Missing Oregon Senators Are Hiding Out in Idaho With Burner Phones

For five days, Senate Republicans have been absent from Salem to deny Democrats a quorum needed to pass a carbon emissions bill. Most if not all of them are hiding out across state lines—which means Oregon State Police officers can't retrieve them.

Today, the Wall Street Journal reported a story of the senators' life on the lam. Sen. Cliff Bentz (R-Ontario) and Sen. Tim Knopp (R-Bend) told the WSJ that they are hiding out in Idaho.

Bentz said he changed hotels twice and bought a burner phone, which he has yet to set up, to outwit Oregon police.

Knopp first drove to Washington, but decided that Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee wouldn't be sympathetic to his cause.

"What better way to energize that campaign than to return intransigent Republicans so they can vote on climate change?" Knopp told the WSJ. "I was like, I've got to get out of here."

Knopp is now camping out in Idaho, watching senate sessions on his iPad and using scant cell reception to Skype his 11-year-old daughter.

Senate minority leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. (R-Grants Pass) also accidentally confessed his location to the WSJ, by borrowing a cell phone from a nearby colleague: Bentz.

Bentz said he plans to stay in Idaho for months if need be.

Senators are fined by Gov. Kate Brown $500 dollars each day they are absent from the Legislature. Brown last week sent the Oregon State Police to find the missing senators, but the officers' jurisdiction ends at the state border.

In Idaho, a Republican-controlled state, police said they would not help search for the senators, as none have broken any state laws.

Missing Oregon Senators Are Hiding Out in Idaho With Burner Phones

“I was like, I’ve got to get out of here.”