The just-finished legislative session was not a complete train
wreck. A charter-schools bill passed. Higher education got
the first financial boost it has received in almost a decade.
Lawmakers approved a sensible energy-deregulation bill. And
the Legislature took the important step of making a local
option a possibility, which would allow school districts to
raise their own taxes, should voters approve.
At the same time, keeping score in this fashion doesn't
adequately reflect the divisive, ugly and petty nature of
this session. If the 1999 legislative session was marked
by anything, it was an overwhelming sense that legislators
just didn't like each other and that Salem is becoming as
partisan as Washington D.C.
Kitzhaber's veto pen saved us from the worst legislative
excretions, but the Governor was incapable of doing anything
about the general sense of incivility that blanketed the
Capitol building like a spore.
Some think that the extremist politics of a few--Steve
Harper and Randy Miller come to mind--ruined it for everyone
else. Some think that there is something in the Capitol's
ventilation system that makes legislators so feral. Others
feel that the real culprit is term limits. When legislators
knew they had a chance to serve for 20 years, it made sense
to create relationships, even with those in the other party.
Now that eight years is the longest that a legislator can
serve in one chamber, relationships are far less important
than fealty to the party. As a consequence, party caucuses
have assumed the power that committees once held.
So how can we fix this--other than by abolishing term limits,
which isn't about to happen?
The answer? Nonpartisan elections. Have a primary in which
candidates run for a seat. The top two vote-getters face
each other in a runoff.
Nonpartisan races are the norm elsewhere. The Portland
City Council, the Multnomah County Commission and Metro
are all nonpartisan. In a larger body like the Oregon Legislature,
such a move would favor moderates and freeze out the extremists.
Party caucuses would be nonexistent, and the real work of
the Legislature would be placed back in the committees where
they belong. Legislation could be discussed on its merits,
not on whether it were a Republican or a Democratic bill.
There is even recognition in Salem that this idea has merit.
Sen. Lee Beyer (D-Springfield) proposed a bill this session
that would change the Legislature to a nonpartisan body.
Of course, given that the Legislature is controlled by the
parties, it didn't have a chance. That's why Beyer and other
supporters of nonpartisan elections should consider a ballot
measure.
It won't cure all that ails Salem, but it would help to
save our Legislature from the worst excesses of party politics.
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Willamette Week | originally
published July 28, 1999 |
