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Reader, beware: What follows is mostly gossip and opinion.
Ever since 1977, when we first began our biennial Good, Bad & Awful survey of metro-area legislators, we’ve started the story with that warning.
Normally, we traffic in facts and attributed quotes. But people in the Capitol—lobbyists, staff members and other regular observers—are uncomfortable speaking on the record about lawmakers. So for this issue only, we grant sources anonymity in order to provide readers with candid assessments of the Portland-area legislators who craft Oregon’s laws and shape its biennial $30 billion general fund budget. They fill out surveys—adding comments—and also tell us what they think in background interviews.
The consensus about this year’s session: Yecch!
Lawmakers did pass some bills early in the session: most notably a $200 million emergency housing package. But on May 3, Senate Republicans walked out. They blamed Democrats for overreaching on reproductive rights and gun control and, in a self-own, complained that bill summaries exceeded their reading comprehension. It amounted to a cry of frustration at Democrats’ electoral dominance and set the stage for last-minute drama when they returned last week.
In hindsight, the 2023 legislative session never could have been other than a train wreck.
For the first time in 20 years, the Senate got a new president: Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego), who rocketed to the Capitol’s top position just five years after being appointed to a vacant seat. His coronation left bruised feelings on both sides of the aisle. The House also got a new speaker for the first time in a decade. Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis) took over from Tina Kotek, the first new governor in eight years.
That’s three decades of leadership experience, replaced with rookies.
The musical chairs extended to both chambers: More than half of the 60 House districts sent new representatives to the Capitol, either from turnover or redistricting. The Senate, where the 30 members serve four-year terms (versus two in the House) welcomed eight members who were either new or in different seats.
So while Democrats maintained control of both chambers, they lacked the sophistication, experience and personal relationships with their GOP counterparts to defuse the minority party’s tantrum. It was like the Democrats got a new Tesla but couldn’t charge the battery.
On a more positive note, both chambers saw diversity unprecedented in Oregon’s lily-white history, with record numbers of women and people of color winning seats.
Former Sen. Rick Metsger (D-Welches), who served in the Senate from 1999 to 2011, returned to the Capitol this session as a lobbyist. He found lawmakers struggling to adjust to all the changes—including in-person meetings—amid the jackhammering, pounding and general cacophony of a $500 million renovation that closed many public and meeting areas.
“Whether you are an advocate or a lawmaker, success in the legislative process hinges greatly on building relationships,” he says. “With two-thirds of the legislators serving only their first or second sessions, that is a challenging task.”
Thanks to the longest walkout in Oregon history—43 days—far fewer bills than normal got robust debate in both chambers. The Republicans’ June 15 return created a mad rush to catch up ahead of the session’s scheduled June 25 conclusion.
And while GOP senators deployed their nuclear option, Oregonians should also know that Democrats failed to solve the walkout problem with 2022′s Measure 113.
Instead of changing the definition of a quorum—the number of lawmakers who must be present in a chamber to pass bills—from two-thirds to a simple majority, the rule in 45 states, Oregon chose to be exceptional. That cost lawmakers and, more importantly, harmed the general public that depends on them to do their jobs.
“The learning curve is steep under the best of circumstances,” Metsger says. “But with the walkout, everyone seems to be making up plays as they go without a clear idea of where the goal posts are or how to get there.”
With so many new names and such dysfunction, it would be understandable if our jurors admitted to being baffled. But some clear themes emerged: Housing and homelessness and the related issues of mental illness and addiction are top of mind. In fact, they are of such importance that Oregon’s vaunted land use system faces its greatest threat in 50 years, as lawmakers confront the difficult balance between protecting what makes Oregon special and providing the most basic human services.
Let’s hope they are up to the task. Our respondents had thoughts on that.
Some new names rose to the top of this year’s rankings. Rep. Dacia Grayber (D-Southwest Portland) is hardly well known, but those we surveyed think she should be. Sen. Kate Lieber (D-Southwest Portland) also scored highly. Meanwhile, two of the three GOP House members in our survey, Reps. Brian Stout (R-Columbia City) and James Hieb (R-Canby) racked up historically abysmal scores.
Here’s how they and the rest of the metro-area lawmakers scored this year:
WW news intern Lee Vankipuram oversaw data collection for this story.