Oregon senators who boycott floor sessions face fines of $325 a day starting Monday, after a vote by Senate Democrats on Thursday.
Fines are one tool Senate President Rob Wagner and his Democratic caucus can use to try to compel fellow members to take part in Senate business. Since May 3, enough Republican senators plus independent Sen. Brian Boquist have boycotted floor sessions to deny the 20-member quorum required for votes.
Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp of Bend issued a statement blasting Wagner for what he called retaliation against the Republican caucus.
Senate Democrats set the fine at $325 to match roughly how much lawmakers are compensated for a day’s work, according to a press release from their caucus.
“Oregonians who do not show up to work don’t get paid,” Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber of Beaverton said in a statement. “Senators who do not show up need to start returning the hard-earned tax dollars they do not earn.”
Under a provision of the state constitution, senators present on the floor Thursday voted 16 to 2 to accede to Lieber’s request for the fines. The two Republicans who did not take part in the boycott that day, Dick Anderson and David Brock Smith, voted no.
Nearly every action by the Senate requires a 20 member quorum. But an exception in the constitution says that “a smaller number may meet ... and compel the attendance of absent members.”
In 2019, after 11 Senate Republicans walked out of the Capitol to avoid the vote on a contentious climate change bill, then-Senate President Peter Courtney said he would levy $500 fines daily on each absent lawmaker.
But Democrats ultimately pulled back on that plan, saying that imposing the fines would require “lengthy litigation and hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer-funded legal fees,” given Republicans’ objections.
This year, Republicans are on track to kill hundreds of bills and derail top priorities for Gov. Tina Kotek, including plans to accelerate home building, boost the reading skills of young children and fix the state’s public defense crisis.
Kotek said Wednesday that her negotiations over the last week with Republicans to end their walkout ended in deadlock, after Republicans continued to insist that Democrats kill or substantially pare back a bill that would expand access to abortion and other reproductive care for children under the age of 15.
Note: This story was updated June 2 to reflect that the entire Senate Democractic caucus, not Senate President Rob Wagner acting alone, made the decision to impose the daily fines.
-- Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @ORPolEds