Special session begins Monday, Oregon lawmakers unsure what will happen
Connor Radnovich
The Oregon Legislature's special session, focused on a narrow tax break provision, begins Monday with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle unsure of what's going to happen.
Or if it will last one day or drag on all week.
Among the unknowns as of Friday afternoon: Do enough lawmakers support the governor's bill? What amendments will lawmakers propose? And how substantial will they be?
"It's very unusual to be going into a session without everything being nailed down," said Senate Democratic Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland.
Several lawmakers said there is at least one thing both sides agree on — none of them want to be in session. This is happening because the governor called for it.
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Even without Brown's declaration, lawmakers would have been in Salem next week anyway for their so-called Legislative Days, the occasional gathering of committees to discuss issues outside of regular sessions.
Among the most noteworthy testimonies are: Department of Human Services officials discussing their work on child welfare, updates from the Oregon Health Authority on the state's Medicaid overpayments, analysis of the 2017 fire season on the state economy, review of recent Secretary of State audits and unveiling of a new economic and revenue forecast.
Floor sessions and committee hearings for the tax policy bill will fit around the other hearings.
Republicans have accused Gov. Kate Brown of playing politics — that this special session is just an appeal to small business owners during an election year. There are Democrats who don't necessarily disagree with that conclusion.
The session could last for one day — as Brown called for — if there is enough policy agreement and Republicans join Democrats in suspending rules to allow for an expedited process. The Republican caucuses are set to meet Sunday.
It could stretch to five days, as the Senate president and House speaker have prepared legislators for with the creation and release of a basic schedule. It could even be three days, if a suitable bill is voted out of the House Wednesday (where the bill is originating) and Senate Republicans decide to suspend rules then.
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Senate Republicans have said they made it clear to legislative leadership and the governor's office that they want as short a session as possible, same as everyone else in the building.
"We're just trying to get along and get the hell out of this thing," said Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas.
When the session ends will, as much as anything, depend on the policy legislators can agree on.
The bill that passes could be the governor's proposal — simply an expansion of reduced income tax rates for pass-through income to sole proprietorships. Certain small businesses in the state already take advantage of the reduced rate, including limited liability companies, S corporations and partnerships.
The Legislative Revenue Office estimated Brown's bill would impact about 12,000 sole proprietorships and cost the state an estimated $11.3 million in reduced revenue this year, increasing in impact each year by about half a million dollars.
Not everyone is sold. Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, put it bluntly at a committee hearing on Wednesday: "This legislation makes no sense."
It's unclear if that bill has enough votes to pass, but there are yes and no votes in both caucuses, lawmakers and staff said.
While legislative leadership made a rule that no additional bills could be introduced during session, at least half a dozen amendments are in discussion.
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Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer, D-Portland, and Rep. David Gomberg, D-Central Coast, have an amendment that, along with expanding the provision to sole proprietors, would make substantive changes to current law: reducing the tax rates, reducing the max cap for those rates from $5 million to either $250,000, $315,000 or $750,000, reducing the full-time employment qualifying requirements and adding a sunset provision.
They said that would expand tax relief to at least 6,000 more people and still achieve revenue neutral status, a goal among some Democrats.
Boquist is submitting three amendments, two of which are adjustments to the sole proprietorship proposal, and a third which would repeal Senate Bill 1528 — the underlying reason for this tax policy squabble.
The bill disconnected Oregon from an aspect of federal tax code which would have given pass-through entities — including S corporations, LLCs and various business partnerships — an additional 20 percent deduction off Oregon income taxes.
Boquist said he doesn't expect the amendment to go anywhere, rather he is laying the groundwork for a summertime lawsuit against the state over SB 1528.
The divergent amendments could be an indicator of why Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, describes special sessions as the most difficult and dangerous kind session — things can quickly get out of control.
"We're not ready to land the plane yet, but we're working really hard," Courtney said. "You don't just rush into making public policy."
Contact the reporter at cradnovich@statesmanjournal.com or