Oregon Senate Republican Leader Daniel Bonham (R-The Dalles) pushes back on recent comments from Democrat Representative Rob Nosse (D-Portland) celebrating the party’s supermajority as a way to raise taxes without any input from Republicans.

Portland Democrat Nosse previously wrote, “…Democrats will not be held hostage by Republicans to pass needed tax increases. We can go it alone if we need to, provided we can muster all of us to vote the same way.”

After cutting off Republicans from having any say, he wants them to lay down and play dead: “In addition, the Republicans no longer can just walk off the job either. In 2022 the voters passed BM 113 which put it in our state constitution a provision that says lawmakers who walk out for more than 10 days are barred from running for reelection. Our State Supreme Court unanimously upheld the measure after a legal challenge to it in February of this year. All of this combined will make Republican obstruction tactics harder to pull off.” What Nosse fails to say is the lawsuit was on the wording of when the Senators would not be allowed to run for office. The decision was not on the constitutionality or that it was obstructive or forbidden. Nor did it address the discrimination employed by Speaker Rayfield disapproving leave for religious duties while approving similar requests for Democrats.

Nosse recently doubled down on this idea, writing in his newsletter, “This [supermajority] will give Democrats the ability to pass revenue-raising bills without Republican votes.”

Leader Bonham said: “These comments expose the majority party’s intent to force through tax hikes despite record-high revenue in the latest forecast, even as everyday Oregonians struggle with rising costs and making ends meet. Democrats seem to believe their supermajority entitles them to raise taxes on Oregon families, regardless of what voters want.”

Leader Bonham pointed to the overwhelming defeat of Ballot Measure 118—a major tax proposal that voters rejected by a 4:1 margin—as proof that Oregonians don’t want higher taxes.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Oregon is less than two weeks from the 2025 session, the public has no idea what tax increases the Democrat majority are proposing. Bill concepts are first submitted to the Legislative Counsel to draft as LC bills under a attorney/client privilege blanket. That keeps the public in the dark until they are introduced in committee, unless the bill sponsor choses to leak information.

“The message from Oregonians couldn’t be clearer: no more tax increases,” Bonham continued. “But instead of listening, Democrats are using their supermajority to make life even more expensive in Oregon. If they’re going to ignore the will of the people, they’ll have to do it on their own.”

If Democrats in their supermajority believe they will unilaterally raise taxes without any input or feedback or support from Republicans, then they will need to bring all of their members for such a vote. They need 60% to pass a tax increase and that is what they have at 36-24 in the House of Representative, and 18-12 in the Senate - the exact numbers they need to pass a tax. Bonham says, “They absolutely have the opportunity and power to conduct themselves this way, but I don’t believe anyone thinks this is a good way to govern.”

Republicans are challenged to engage in this session in an impactful way having so many limitations to their ability to affect bipartisanship and influence outcomes. Democrats with the mindset of Nosse destroy their own message of equality.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2025-01-10 10:03:24

Last Update: 2025-01-15 22:02:42