Jeb Bladine: Strong words indict short session Legislature
This week a respected, nonpartisan political observer called the Oregon Legislature a “corrupt organization,” with specific reference to the Democratic leadership.
If intended to mean unethical, crooked and dishonest, “corrupt” is a strong formal accusation. But the word also can mean warped, distorted and close-minded, so let’s start there. And let’s not limit the criticism to Democrats.
Oregon newspapers, broadcasters, journalists and other open-government advocates were outraged when super-majorities of legislators gutted the core principle of Oregon’s Public Meetings Law. They knowingly rejected this warning from the Oregon Government Ethics Commission, as amplified by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association and a late-session barrage of statewide commentary:’
“This exception,” said OGEC, the state agency charged with enforcement of the Public Meetings Law, “would allow governing body members to meet in private and/or communicate privately with each other, outside of any public meeting, in order to gather information. Much of the information gathering that normally occurs in public meetings (work sessions or executive sessions) could instead be done privately … with no meeting notice, no minutes or recordings, and no news media observers.”
Local legislators — state Rep. Lucetta Elmer and state Sen. Bruce Starr — voted with the majorities in an unambiguous display of government serving government instead of citizens. Even prime sponsors of the measure acknowledged its deep flaws, but HB 4177 flew through votes of 47-4 in the House and 25-3 in the Senate.
Advocates for honest elections were equally enraged when the 2026 Legislature created huge new loopholes in Oregon’s 2024 campaign finance reform law. As editorialized by The Oregonian, it “will allow unlimited campaign cash to continue to flow.”
Our Rep. Elmer and Sen. Starr not only supported but sponsored that legislation.
Oregon’s business community also watched helplessly as elected leaders financed more government and ignored many private sector interests. In a headlong rush to bolster public budgets, legislators disconnected Oregon’s property depreciation tax law from the more business-favorable federal code and dramatically increased the share of transient room taxes going to general fund budgets.
To their credit, both Sen. Starr and Rep. Elmer opposed the depreciation bill. Starr supported the transient room tax measure, and Elmer was excused from that vote for business of the House.
Important 2026 legislative measures were developed in secret work groups and mischaracterized to the public as mere housekeeping bills. Legislators, rushed by short-session timelines, ignored public outcries. Leaders from both major parties manipulated measures through the short session, first with delayed activity, then with sudden, short-notice actions.
The Legislature thus proved a point that Oregonians have known for more than a decade: Oregon’s even-year “short session” of the Legislature, adopted by statewide vote in 2010, regularly violates ballot measure promises to limit general legislative actions in those sessions.
Oregonians should either terminate or constitutionally limit the scope of our even-year legislative sessions. And meanwhile, Gov. Tina Kotek should exercise her veto powers to send back selected 2026 legislation to the starting blocks for more appropriate, more open, more honest, more citizen-involved deliberations.
Jeb Bladine can be reached at jbladine@newsregister.com or 503-687-1223.
Comments
Bigfootlives
Jeb, you had it right the first time. Corrupt.