11 Oregon Republicans boycott floor session, call for reprimand of Democrat who raised voice at colleague

UPDATE: Following criticism of his behavior, a prominent Democrat from Oregon leaves the transportation committee

Eleven OregonFollowing a heated committee hearing on Friday in which a prominent Democratic congressman interrupted and chastised one of their caucus members, Republican lawmakers boycotted a House floor session on Monday in protest.

For his actions at last week’s legislative transportation committee meeting, they demanded that Sen. Chris Gorsek, a Democrat from Gresham, be censured or removed from his committee duties.

Gorsek announced his resignation as co-chair of the transportation committee on Monday afternoon. Sen. Khanh Pham, a Democrat from Portland who was already on the committee, swiftly took his seat.

The 11 Republicans’ boycott on Monday did not include enough members of their caucus to stop the House from voting on measures, in contrast to previous Republican walkouts in the Senate or House. The 34 Democrats in attendance only required six of the 24 Republicans in the House to be present since Oregon law requires 40 members of the House to be present in order to conduct business. On Monday, two Democrats were not present.

Gorsek interrupted Republican Representative Shelly Boshart Davis of Albany during Friday’s committee meeting as she was criticizing Democrats for putting out a transportation bill that will increase or impose a plethora of taxes and levies to fund Oregon’s transportation system.

Boshart Davis described the transportation package and the hasty process to get the bill out of committee as egregiously reckless during the 90-minute discussion, claiming that Oregonians could not afford such large tax hikes.

Gorsek stopped Boshart Davis after she criticized Democrats for holding public hearings on House Bill 2025 before complete revenue estimates were released and stated the process had been really poor.

“Pardon me,” Gorsek began, interrupting his fellow committee co-chair Rep. Susan McLain and Boshart Davis. Stop it, because you are bringing discredit on all of us who worked on that measure. Put an end to it. Representative, you’ve got your point.

For weeks, a tiny group of Republicans and Democrats worked in private to discuss the package’s specifics. However, the transportation committee’s five Republicans finally voted against the bill on Friday.

Boshart Davis filed a legislative complaint against Gorsek after the meeting, claiming that he had broken a guideline mandating a workplace that is inclusive, safe, and respectful.

Boshart Davis filed a complaint with the Legislative Equity Office on Friday, claiming that his speech and body language were hostile and intimidating. I remained silent during the rest of the committee because I was unsure of how Co-chair Gorsek would handle me or whether or not I would be shut down.

Following the incident, Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, was urged by House Republican Leader Christine Drazan of Canby to remove Gorsek from his committee assignments, hold a vote to censure the lawmaker, mandate a building-wide notification before Gorsek enters the Capitol, and mandate that he receive training on anger management and workplace harassment.

In addition to being abusive, Drazan stated in a news statement that this conduct is out of place in our Capitol and undermines our democratic institutions.

A request for comment from Wagner was not answered.

The primary reasons for the 11 House Republicans’ walkout were Gorsek’s actions and the Democrats’ hurried efforts to advance House Bill 2025.

Seven of them stated in a press release on Monday morning that Friday’s show exposed Salem’s dysfunction. The public is entitled to better than hurried, behind-closed-door negotiations that shout down lawmakers and silence criticism.

Despite their absence, Drazan and Boshart Davis were not boycotting the House floor session, according to a Drazan representative on Monday morning. Drazan emphasized in an interview on Monday afternoon that the two were not present because they were upset with Gorsek’s actions and the transportation package.

Drazan stated, “We’re here to say that is not good enough for Oregonians.” We’re boycotting or demonstrating because what you witnessed between Senator Gorsek and Representative Boshart Davis is a perfect example of how this Democrat supermajority is treating Oregonians. We are resisting it and calling for improvement.

Only over half of House Republicans participated in Monday’s boycott, in contrast to some other walkouts, which Republicans have employed as a strategy in recent years to prevent Democrats from having a sufficient quorum to hold any votes.

Representatives Court Boice from Gold Beach, Virgle Osborne from Roseburg, Dwayne Yunker from Grants Pass, Alek Skarlatos from Winston, Boomer Wright from Reedsport, Darin Harbick from McKenzie Bridge, Darcey Edwards from Banks and Ed Diehl from Stayton, Anna Scharf from Amity, Boshart Davis, and Drazan are among the eleven who left.

Democrats had more than enough legislators present to continue holding votes on Monday’s floor session, which was attended by almost a dozen House Republicans.

This year’s legislative session is legally required to conclude by Sunday.

State politics and government are covered by Carlos Fuentes. You may contact him at orcfuentes@oregonian.com or 503-221-5386.

Sami Edge, a state politics reporter, helped with this story. You can reach her at (503) 260-3430 or atsedge@oregonian.com.

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