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Bid to have Oregon House vote on oversight of Gov. Brown’s emergency powers fails

KTVZ file

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Members of the Oregon House on Tuesday narrowly defeated a move to consider a bill that would give the Legislature oversight of the governor’s emergency powers, enacted most recently to address the coronavirus pandemic.

The motion to pull House Bill 2243 from the Rules Committee was defeated, with 28 votes against doing so and 27 in favor, including several Democrats.

One Republican and one Democrat are the chief co-sponsors of the bill.

The House Republican caucus noted in a statement after the vote that all Republican House members want to make the governor accountable to the Legislature.


News release from the Oregon House Republican Caucus:

Republicans force vote to consider bill that gives Legislature oversight on
Governor’s emergency powers

Republicans attempted to pull bill with Democrat and Republican sponsors out of committee to House floor

SALEM, Ore. – Today, Oregon House Legislators voted to consider a bill on the House floor that would give the Legislature oversight on Governor Kate Brown’s emergency powers and sole authority over the COVID-19 response.

Republicans moved to pull HB 2243 out of committee directly to the House floor for a vote.

The motion did not receive the required number of votes to pass. All Republican members voted in favor to make the Governor accountable to the Legislature. 28 Democrats voted against the motion, maintaining the Governor’s sole authority over COVID-19 and unchecked ability to shut down businesses.

The decision is in response to the Governor’s announcement last week to unilaterally extend her own emergency powers again, granting her the ability to issue shutdowns without involving another governing body.

County commissioners have repeatedly asked the Governor to be more targeted in her decisions. Currently, the statewide threshold for “extreme risk” designation disregards the fact that hospital cases of COVID-19 are decreasing in some counties where businesses must now close.

“The Legislature is in Session and we have a duty to engage,” House Republican Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby) previously said. “Oregonians deserve a balance of power between their separate branches of government again.”

HB 2243 (chief sponsors Rep. Wilde, Lewis, regular sponsors Rep. Cate, Evans, Hayden, Leif, Levy, Moore-Green, Morgan, Owens, Post, Reschke, Wallan, Wright) - Requires that declarations and extensions of states of emergency under certain statutes be accompanied by written explanations.

Article Topic Follows: Oregon-Northwest

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