. Moreover, the Republicans' legislative agenda seems generally palatable, especially its emphasis on cleaning up urban waterways and funding significant highway improvements. So why are are we, and a lot of other Salem-watchers, anxious? For starters, key conditions underlying the upcoming session are disconcertingly similar to those at work in Washington, D.C. A few days ago, The New York Times suggested that the environment fueling President Clinton's impeachment was influenced by 1) the end of the communist threat on the global stage and 2) the replacement of conservative Democrats in the South by fundamentalist Republicans. The first signaled the end of a common enemy, the second, the demise of a significant legislative buffer. In Oregon the stakes may be smaller and the political developments of a lesser order, but we have lost sight of the common enemy--in this case, Californication. Over the last decade or so we, too, have lost the legislative buffer provided by conservative Democrats from rural areas--especially in the southern part of the state. There are other reasons for concern about the upcoming session. For instance, if the implications of last month's general election are to be believed, Oregon's rural-urban split is more pronounced than ever, with special animus directed at Portland. There is such complete misunderstanding at both ends of the spectrum that folks in Baker City and LaGrande are incapable of seeing the value to them of a strong education system in Portland, and Portlanders are equally incapable of appreciating the economic value that comes from our natural resources. Then too, Bill Sizemore remains a force, despite the sound trouncing he received in his pathetic effort to be elected governor. He is already at work on ballot measures for the year 2000 that would abolish regional government, gut land-use planning, privatize key government services and make it harder to raise government revenues. Declining revenue forecasts threaten to drive deeper the wedge between those who want additional tax cuts and those who want to increase spending on key state services--like education and transportation. Fundamentalist religious beliefs (whose proponents are incapable of understanding that politics represents the art of the possible) are driving the conservative agenda, especially in the House. Finally--and perhaps most significant--there is nothing even resembling a shared vision of what Oregon should be about. That is, there is no consensus in our public life about the most fundamental fact about Oregon: This remains the most livable, hopeful place in all America. It is for reasons like these that seasoned legislative watchers dread the session ahead. So which will it be? A demonstration that things really are different here--or a sign that the cancer has spread? Starting in January we'll do our best to keep you posted. In the meantime, we continue to hope for the best. Happy 1999.
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