March 1

As the current Legislative session unfolds I will try to keep you abreast of what is going on down here in Salem and try to give you as much advance warning as I can about controversial issues. Your feedback, comments and suggestions are welcomed and encouraged.

For most legislators the first month of the legislative session is pretty mundane - getting our offices and staffs up and running, meeting with new members, and receiving briefings on legislative matters. My first month, however, has been anything but mundane.

I began this session as a member of the House of Representatives. Once former Senator Joan Dukes accepted her appointment to the Power Planning Commission and resigned her Senate seat however, my life changed substantially.

State law prescribes a process for how a new legislator is appointed once a legislative seat becomes vacant. The basics of that process are that the person filling the vacancy must be of the same political party as the person who held the seat previously and that the County Commissioners of the affected counties must choose a successor from a list of nominees prepared by the political central committees from those same counties. I was very pleased and honored to have been selected to fill the remainder of Senator Duke’s term.

Moving from the House side of the Capitol to the Senate side has been more than just walking down the hall. The atmosphere in the Senate is almost like a different world when compared to the House. First of all, there are half as many senators, thirty, as there are members of the House, sixty. Frankly, the floor of the House can become rather raucous while the Senate chamber is much more formal.

My committee workload as a Senator has changed as well. I am still a member of the Ways & Means committee which is responsible for drafting the State’s budget but because I am a member of the majority party in the Senate I am now Chair of the General Government subcommittee of Ways & Means. As the name implies, the General Government sub deals with just about everything and anything that relates to our State government other than education, transportation and human services. Candidly, it is the catchall subcommittee and its agenda can be very full and far reaching. Currently we are dealing with the Oregon Economic and Community Development agency budget.

All of the budget subcommittees are working hard to put together a two-year budget for the state. As just about everyone knows, there are more Ways to spend money than there are Means available. Budget requests will be heard and debated and draft budgets will be prepared until mid-May. When the May revenue forecast is released and we all know how much money might be available over the next two fiscal years, the draft budgets will start to become proposed budgets. And that is when the fireworks will begin.

Regardless of the title I am privileged to hold, or the committee assignments I have been given, my primary job remains the same: To represent your interests and the interests of our legislative district. Together we are going to face some difficult choices in the coming months and your thoughts and ideas are very important to me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Senator Betsy Johnson

(503) 986-1716