Oregon legislative leaders look ahead to 2022 session

The Oregon Legislature kicks off its 2022 session on Tuesday with new leaders in both chambers. We hear from two of them: the new House Majority Leader, Rep. Julie Fahey (D-West Eugene and Junction City) and the new Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Tim Knopp (R-Bend). We’ll ask what they hope to accomplish in the short session, and how well Republicans and Democrats can work together in Salem right now.

The following transcript was created by a computer and edited by a volunteer:

Dave Miller: This is Think Out Loud on OPB, I’m Dave Miller. The Oregon legislature kicks off its 2022 session tomorrow with strong revenue forecasts, a pandemic still in full force, the usual sharp partisan divide about the purpose of a short session, and new leaders in both chambers. We’re going to get a preview of the session now from two of those leaders. Julie Fahey, a Democrat from West Eugene and Junction City is the new House Majority Leader. Tim Knopp, a Republican from Bend, is the new Senate Minority Leader. Welcome to you both.

Julie Fahey: Thanks for having us.

Tim Knopp: Thank you.

Miller: So let’s start with the idea of a short session. As I noted, there have often been partisan disagreements about what you should do as lawmakers in a short session. Tim Knopp first, what do you think should happen in one of these even-year short sessions?

Knopp: Well, we should do exactly what was sold to the public when they voted for what is now the short, or annual sessions. And so a constitutional session, in word and spirit, is one that works on budget issues, one that works on technical issues, and one that works on emergencies, and is not just simply an extension of “Hey, these are policy things we didn’t get done in the last session. So let’s do them in this session.” And so, we’ll be pushing back on some of those things we don’t think are true emergencies or technical issues. In previous sessions we’ve seen major, major policy things happen in short sessions. And I think it just doesn’t give the public enough time to weigh in on these. Most of the hearings will be 20 minutes to an hour tops, and will probably only have one hearing, where normally we would have two or three, and spend several hours on significant issues. So I think that’s where we see the short sessions right now.

Miller: Julie Fahey, what about you? What should happen? What kinds of things are appropriate to take up in a short session?

Fahey: I think the situation that we are in right now is exactly what short sessions were built for. To react to some of the emergent issues, things that really cannot wait two years between our long sessions. So I think it’s important to remember that this is our first short session since the pandemic started, and since we had the wildfires and the extreme heat and weather events of the last couple of years. And there’s still a need to make some essential budget adjustments and to get relief to Oregon communities. So we have a number of really significant issues we’re wanting to tackle in the short session, because there are things that Oregonians want us to work on.

We know local businesses are having a hard time hiring workers. One of our top priorities is going to be investing in pipeline development to better support our health care workers and in other industries. Too many people struggle to buy a home or to make rent. And so this session, we’re going to pass additional investments on housing and homelessness. And there’s just a number of other issues around child care and climate that are things that we do need to tackle right now. So, we’ve been doing a lot of work in the interim to prepare for the session, and I’m looking forward to passing some meaningful policies that will help Oregonians with the issues they’re facing right now.

Miller: Tim Knopp, to turn to the workforce training, Governor Brown is asking lawmakers to pass a $200 million plan to boost training for future jobs in construction, healthcare, and manufacturing this session. What do you think about this idea?

Knopp: Well, the labor shortage, workforce shortage is in fact an emergency. It is upon us. Most businesses that I know of would hire someone today if they could, or several someones. And so I do think it’s a critical issue to take up. And this is a big lift for what the Governor has, in a short session, but we are doing our best to try to work with the Governor and our fellow Democrats across the aisle to try to come up with a package that is reflective of the entire state, and is reflective of the emergency that exists.

Some of what the Governor wants to do is for the longer term, and there are sessions for that, but for the short term, I think it’s critical that we get people back to work in jobs that currently exist. And I think we can best do that by focusing on our workforce development boards, and maybe there’s other places that we could invest. I think we’re gonna find some commonality. Some of what the Governor wants to do may not be necessary to do in this session, but we will look at it all, and try to do what we can. But as I said, when you’re only having a hearing for a very limited amount of time, it’s pretty difficult to pass major sweeping projects or reforms.

Miller: Julie Fahey, can you remind us how the public will be able to take part in this session? What are the rules right now in terms of access to the capital, and participation in either watching the proceedings or providing input on bills?

Fahey: Well, the capital is open to the public now. There’s some construction going on, so there’s some parts of the building that are not accessible, but the public can come and watch our floor sessions from the galleries. In terms of participation, we are, both because of the Omicron surge and because of the ongoing construction in the building that’s closed some of the hearing rooms, committee hearings will be held virtually again this session. So that means that the public can call in to testify. They can Zoom, do a video conference. Or they can come to the capital, where there will be a staffed terminal to provide testimony.

I know there’s always some challenges when we’re incorporating technology into our lives, but I have heard from so many people how grateful they are for the option to have their voice heard without having to drive to the capital, take time off work, figure out childcare. Both Senator Knopp and I represent districts that are a little ways away from the capital, and so for our constituents, it’s much more convenient for them.

Miller: And obviously there are colleagues of yours whose constituents are way further than either of yours as well.

Fahey: Absolutely. I remember that one of the first hearings that I chaired in the Housing Committee last year, we had a testimony from a Habitat for Humanity Executive Director in Southern Oregon on a housing bill. And I thought, “Boy, she would have had to drive five hours to the capital just to give her five minutes of testimony,” and how great it was that we could hear perspectives from all over the state on some of the issues that we were working on.

Miller: Tim Knopp, should this be a permanent change of some kind? To really make it easy for Oregonians to weigh in wherever they are, and let technology do work, even when the pandemic is over, whenever that’s going to be?

