Comment on Ore. lawmakers want to bridge state divide

SALEM, Ore. — Leaders of the Oregon Legislature spoke Friday about the need to bridge divides that exist in the state, days ahead of the start of the 2019 session. Speaking at The Associated Press Legislative Preview, lawmakers described an Oregon that is divided between urban and rural, Democrat and Republican. The November election gave Democrats a three-fifths supermajority in Oregon’s Legislature with greater power to impose taxes, but Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, said they must wield power carefully. He recalled that Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., had told him that while Baertschiger represents a minority in the Senate, most people in his district around Grants Pass are Republican. Courtney said he wants legislation from the session that begins Tuesday to benefit the entire state of Oregon. He pointed out that Republicans could jam up legislation by sitting out votes.