Despite Democratic supermajorities, disagreements within party lines plagued the legislative session

Oregon lawmakers adjourn their even-year short session Sunday, March 8, but even with Democratic supermajorities in both the House and Senate, Daniel Hauser isn’t breaking out the bubbly.

The deputy director of the Oregon Center for Public Policy isn’t feeling blue about the session. The glass is definitely half full. However, there’s a chip on the rim, and something smells weird.

Advocates at the nonprofit center break down their legislative agenda into three categories: economic security, worker empowerment and tax justice.

“In each of those areas, it feels like there’s some progress this session,” Hauser told Street Roots as lawmakers entered what could be called their seventh-inning stretch Feb. 23. “Some things are going to be better than they were before the session started, but there’s a lot of missed opportunities already that seem to be accumulating.”

‘It might be underwhelming’

Democrats entered the session with Senate Bill 1507 to surgically remove parts of Oregon’s tax code from the federal tax code. The bill meant Oregon businesses would receive fewer tax breaks than the ones passed by Congress in House Resolution 1 (President Donald Trump’s hyperbolically nicknamed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act”) last summer.

However, Oregon would retrieve some of the almost $1 billion that the tax breaks would siphon from human services.

Hauser said Democrats compromised with business interests.

“We came forward with $700 million, $800 million worth of ways that the state could preserve revenue and disconnect from the federal tax code,” he said. “Instead of taking that more extensive approach, the Legislature has a package that would raise about $310 million.”

He emphasized that he’s not complaining.

“It’s a meaningful set of changes that are good progress,” Hauser said. “In general, how I’m feeling about the session is that progress is being made, but it feels that it might be underwhelming to the challenge and the crisis that’s presenting itself.”

‘That will bring greater prosperity’

Senate Bill 1507 may also illustrate one of the central conflicts in Oregon political life. And it’s not urban versus rural or Democrats versus Republicans. It’s a clash between two starkly contrasting visions.

“One vision believes that the best path for the state is provide corporations and large employers with whatever they need ­— be it deregulation, tax cuts, direct subsidies, what have you,” Hauser said. “And if we do that, they’ll be so taken by how friendly we are to business that they will hire more workers, and they’ll open more factories, and they’ll invest more in our state.”

Then there is the vision championed by his organization and other more progressive voices at the Capitol.

“If we invest in our people, if we invest in Oregonians and their education and their care and their ability to afford housing, then that will bring greater prosperity,” Hauser said. “That will enable people to start their own businesses or get more education or care for their kids in a way that will set them up for greater long-term success.”

‘People are feeling real economic pressure’

Those two visions clashed dramatically this session with Senate Bill 1586.

The bill would expand government tax credits for semiconductor and biotech manufacturers to operate research and development facilities. It would also add 373 acres to Hillsboro’s urban growth boundary for advanced technology industries as well as permanently rezone approximately 1,400 acres for industrial use over the next 50 years.

“When you think about setting up land and tax breaks for corporations, one might assume that would be something really driven by Republicans in Oregon, but it’s a Democratic senator leading the push on that bill,” Hauser said.

Senate Bill 1586’s chief sponsors include Democratic senators Janeen Sollman of Hillsboro, Mark Meek of Oregon City and Anthony Broadman of Bend. They have dubbed the legislation the Jobs, Opportunity, Build-ready Sites (JOBS) Act.

“At its core, the JOBS Act is about Oregon’s workers and families,” Sollman told members of the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue during a Feb. 16 public hearing. “Across our state, people are feeling real economic pressure from rising costs and affordability to uncertainty about jobs. Oregon has not been keeping pace with the other states that are competing with advanced manufacturing and semiconductor investment.”

Idaho, Texas and other states are luring tech companies away, she said. 

“When job-creating projects are delayed or lost, it is working families — our builders and employees — who feel the impact first.”

Sollman worked for more than 26 years for Vernier Science Education, an educational scientific technology company based in Washington County. The tech industry means money for infrastructure and education, she told committee members.

“Oregon needs build-ready industrial land, competitive incentives and more predictable permitting if we want to retain and grow high-wage jobs that provide generational wealth and jobs that keep our kids here and thriving,” Sollman said.

She added that the bill enjoys bipartisan support from a broad coalition of elected officials and stakeholders across the Portland metropolitan area. However, that coalition may not be as broad as she suggests. 

‘Looks kind of like fool’s gold to me’

Ben Unger, the state representative for Hillsboro from 2013 to 2015, told committee members the bill is deeply flawed. His testimony illustrated the competing visions in the Democratic caucus.

