This is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

I wrote recently about this – being glad I am missing the start of the new Oregon legislative session in Salem.

Not to mention the finish six months down the road.

When I was a lobbyist, the start of the legislative session was a day I dreaded because it was the beginning of many hours at the State Capitol in Salem, including many early morning and late evening meetings.

My old firm, now called CFM Advocates, came up this week with a specific reason I would have cited as a main reason for the dread, if I had known the numbers.

“Lawmakers, lobbyists and members of the public returned to the Oregon Capitol last week for the first time since March 2020 as the 2023 legislative session convened with an initial pile of 2,000 bills to consider.”

Yes, 2,000!

And, for more than half of the 90 House and Senate members, it was their first in-person legislative session – thus their first to be beset by a huge pile of paper.

Further, a question is whether 90 legislators – not to mention the governor – must read that slog of paper. 

The answer is no.

One reason is that much of the legislation will never see the light of day.  For some legislators, simply introducing a bill is an end in itself.

But, if legislators want “their” bill to be heard, they must function much like lobbyists – advocate for a hearing and then action.

In the Oregon Legislature, the only way for a piece of legislation to move forward is for it to be heard in a committee.  Not just heard.  Where the votes stand in a committee become clear when a bill is scheduled for a a second hearing, which is called a “work session.”

Smart committee chairs won’t usually schedule a work session unless they know the votes will be there to enable passage.  Why, they wonder, allow a process to be scheduled for a hearing that produces nothing.

Overall, the route to final action includes these steps:  (1) Consideration in a committee hearing; (2) a “work session” if the committee chair decides to hold one; (3) upon passage out of a committee, the bill goes to the House or Senate floors; (4) then, upon passage on the floor, the bill proceeds to the other chamber; (5) passage in the second chamber requires the same set of actions – committee hearings and work sessions; (6) if passage in committee, the bill goes to the full chamber; and (7) and, if passage there, the bill goes to the governor for her action, which could be support, veto, or allowing the bill to become law without her signature.

In what is listed above, I don’t even mention the additional steps if the House and Senate pass different versions of the same bill.  Suffice to say, more committee hearings and floor sessions.

Aren’t you surprised that, me, a retired lobbyist remembers all these steps?

I recall them with just a bit of glee today because I am no longer involved in them.  However, I add that, when I was involved, I found the process to be purposeful.  It’s just better now to relax in retirement.