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 have written too much about Donald Trump lately, so I focus instead on the Oregon Legislature where I worked, in one way or the other, for about 40 years.

Bi-partisan is not a word that recently could be assigned to the Oregon Legislature.

But, by the end of last week, it rang true in Oregon.

Legislators ended a so-called “short session” (five weeks) with agreements on a range of important issues – housing, drug policy, and campaign finance.  Most issues landed in the middle ground, not the extremes, which is one definition of bi-partisan action.

Yes, Democrats, who are in charge of the process in Salem and Republicans who comprise the minority, managed to find agreement.

It was a welcome change.  I say that as a lobbyist who has been retired for a few years, but who remembers days in the past when the two parties were able “to disagree agreeably.”

Here is the way the Oregonian newspaper described the conclusion of the legislative session:

“In a remarkably bi-partisan five-week legislative session, Oregon lawmakers authorized big spending on housing production, revamped the state’s controversial drug decriminalization law, and voted for the first time to impose campaign finance limits.

Various legislators took credit for the result.  One was outgoing House Speaker Dan Rayfield, who stepped down from his post at the end of the session to run for state attorney general.

“This is probably one of the most historic short sessions that we have ever had.  I’m proud to have been a part of it,” Rayfield said.

A list of achievements, according to the Oregonian:

• Lawmakers gave priority to the state’s dual housing and addiction crises, agreeing to major outlays and policy changes that passed with days to spare.
• Prompted by Governor Tina Kotek, legislators approved an extensive $376 million housing package aimed at accelerating home development and improving affordability.
• Lawmakers also rolled back Measure 110, Oregon’s landmark drug decriminalization law, making minor drug possession a misdemeanor crime again and allocating money to build out treatment facilities.
• Against long odds, a “right-to-repair” bill passed that will require electronic manufacturers to provide easily-accessible tools for Oregonians to repair their phones and other electronics.
• An historic campaign finance bill emerged halfway through the session and had the effect of derailing two competing ballot proposals that so-called “good government groups and unions” will now abandon.
• Environmentalists notched a win with the COAL Act, which directs the state treasury to undo the state public employee pension fund’s nearly $1 billion investment in coal mining and energy companies, and prohibits future investment in these sectors.

As lawmakers rushed to adjournment, two controversial bills failed to make it.

One would have prohibited schools from banning books.  A second would have restricted corporate or private equity firms from owning medical practices.

As a retired health care lobbyist, the latter struck me as a clear over-reach.  Private firms have a role to play in health care and, though not always perfect, they perform a service.  No need for a legislative fix – and lawmakers agreed.

Senate President Rob Wagner touted the session.

“There wasn’t a lot of elbowing around, there was just authentic engagement with people to talk about, ‘How do we drive towards solutions?’” Wagner said. “That’s what I’m really proud about this session, and I’m hoping that this leads to more authentic engagement like this when we’re addressing the big thorny problems that are facing Oregonians going forward.”

Back a few years ago, I did not like the idea of annual legislative sessions.  I feared it would threaten to make the Oregon Legislature like Congress, with little incentive to make good law, even as it met continually.

Truth be told, the most recent short session worked as short sessions are supposed to work, which is that they capitalize on agreement, not devolve into acrimony and dissension.

So, kudos to those who rose about the worst of politics to produce the best of politics.

And, just think of how different this is from Congress where members there can’t get their act together on almost anything.