Legislative Update: May 16, 2023

We’re monitoring Oregon’s 2023 legislative session for issues of impact and interest to our members. Here’s the latest update from our legislative counsel at the Oregon State Chamber of Commerce (OSCC).

It is now clear that the Senate Republican caucus does not intend to provide quorum for the Senate to conduct normal business. Their intention is to bring the session to a close.

As of today, there are a number of Republican Senators who have surpassed the 10 absences that would disallow them from serving in office in the next term. This means there is no incentive for them to return.

This will effectively bring the 2023 session to a close as the Senate is not operational without a quorum.

To be clear, the House of Representatives and all the various House and Senate committees will operate per normal, but all of the bills will end up being logjammed in the Senate.

Based on our experience dealing with a similar situation in 2019, we are preparing for one of two outcomes:

1. Senate Republicans return for the final day of session – June 25 – to allow the legislature to pass budgets and negotiated bills.

2. The 2023 session adjourns and a special session is convened for approving budgets. State budgets are currently funded through September 15th. A special session would need to be called in advance of that critical date.

Ultimately, we believe that budget decisions have mostly already been made and that agency and program funding, along with bonding bills and discretionary funding, will get passed.

The real question is what will happen with all the policy bills.

We will be holding our regularly scheduled legislative update call this Friday at 9:30am and can provide further updates at that time.

The Springfield Chamber of Commerce will be publishing the OSCC’s legislative updates weekly, or as received. Any opinions expressed or implied are those of OSCC and do not necessarily reflect those of the Springfield Chamber or its representatives. If you’d like more information, please visit our Advocacy & Elections Page.