Knopp, back in Salem, reflects on ‘political protest’

State Sen. Tim Knopp of Bend, back in Salem Friday after a week-plus walkout by all 11 Senate Republicans, told NewsChannel 21 that such a move was “the furthest thing from my mind” when the session began. But he said he sees some positive impacts and is hopeful the hard feelings can be set side for a weekend marathon to get budget and other bills passed by the midnight Sunday deadline.

Here are his answers to questions from photographer Tyson Beauchemin:

What makes the climate bill dead?

“Well, a commitment that there aren’t 16 votes to pass it in the Senate, That’s what it would take to pass this bill. There are not 16 votes there, and it will likely go back to a committee tomorrow. It’s on the third-reading list, which means it’s going to come up in its natural order tomorrow. So we’re going to likely move that to committee, which normally signals a bill is dead or going to be fixed.

With just two days to get the work done, what are your local priorities?

“Well, obviously, I am interested in an additional judge for Deschutes County. I think that’s pretty important. Obviously, working on some water issues, trying to get some funds for the basin here for water mitigation and those types of things, and just generally a balanced budget, making sure we have a very sound budget when we leave here at midnight on June 30th.”

Is that possible in just two days?

“I think it is, if we all work together. I think it’s very possible. We can do more than 100 bills in a day, if everybody cooperates. So it’s just going to be a matter of working through this last week and the hard feelings that may have been created, and trying to just move forward as a group of senators trying to get good things done for Oregon.”

How do you feel about the way it was handled?

“I call tell you there was a lot of rhetoric from both sides. I think it was really unhelpful and unfortunate. I think when things get heated, people sometimes say things they don’t mean, and that happened on both sides. So I’m just hopeful that there’s going to be a forgiving attitude and that we can work together in a bipartisan way, in a bicameral way to get the best things done we can for Oregon and Central Oregon in the next 48 hours.”

How do you feel about the $500-a-day fine?

“Well, it’s my belief, our belief that those fines are imposed in a manner that is not particularly lawful, at this point. So we’re obviously going to be talking to them about that. If we have to take legal action, we will do that. But I’m confident that all these things are going to be worked out. If we have to pay the fines in the meantime, so we can fight them legally, I’m sure that can be arranged. But overall, the good news is, we’re going to be back in the Senate tomorrow and finishing up the work that many Oregonians want us to.”

When you started this term, did you think you were going to end up fleeing the state?

“You know, that was the furthest thing from my mind, actually. I’m one that likes to show up and, you know, to work things out. And sometimes that means you’ve got to fight things out. And the unfortunate part of it is, when you have something significant like this bill came up and people stopped talking, typically bad things happen.”

“The obvious thing is that denying a quorum is a last resort, and that’s what happened in this particular case. It ultimately led to now people are, I think, going to get together and work harder to see if we can come up with a better, bipartisan product that more Oregonians can support.”

Were there any previous walkouts where law enforcement became involved?

“Yeah, as far as I know, this is really the first time in any significant way that a governor has had law enforcement try to compel her political opponents, through apprehension and arrest, to come back to the Capitol and end our political protest. Obviously, that did not happen. But it was certainly threatened, and I think they were trying to do that.

“The last kind of dramatic walkout happened by the Democrats in 2001. I was actually a Republican House member at that time. They left for about a week, almost the same time period. They were protesting a redistricting bill they didn’t think we should be passing, and so, you know, the tables have turned a little bit. It was the Republicans this time, and I would say it was pretty dramatic.

“And the good news is, a lot of Oregon citizens engaged on this issue and understand a lot more about carbon credits and about the bill and about what would actually happen to the bill, just beyond the talking points. And so I think there are some positive things that came out of the political protest that we engaged in this past week.”

“I’m ready to go for tomorrow morning,” he added.