Salem, ORE– A new bill that could make it possible for legislators to keep working even when something as bad as a catastrophic event occurs or something as simple as a cabal of senators decides not to come to work is before the state legislature this week.
The new bill House Joint Resolution 202 Requires a majority of the members of the House and the Senate to be present to take action and Proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to require a majority of each house of the Legislative Assembly to be present to conduct business.
It also says that if members walk out of the legislature, they will go without pay until they return to do the people’s business.
A boycott last year by Klamath Falls’s own Dennis Linthicum paralyzed the legislative session, stalling hundreds of bills.
Linthicum and nine other state senators were denied entry to the race for reelection after the Oregon Supreme Court upheld Measure 113, preventing 10 Republican state senators from running once their terms were done.
