Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, speaks at the opening day of the legislative short session in Salem, Ore. on Feb. 2, 2026. Starr and the rest of his members refused to attend a floor session of the Senate on Wednesday.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Republicans in the Oregon Senate returned to the chamber floor Thursday, a day after refusing to attend an afternoon floor session.
With nearly all of the chamber’s 12 GOP members present, the Senate gaveled in shortly after 11 a.m. and quickly proceeded with voting on bills.
What prompted the about-face by Republicans was not immediately clear. The party declined to show up to the Senate on Wednesday — blocking legislative action when the chamber could not muster a 20-member quorum — largely over concerns about one particular bill.
That legislation, Senate Bill 1599, would move up the date of a public vote on gas tax and fee increases passed by Democrats last year. A vote is currently scheduled for the November election, but Democrats plan to move it to the May primary, a move GOP lawmakers vehemently oppose.
Democrats began Thursday’s Senate floor session by bumping consideration of SB 1599 to Friday, but there was no outward suggestion of any other concessions Republicans may have secured for providing a quorum.
“I just want to note that I appreciate the conversations that occurred yesterday, and I appreciate this motion,” Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, said as Democrats prepared to reschedule a vote on the bill.
Starr and other Senate Republicans declined to discuss the details of any agreement with Democrats. It’s common in Salem for minority Republicans to use their limited leverage to kill bills they object to — or at least attempt to.
SB 1599 has emerged as the most controversial bill of the session, and it comes with an interesting timeline. According to state elections officials, the bill needs to pass both chambers and be signed by Gov. Tina Kotek by Feb. 25 in order to ensure a gas tax vote can be moved to the May ballot.
It’s not clear whether the vote could still be rescheduled if Democrats pass the bill after that date, but Republicans have suggested they are open to using all options available to them to slow its passage.
Even as they returned to the Senate, GOP members made clear they weren’t done opposing SB 1599. State Sen. Christine Drazan, a Canby Republican who is currently running for governor, said on the floor that the bill sent a message that Democrats wanted to skirt the will of voters who signed a petition forcing a vote on the tax increases.
“They followed the rules, they did what the process allows them to do, and they believe that this building is still not listening to them,” Drazan said. “And it is not.”
Democrats have said that moving a vote on the gas tax is necessary to give them clarity on whether they can plan on new revenue for the transportation department. But the increases are widely expected to fail at the ballot. Republicans argue that SB 1599 is an overtly political move designed to keep an unpopular tax off the same ballot as Democrats seeking reelection.