“This bill is a competition race-to-the-bottom approach to global competitiveness,” Unger told the committee. “Give away all of our taxes, give away all of our land to developers. We think that’s going to allow us to keep with the Idahos and the Texases of the world. We know from trying this before that that just doesn’t work. Idaho would be willing to put a nursery ward on top of a toxic chemical waste site if they needed it in order to get a job. We aren’t going to be able to compete with that.”

There’s another way to compete, he said. “That’s by investing in our K-12 education and our higher education and in the exceptionalism that is Oregon.”

Mary Nolan of the Oregon Metro Council voiced similar opposition to the bill.

“Senate Bill 1586 looks kind of like fool’s gold to me,” she told committee members. “It sparkles with the possibility of new jobs but contains not a word about how many, at what wage, how soon, for how long and requires no binding commitment from anyone who might pursue development to provide even one net new job.”

‘Throwing around a little bit of money’

Oregon has an uneasy relationship with the technology industry.

Hillsboro City Councilor Kipperlyn Sinclair brought up recent history when she testified before the finance and revenue committee Feb. 16.

“The bill promises large-scale job creation, yet in the past year, Hillsboro’s three largest industrial and technology manufacturers have laid off thousands of advanced manufacturing workers — the very family-wage jobs this proposal claims it will produce,” Sinclair said.

Congress passed the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) for America Fund to create incentives to produce semiconductors in the United States. Oregon lawmakers did their part by passing the Oregon CHIPS Fund, authorized in 2023 — allowing up to $240 million in incentives for the state’s semiconductor industry.

The federal government awarded $10.86 billion to Intel in 2024 as part of the CHIPS Fund. In exchange, Intel executives promised to create at least 10,000 new jobs in the United States. Instead, Intel has laid off 8,975 workers since 2024, according to the website CHIPScommunitiesunited.org. Of those cuts, almost half (4,478 workers) were in Oregon.

Any incentives that an international corporation receives from an individual state is chump change, Hauser told Street Roots.

“Oregon throwing around a little bit of money here and there probably doesn’t change their choices much,” he said. “They’re trying to decide based on much broader trends in the industry. But it’s a big deal for us when we can’t fund the Employer-Related Day-Care program.”

Even a fraction of the money used to entice millionaires would be nice, he added.

“If we had $200 million back from the CHIPS grant, Oregonians who are eligible for support but sitting on a wait list because there’s not enough money could go out and get child care today that they can actually afford,” Hauser said.

U.S. Rep. Janelle Bynum, who represents Oregon’s 5th Congressional District, told committee members she still supports Senate Bill 1586.

“Our current business environment and job market is standing in the way for too many young Oregonians,” she testified. “We’ve lost thousands of jobs in the last year. Expenses are rising. We’ve been warned of a recession.”

Washington County Commissioner Nafisa Fai countered that the bill rushes past critical analysis and public input. 

“Responsible economic growth — growth that strengthens families, businesses and our communities — depends on listening to those who know their neighborhoods best,” she told committee members.

Sinclair added the bill permanently rezones 1,700 acres of farmland.

“Decisions of this scale demand clarity, transparency and measurable public benefit,” she said. “This bill offers none of the three. It is being advanced on a three-week timeline, effectively limiting meaningful public engagement. It lacks clear definitions, enforceable standards and accountability.”

Then there is the environmental impact analysis: the bill doesn’t have any. 

“Large industrial users and data centers would place significant strain on water and energy systems with potential cost shifted to rate payers,” Sinclair said.

‘Walking off the job is not negotiation’

As Democrats competed with themselves, there were also classic conflicts this session with GOP lawmakers. Republicans, feeling thwarted by the Democrats’ supermajority, employed their default strategy of boycotting floor sessions to deny bills the quorum necessary to move forward.

They used the tactic Feb. 23 on Senate Bill 1599 that would refer a transportation tax and fee increase to state voters in May. House Republicans walked out after the controversial bill was sent to them after being approved by the Senate.

They walked out again the following day to slow other bills, including gun-control legislation. However, they gave a variety of reasons for the second walkout. They were not so vague about the gas tax issue.

“House Republicans have determined it is best for us to walk out of the building until the majority party will begin to work with us on this gas tax referral,” state Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, said in a video posted to social media Feb. 23.

Playing hooky is a tricky game for Republicans. Voters passed a measure in 2022 to disqualify legislators from re-election following the end of their term if they are absent from 10 floor sessions without permission or an excuse.

