Oregon governor sends police after GOP senators who fled Capitol to halt climate plan

Reporting from SALEM, Ore. —  Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has deployed the state police to try to round up Republican lawmakers who fled the Capitol to block a vote on a landmark economy-wide climate plan that would be the second of its kind in the nation.

Minority Republicans want the cap-and-trade proposal, which is aimed at dramatically lowering the state’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to be sent to voters instead of being instituted by lawmakers — but negotiations with Democrats collapsed, leading to the walkout, Kate Gillem, a spokeswoman for Senate Republicans said Thursday.

Oregon State Police can force any senators they track down in the state into a patrol car to return them to the Capitol, although the agency said in a statement that it would use “polite communication” and patience to bring the rogue lawmakers back.

Under state law, the absentee senators will be fined $500 a day per person starting Friday if enough of them remain absent to prevent a vote. Democrats have an 18-to-12 majority in the chamber, but need 20 members present for a quorum.

“It’s time for the Senate Republicans to show up and do the job they were elected to do,” Brown, a Democrat, said at a news conference.

Republican senators appeared unfazed and ready to dig in.

“Send bachelors and come heavily armed,” Sen. Brian Boquist, a Republican from Dallas, said late Wednesday as the prospect of a walkout loomed. “I’m not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It’s just that simple.”

Boquist, who is reportedly in Idaho, did not respond to emails after the Senate president publicly rebuked him for the remarks.

Gillem confirmed that some members left the state to avoid a vote because state police don’t have jurisdiction outside Oregon. State police said Thursday evening that they had been in contact with several senators and that “out-of-state resources” were assisting the agency.

This is the second time in this legislative session that minority GOP lawmakers have used a walkout as a way to slow the process. Democrats have a rare supermajority in the House and Senate, meaning Republicans don’t have many ways to influence the debate.

Republicans walked out of the Senate last month to block a school funding tax package. The standoff lasted four days, until the governor struck a deal to table legislation on gun control and vaccine requirements.

The tactic is rare, but it has been used throughout history. Abraham Lincoln once leapt out of a window in an attempt to deny a quorum when he was a lawmaker in Illinois.

In 2003, Texas Democrats fled to neighboring Oklahoma to deny a quorum, holing up in a Holiday Inn to block a GOP redistricting bill. The Democrats returned to Texas after the bill’s deadline passed, and it was effectively killed.

On Thursday, Oregon’s Senate president pleaded with Republicans to return.

“I beg and beseech my fellow legislators to come to the floor. I need you, the Legislature needs you, the people of Oregon need you to pass budgets to take care of our citizens,” Senate President Peter Courtney said on the Senate floor.

The walkout brings all Senate business to a halt with just over a week left in the legislative session. Senators still need to vote on the budget.

But the cap-and-trade legislation remains a sticking point.

Under the proposed bill, Oregon would put an overall limit on greenhouse gas emissions and auction off pollution “allowances” for each ton of carbon industries plan to emit. The legislation would lower that cap over time to encourage businesses to move away from fossil fuels: The state would reduce emissions to 45% below 1990 levels by 2035, and 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.

Those opposed to the cap-and-trade plan say it would exacerbate a growing divide between the liberal, urban parts of the state and the rural areas. The plan would increase the cost of fuel, damaging small business, truckers and the logging industry, they say.

“Protesting cap and trade by walking out today represents our constituency and exactly how we should be doing our job,” said Senate Republican leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., of Grants Pass.

A small group of loggers gathered to protest outside the Capitol on Thursday.

Bridger Hasbrouck, a 32-year-old self-employed logger from Dallas, Ore., said the bill if passed would be “devastating” to his business because he uses diesel fuel to power all his logging equipment.

“There’s a whole lot involved but the biggest thing that’s very crippling is the fact that these bills would impose regulations that would take trucks off the road that people are using to earn their living,” he said.

Democrats say the measure is an efficient way to lower emissions while investing in low-income and rural communities’ ability to adapt to climate change. It has the support of environmental groups, farm workers and some trade unions.

The proposal also contains a $10-million investment to protect workers adversely affected by climate change policy.

“‘Rural’ here is not one voice,” said Mimi Casteel, a farmer in rural Hopewell, Ore. “This is not just about gas prices — this is about the future of humanity.”

California has had for a decade an economy-wide cap and trade policy like the one Oregon is considering. Nine states in the Northeast have more limited cap-and-trade programs that target only the power sector.