Oregon Lawmakers Spend At Least $634 on Every Failed Bill

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Thursday, March 12, 2015

Annie Ellison, GoLocalPDX Reporter

In the business of lawmaking, success depends on an elected official representing his or her constituents through changes to legislation. 

But that lawmaking comes at a price. The state’s Legislative Counsel estimates each bill that is introduced during a legislative session costs taxpayers an average of $634. If that bill goes through amendments, another estimated $708 can be added to the price tag, according to State of Oregon Legislative Counsel Dexter Johnson. 

Some legislators choose to introduce dozens of bills, while others opt for a select few. 

“Everyone sees the job differently—some think of it as being a filter, others think of it as a conduit," said Political Analyst Len Bergstein of Oregon consulting firm Northwest Strategies.

Slides Below: The 20 Most Effective Legislators in Salem 

In the 2014 regular session, Senate and House officials elected to the 77th Legislative Assembly introduced 247 bills,121 of them passing into law. During the 2013 regular session of the legislature, 2,510 bills were introduced, and 787 were signed into law. 

According to an analysis of Oregon Legislative Information System (OLIS) data, at least $1.17 million was spent on 1,849 failed bills. 

Representative Julie Parrish (R-Tualatin/West Linn), who has introduced 74 bills in the current legislative session, said it is simply the cost of democracy. In the 2013 regular session of the legislature, she introduced 61 bills, of which 13 passed. Parrish argues that paying for roughly a dozen legislative counsel to draft legislation is a worthwhile cost, in order to maintain a citizen's legislature. 

“You can’t put a price tag on non-partisan data,” Parrish said. The West Linn Representative pointed out if each legislator were to realistically draft his or her own bills, each would need to have a legal background.  

“Do you want a mom with kids who runs a business, or a lawyer representing you?” Parrish asks. 

Coordinate legislation

Jason Williams, a lobbyist with the Taxpayers Association of Oregon, said the bottleneck caused by masses of bills causes some important legislation to end the session stuck in committee. 

“You’d think they could wake up and solve the problem if they coordinated legislation,” he said, pointing to three separate bills that address the use of headlights. 

Williams expressed concern for lawmakers introducing dozens of bills without regard for the taxpayer, but explained legislative fees are the cost of democracy. 

“I’ve never seen a good litmus test to be able to say that would weed out the people who abuse it and the people who don’t,” Williams said. 

In the 2013 regular session, Representative Lew Frederick (D-Portland) introduced 34 pieces of legislation, nine of which passed into law. Frederick has introduced 39 bills in the ongoing 2015 regular session.

“I do not expect to get 20 or 30 of those bills through,” Frederick said.  

Thirteen of the bills Frederick introduced this session are to do with police accountability and racial profiling -- thirteen bills that cost at least $8,242. 
Frederick argues the current political climate provides an opportunity to begin discussing a previously marginalized issue, and that much of the legislation has been introduced in previous sessions. 

But is 13 excessive?

“With a comprehensive bill, people can jump on one thing and tear the whole thing down,” Frederick said. For example, two police accountability bills address cameras, though one focuses on filming the police, while the other addresses police wearing body cameras. 

Frederickson said evaluating whether to bring force legislation on the grounds of its baseline price tag is not the task of elected officials. 

“It’s going to cost money to turn the lights on in the building, too,” he said. 

Senator Alan Olsen (R-Canby) disagrees. 

“I would say that’s not a responsible use of money,” said Olsen. 

Olsen, who has been trying to pass the same transparency legislation for years,  argues when a bill that did not succeed in a previous session is reintroduced, it does not cost the state $634, or the extra $708 for further amendments. 

In the 2013 regular session, Olsen was listed as the chief sponsor on 22 bills, four of them passing. In the 2014 regular session, six of Olsen’s eight bills were signed into law. 

Bills that don't make it into law frequenly get a second wind in later legislative sessions. Even legislation halted multiple times can catch a second wind else where. One such bill, that would have earmarked five percent of Oregon Lottery revenue for veterans, is in the initial steps of taking an alternate route to Oregon statute, as a ballot initiative. 

“We’re gathering signatures now,” said Parrish.

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Related Slideshow: The 20 Most Effective Legislators in Salem

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