However, with limited days in the short session, Republicans took the gamble. Democrats were steamed.

“Walking off the job is not negotiation,” said state Rep. Sue Rieke Smith, D-Wilsonville. “It is an abdication of responsibility that silences the voices of millions of Oregonians who deserve a functioning democracy. I remain committed to staying at the table, advancing this legislation, and doing the work my constituents elected me to do, and I call on my Republican colleagues to return to the Capitol and do the same.”

State Rep. Dacia Grayber, D-Portland, expressed a similar frustration. 

“Working families across Oregon face each day right now with grit and resilience,” she said. “They show up to their jobs and families and live with courage and the determination to make the best of each day. What we are seeing from the House Republicans is the very opposite of this. It is cowardice, and it brings shame to the legacy of Oregonians willing to have a hard conversation in this building.”

(See Street Roots’ bill tracker for the current status of bills.)

‘We’re going hour-to-hour’

The final days of the session are crazy, Mack Smith, communications director for the Oregon House Majority Office, told Street Roots. 

“I wouldn’t even say we’re going day-to-day,” she said. “We’re going hour to hour at this point.”

Regardless of how the Legislature plays out this year — regardless of which businesses gain or lose their tax benefits and incentives — Hauser worries too many marginalized Oregonians will suffer when they could have been helped.

Precise dollar amounts remained elusive even as adjournment began to loom Feb. 23, but Hauser said cuts in human services are inevitable.

“Once you figure how big cuts are going to be, then you have to figure out what’s getting cut,” he said. “What are the tangible programs and services? That’s still very opaque. We do know that programs that help families who are really at the edge of desperation are on the chopping block.”

Late in the session, lawmakers were already talking about taking some families off Temporary Assistance for Needy Families — an assistance program that primarily aids single mothers. Struggling mothers could also lose access to Employment-Related Day Care — the state’s largest subsidy for child care.

“We could see some of the poorest single mothers in the state lose child-care support,” Hauser said. “That’s just one of dozens and dozens of potential cuts and impacts on families that are being discussed.”

Because of House Resolution 1, Oregon must now spend between $300 million and $400 million to cover the cost of the Oregon Health Plan and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

“It’s going to grow into the billions in the next budget period,” Hauser said. “If we don’t find a way to raise revenue from rich people and corporations to help fund programs like the Oregon Health Plan and SNAP, we’re going to be leaving people who are on the brink really struggling to stay housed or to find housing or stable employment or what have you. We’re going to be starving them, cutting them off from their health insurance, leaving them sick and broke and hungry.”

‘What they want Oregon to be’

There’s not much people can do to affect the outcome of this legislative session. All the bills that are going to be voted on have already gone through public hearings. However, the Legislature convenes for its full session early next year.

A lot of work can be done in the interim, Hauser said.

“We really have to be engaged and educated, and I hope folks will take that time and talk to their neighbors,” he said. “I really think people need to be building community around what they want Oregon to be. I hope we can build sustained focus on how economic issues are being used to extract wages and extract profits from people in our communities.”

Trump has motivated people to get involved in the political process to oppose his administration. However, Hauser said Trump is a symptom of a much larger affliction.

“When the immediate crisis of folks being kidnapped on their way to work subsides, people think things are OK again,” he said. “They need to remember the more insidious harms and the more insidious ways that the Trump administration and others over the years have been setting us up for poor wages and working conditions and high prices and the inability to afford housing. Those are continuous issues.”

Human needs are also continuous.

“We should have access to health care, regardless of our income or employer,” Hauser said. “We should have access to a safe and stable place to live. We should never worry about where our next meal will come. All those things were true before Trump was elected. They’ll be true when Trump is no longer in office.”

‘Why haven’t we seen more progress?’

Meanwhile, he said, Oregon needs to resolve the conflicting visions within its supermajority party.

“The Democratic parties and caucuses in both chambers and the governor are really torn between those two visions and are really struggling to figure out which one they’re most committed to,” Hauser said. “Why the Democratic Party with its supermajorities hasn’t been more aggressive, more progressive, and really demonstrated leadership in Oregon investing in its people rather than large corporations is a good question to ask. Why haven’t we seen more progress?”

The Oregon Legislature adjourns its even-year short session by Sunday, March 8. Bills and events are moving fast. To learn the latest status of bills, consult our bill tracker or go to oregonlegislature.gov.

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This article appears in March 4, 2026.