Urge Republican Lawmakers to Return to Salem

Oregon Senate Republicans and Oregon House Republicans have staged another walkout to deny quorum in the Oregon Legislature. Despite supermajority support in both chambers, important climate legislation cannot be passed without the two-thirds quorum necessary to conduct business. In walking out, a small minority of legislators have silenced the political will of the majority of Oregonians. Their actions threaten important progress on hundreds of bills, including those to fund wildfire mitigation, foster care, and disaster relief.  Oregon Republicans have walked out five times now in the last year. This anti-democratic behavior is not only preventing action on climate change and many other issues, it eerily represents a more ominous trajectory of the Republican party nationally.   

Members of our Higher Education Coalition showed up in force in the Capitol today to urge the Joint Ways and Means Committee to move our bill to the floor of the House of Representatives for a vote. However, we remain uncertain that there will be an opportunity to pass our–or any–legislation this session.

Please take a moment to urge your representatives to return to the Capitol to do their job!

The walkout also endangers our priority legislation, House Bill 4146, which seeks to extend employer health care contributions to faculty whose work is scattered across multiple higher education institutions. 

Please take a moment to urge your representatives to return to the Capitol to do their job!