As the 35-day “short” legislative session continues to grind its way toward Sine Die, which Constitutionally must end no later than March 11th, temperatures are rising between the House and Senate, as well as Democrats and Republicans. Originally created to deal with lingering budget issues and technical fixes to previously passed legislation, the 2018 version has seen the House in particular pass very controversial bills that arguably don’t fit the intended purpose of the short session. Legislation dealing with such weighty topics as universal health care, federal tax policy, advanced directives, guns and major environmental policy has already been considered and, in several instances, passed at least one chamber.
The latest sore spot arose last Friday when the Senate passed SB 1528 on a highly partisan 16-13 vote one Democrat, Sen. Betsy Johnson (D-Scappoose) joined all Republicans as no votes). SB 1528 disconnects from the federal tax reform bill by not allowing certain businesses (S-corps and partnerships)to claim a new pass-through deduction on their state income taxes that they are now allowed to claim on their federal return. The change would net the state budget over a quarter-billion dollars but Republicans argued vociferously the change equated to a tax increase and thus should have required a 3/5’s vote to pass. The acrimony raises the likelihood we will see a return to the requirement of reading bills in full before they are voted on, which was used extensively in the prior short session to slow proceedings down and make it harder to pass bills.
The AOC lobby team continues to work hard on a number of key (but thankfully less controversial) issues, including county video lottery funding, PERS, MERS, transportation, broadband and building codes. Among the thorniest issues likely still remaining include how to resolve SB 1566, which in its original form would end litigation filed by many counties against MERS (an alternative electronic registry that sidestepped county recording systems)and HB 4086, which would require cities and counties to employ in-house building officials and head inspectors. These and other issues must be resolved in short order or the clock will run out on the session. The deadline for bills to move out of the second chamber is Tuesday February 27th. Starting Wednesday the action mainly moves to Ways and Means, although the Rules and Revenue Committees also remain open until Sine Die. The legislative session is always a blast and we will look forward to providing a full update for members at the March 12th Legislative Committee meeting on AOC Day!