Every session of the Oregon State Legislature has three major sets of legislative deadlines which signifies a policy hurdle that ultimately leads to the passage or failure of legislation. Those deadlines are first chamber deadlines, second chamber deadlines, and sine die.

Each chamber deadline whittles down the number of bills that could reach the finish line. Sine die, of course, is that finish line. During the 2021 Legislative Session, which is being held virtually, many expected to breathe the normal sigh of relief on March 19, the deadline for policy committees to post bills for a work session. This deadline is the first of two cuts of the bill list in the first chamber, and brings clarity on the shape of the session for lobbyists, stakeholders, and citizens. Unfortunately, this deadline only afforded some a partial sigh of relief and did not clarify the path forward. 

Of the more than 2,500 bills introduced, most remain alive. In a typical legislative session, following extensive rushes for hearings on bills, committee chairs and legislative leadership would take the first steps toward significantly narrowing the bill list in policy committees. In this case, many were scheduled for work sessions and many others were put on life support by being kicked to Ways and Means or another joint committee not subject to the deadlines. Exempt committees include the House Committee on Rules, Senate Committee on Rules, House Committee on Revenue, Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue, or joint committees including Ways and Means.

This year, for the Association of Oregon Counties (AOC) lobby team in particular, many of the bills the team is tracking within AOC priorities or that have any impact on counties – good – or – bad, are still moving through the process. AOC and its members have been tracking over 1,900 of the nearly 2,500 bills introduced.

The format of the virtual session is fairly unique because the next deadline, the deadline for a bill to be worked out of a policy committee and either move to the floor of its respective chamber, or to an exempt policy committee is April 13, nearly one full month later. This offers some opportunities and challenges for the team. Essentially, it means most policy discussions are still on the table, a great opportunity for AOC with its priorities, but also presents challenges in that the team must keep a close eye on a majority of the 1,900 AOC tracked bills. Typically, this deadline is about two weeks.

The AOC team will be closely monitoring all bills that impact counties, and will likely gain more clarity on the shape of the session by the next deadline – April 13. 

Once this deadline passes, the race will begin to get bills through their second chamber, with the next deadline about a month out.

Of course, beyond deadlines, there are additional challenges and dynamics in the Legislature, including a recent positive COVID-19 test of someone who was interacting on the House floor, which halted floor sessions for the time being. Date of return and vote is currently uncertain, and the backlog of bills scheduled for a third reading is of considerable length.

A complete calendar detailing critical deadlines related to the 2021 Legislative Session can be found here.

For questions related to policy or other inquiries related to the Legislative Session, please contact the AOC Legislative Affairs team.

Contributed by: Megan Chuinard | Public Affairs Associate