The Oregon State Senate during its opening session at the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon, Thursday, June 15, 2023. Enough Republicans appeared in the Oregon Senate on Thursday to end a six-week strike that shut down Congress and Congress. It blocked hundreds of bills, including abortion, transgender health care, and gun safety bills. (AP Photo/Andrew Celsky)
SALEM, Oregon (AP) – Ending a six-week strike that blocked major legislation, Republicans Thursday made concessions from Democrats on bills including abortion, transgender health care and gun rights, in the Oregon Senate. went to work at
It was the longest legislative strike in state history and the second longest in the nation, as several state capitols across the country, including Montana and Tennessee, have become hot spots for ideological battles.
A Republican boycott prevented the state Senate from reaching the two-thirds quorum required to pass the bill, but it was sparked by drastic measures on abortion and gender-affirming care that Republicans criticized as being too extreme. rice field. The measure would allow doctors to perform abortions regardless of the patient’s age and, in some cases, remove the requirement for health care providers to notify minors’ parents.
As part of the agreement to end the strike, Democrats agreed to change the language on parental notification of abortions.
Under this compromise, if an abortion provider determines that it is not in the patient’s best interest to notify a parent of a patient under the age of 15, the physician is not required to notify the parent, but instead provides alternative health care. consent of the person is required. However, if parental or guardian involvement leads to patient abuse or neglect, a second opinion is not required.
Democrats said the measure would also ensure access to abortion and protect caregivers from anti-abortion and gender-affirming care measures passed by other states. It will also require medically necessary gender-affirmation care to be covered by health insurance.
Democrats also agreed to withdraw several amendments to bills that would criminalize the manufacture or transfer of undetectable firearms. The now-deleted provision would raise the age to purchase a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21 and impose further restrictions on concealed carry.
Democrats promptly introduced new versions of both bills that reflected the agreement, and the Senate passed them. The bills, which had previously been approved by the House, will now return to the House for a consent vote before seeking signature from Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek.
Democratic Senate Speaker Rob Wagner told reporters, “It’s heartening to reach an agreement to complete the important work that the people of Oregon have sent us here.”
Minority Republicans saw this as a victory.
Republican Senator Lynn Findley said, “Parental rights are not ignored when it comes to minors seeking abortion or gender-affirming care.” “The constitutional right to own and bear arms cannot be revoked, especially for citizens between the ages of 18 and 21.”
Republican leader Senator Tim Knopp said the boycott, which began on May 3, will end by June 25, the last day of the session to pass “bipartisan” bills and budgets. But optimism has settled in the Capitol this week as Republican and Democratic leaders met to negotiate a compromise. Mr Knopp said on the Senate floor on Thursday that he looked forward to ending the session in a “very bipartisan way”.
“We wanted legality, we wanted constitutionality, we wanted compromise. That’s how I understand it from your side,” Knopf said, addressing Wagner after Thursday’s roll call. “I would like to thank everyone involved.”
The longest strike in Oregon’s legislative history came despite voters passing a 2022 ballot measure that would disqualify lawmakers for re-election for 10 or more no-shows.
“A lot of lawmakers won’t be able to go back to this building,” Wagner said.
But Republican senators are likely to file lawsuits over the move if they are not allowed to register candidates from September ahead of the 2024 election. Republicans also pulled out in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
On June 1, Senate Democrats voted to fine senators $325 for failing to meet a quorum for absenteeism.
On Wednesday, more than 40 Democrats from both houses of Congress in Oregon introduced a joint resolution proposing an amendment to the state constitution that would require the presence of a majority in each house of Congress to run the proceedings. If passed by Congress, Oregon voters will vote in the 2024 election. But Wagner said Thursday that the bill is unlikely to pass this year, with hundreds of other bills pending.
The strike also prevented approval of the state budget for two years. If the Senate and Senate do not approve the budget by the end of the regular session, Kotec can recall members to a special session.
There are 17 Democrats in the 30-member Senate, so at least three Republicans or independents must be present to fill a quorum. Five Republicans attended on Thursday, and Democratic leaders said they had promised Republicans would have enough senators to fill a quorum for the remainder of the session.
Republicans initially announced they would boycott the bill because it did not meet a long-forgotten state law that required the bill to be written on a level that an eighth grader could understand.
According to Ballotpedia’s list, strikes are the second longest in the United States after Rhode Island.
In 1924, Republican senators from Rhode Island fled to Rutland, Massachusetts, where they stayed for six months, ending a Democratic effort to hold a referendum on a constitutional convention.
This self-imposed exile followed the detonation of a gas bomb on the Senate floor. Both Democrats and Republicans have accused each other of causing the incident.
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This article has been updated to correct that the abortion and gun bill that passed the Senate must next be returned to the House.