Knopp: Yes. In fact, Republicans, mainly because our districts are usually 2 to 7 hours away from the capital, have been asking for some sort of remote testimony opportunities beyond just the phone. We’ve all seen the awkwardness of what the phone calls look like, and some of the disruption that has been. But I think if we can incorporate the video conferencing as a permanent fixture as part of what we do.

I don’t think you can ever replace in-person testimony, nor should we. And I think that’s critically important as well, and we need to get back to that as soon as we possibly can, because it is very different and quite frankly more impactful when people are sitting there maybe 20 ft apart. You get to see the body language. Their concern comes across a lot more in person. I think you just get more out of it when you have in-person committees. But I do like the virtual aspect, that should be added as a permanent fixture in what we do.

Miller: Julie Fahey, I mentioned that there have been pretty robust revenue forecasts recently. There’s also some federal COVID relief money that could still be spent. Are you thinking about the money in state coffers right now and the money is likely to come in as, in a sense, one time money in one way or another, potentially boosted by temporary, we think, inflation? Or are you thinking about this as money that you can count on going forward for longer term programs?

Fahey: I think we do have to consider this as one time funding. Obviously, the funding from the federal government and the American Rescue Plan Act is one time. It is also an opportunity for us to tackle some really significant issues that are facing Oregonians right now, particularly around bringing the cost of living down generally. Last session, we made record investments in housing. And this session, there’ll be a big proposal, the Governor’s proposing about 400 million to address housing and homelessness. Childcare is another big issue that we can really tackle with some one time spending, increasing the supply of childcare providers, and providing additional subsidies for working parents and those providers, which will help with the workforce challenges that we’re facing as well. So I do think there’s some really important things that we can do with that funding, even if it’s not ongoing.

And it’s important for us to save some funding for a rainy day. We know that our revenue forecast will not always be this positive. We are talking about reserving a significant amount of funding for a potential future downturn. Oregon already has some of the best funded reserves of any state in the country, and we need to keep it that way.

Miller: The Governor, Tim Knopp, talked about keeping something like $500 million in reserve for future downturns. What is an amount that Republicans are thinking is correct?

Knopp: Well, the correct answer is as much as possible. The appetite to spend in the building is pretty significant. And you know, you could spend every dime of the money that’s available. And there are reserve funds, but there’s also the ending balance, and I really believe that’s what we’re talking about here, in terms of half a billion dollars in the ending balance, and we think it needs to be higher than that, probably 700, 800 million or more.

And I think we have to look at these programs very carefully, and what kind of impact will they have? We’re having another session, no more than 12 months from now. And so, there’s the opportunity once again to address spending and other issues. So we really need to make sure that these issues that we’re going to spend money on now are, in fact, urgent, and need to be done now. And so I think everybody needs to put a critical eye on each of these programs and say “What do we need to do, and what can we put to another session?” Because times change. Markets change. And we’ve had some pretty good economic forecasts. And usually those are followed by some that are not so good. So we definitely need to be preparing for a rainy day.

Miller: Tim Knopp, you were the lone Senate Republican who didn’t take part in a walk out during the 2020 session over the cap and trade bill then. What’s your message to members of your caucus right now who may be interested in a similar boycott this session to prevent the kinds of votes on bills that you’ve already been talking about?

Knopp: Well, I think it’s really important that, especially our party, number one, has a positive agenda. We think that the majority party has made a mess of many things, which we will certainly talk about. But you can’t advance a positive agenda. You can’t advance bills that are important to constituents if you’re not there. And I believe that it’s important to make your best arguments, and then really leave the rest, which is control of the legislature, to the elections. And so, are there things that we would slow the process down, or possibly create a work stoppage for? There are. But they need to be few and far between. And there’s a lot of issues up this session that are going to need some serious heavy lifting.

We’re in the midst of COVID right now. I think we’re going to be down at least six Senate members on opening day tomorrow, because of the health situation that currently exists. And so, in order to keep everybody working on these incredibly important issues that I think Oregonians care about, it’s really going to take all of us making our best arguments, showing up, and trying to do the best we can to legislate as per the short session constitutional requirement in this era of COVID, which we’re, I think, nearing a peak on this latest variant.

Miller: Julie Fahey, after an unprecedented run of stability at the top of Oregon government, we’re going to soon have a whole new slate of leadership, meaning the Senate president, Speaker of the House, Minority Leaders, the Governor are all either lame ducks, or new people like the two of you. What is that going to mean in practice, do you think?

Fahey: I think one thing that I’m excited about is potentially a chance to reset the table in terms of some of the dynamics in Salem. Obviously, you just talked about walkouts with Senator Knopp, there has been some partisan division in the legislature. I think personally, I’m just not interested in that kind of partisan back and forth and bickering, and I don’t think people in Oregon are all that interested in it either. They want us to actually get things done and focus on the challenges that they are facing right now. So I am encouraged.

We had this special session in December, where we were able to work together and address some of the serious issues like housing and drought that are faced across the state. And we came together, and we had a successful special special session in December. And I really hope that that is sort of a portent of things to come, in terms of how we might be able to work together this session in the future, with all new leadership, as you said, everyone new in their roles.

Miller: Tim Knopp, that’s the positive spin. But won’t there also be things that- you all have to learn how to work together? It’s all going to be new.

Knopp: Well, the great part is as we all know each other. We’ve worked together in the past. I know Majority Leader Fahey and Speaker-elect Rayfield, and of course Speaker Pro Temp Holvey. So, we’ll just continue to work together, and I do think that we can create a better bipartisan era. And I’m glad to hear the good Majority Leader talk about that.

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