On June 30th the Oregon Legislative Assembly adjourned its third special session, called to deal with a revenue shortfall that seemed to grow worse by the day. Immediately television crews were dispatched to get a “person-on-the-street” perspective on the Legislature’s performance.
One respondent’s verdict: “I don’t think they did anything at all.” This is not a surprising conclusion. We hear it every time, about every legislative session. It echoes around the news, and even in the halls of the Capitol. Say the Legislature “did nothing” and heads will nod somberly in agreement.
They are wrong. While the Legislature did fail to deliver a comprehensive revenue solution to the shortfall, they did do something. They chose to phase in a tax cut approved in November, 2000. They referred to voters a tobacco tax increase and another proposal to spend Oregon’s “Education Endowment Fund.” They further reduced public services. They used accounting maneuvers to put off some issues until the next biennium.
This outcome wasn’t easy. There were factions within the parties and competing proposals from both chambers and the Governor. Legislators and legislative staff worked long hours to reach agreements they could pass on to the Governor.
Love it or hate it, and there is much to dislike, the Legislature did something.
Why, then, do we insist on saying our legislators “did nothing” during the session? An optimist might say that such claims are merely shorthand for displeasure at the specific policies enacted, or ignored, by the Legislature. If so, why don’t we talk about these specific policies?
We say our legislators “did nothing” because it has always been said. It is an easy out, a way to hide the fact that we don’t know what happened because we didn’t make the effort.
The most recent election is a good example. The Secretary of State estimates that 72% of eligible voters in Oregon are registered to vote. Of those who are registered, less than half (47%) voted on May 21st; thus, only a third of eligible voters bothered to vote.
Unfortunately, Oregon policy does account for those who don’t pay attention. Our “double majority” rule for bond and other local revenue measures means that, unless half of registered voters vote in a non-general election, such measures will fail, even if they receive a majority of votes cast!
News programs reporting that the Legislature “did nothing at all” make the rest of us feel comfortable because others weren’t paying enough attention, either, to know what really happened. It does nothing to inform voters about what did happen, and it perpetuates a lazy cliché that is never true.
Our democracy functions best when the citizens, who are the ultimate decision makers (provided they vote), take a few minutes to learn a little about what happens inside the halls of power. If more Oregonians had been paying attention, and letting legislators know they were paying attention, there might have been less to dislike about this third special session.
President Eisenhower once said that politics should be the part-time job of every American. Unfortunately, too many Oregonians are sleeping on the job.
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