Oregon Democratic Gov. sends police to bring back Republicans who left state over climate bill

[spanone]

Washington (CNN)Oregon Democratic Gov. Kate Brown on Thursday authorized state police to locate Senate Republicans and bring them back to the state Capitol after some left the state to block the chamber's proceedings.

After more than eight hours of fruitless negotiations late into Wednesday night, Republican state senators in Oregon walked out of a session on Thursday over disagreements on HB 2020, a cap and trade climate bill. All 11 GOP senators failed to appear later Thursday for floor proceedings, leaving the legislative body two senators short of a quorum, according to Kate Kondayen, a spokeswoman for Brown.

At least some of the senators have left the state, according to a statement from the Oregon Senate Republicans, and the wife of one of them says they are all in Idaho at an undisclosed location.

"They all left and are in Idaho. I don't have a way of contacting him," Peggie Boquist, wife of Oregon GOP Sen. Brian Boquist, told CNN when asked the location of her husband.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/20/politics/kate-brown-oregon-republican-senators-police-climate-change/index.html

[Sherman A1]

1. This will be interesting

If they are out of state, jurisdiction would be a significant issue.

[jmowreader]

2. I wonder what it takes...

...to eject someone from the Oregon legislature.

[Timewas]

3. One of them

Says he will shoot any that come after him

https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2019/06/oregon-republican-senator-issues-threat-to-state-troopers.html

[spanone]

4. He should be arrested on that threat alone.

[Timewas]

5. He said

Send bachelors and come heavily armed," Sen. Brian Boquist, a Republican from Dallas, said late Wednesday as the prospect of a walkout loomed. "I'm not going to be a political prisoner in the state of Oregon. It's just that simple."

I hope he tries....

[gratuitous]

6. Republicans HATE majority rules

Unless they're in a majority they rigged for themselves.

Right now, the entire Republican caucus in the Oregon Senate is holding up legislation that would begin to hold polluting industries financially responsible for poisoning the environment. Historically, Oregon has allowed industry to do as it pleases, fouling the air, the water, and the land, with very little oversight and even less accountability. When a business has extracted the last penny of profit, the corporate entity simply dissolves, and the fatcats scatter to the four winds pocketing their profits and complaining about any taxes that nick them. When the toxic dump the business left behind is discovered, it's up to taxpayers to clean it up and pay for the clean-up.

What the cap and trade bill does is hold those industries accountable (beginning with the worst polluters), forcing them to pay as they go for damaging the environment. Don't want to pay those assessments? Clean up your act! Business has had a sweet deal for a long time, and Republicans want to help them continue to privatize their profit while socializing the cost of cleaning up their mess. At least one Republican Senator is on record as being willing to use lethal force to protect polluters.