Perspective from the 19^th Hole 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.

In my 25 years as a lobbyist in the State of Oregon, I always relished the day when the Legislature passed a “sine die” resolution.

Say what?

It is a strange phrase, one not used in everyday conversation.

It is Latin and it means “without day,” specifically, without assigning a day for a further meeting.  It originated in the 1600s and, in this case, it means the end of a legislative session.

That’s what happened in Oregon the other day.

For me, when I was a lobbyist, it meant the end of long hours and a lot of work to represent clients before 90 legislators who gather in Salem and who sometimes see the governor who is based in Salem every day, not just during a legislative session.

So, what did this short legislative session produce and was it worth it?

Well, there usually are at least two views – one from Democrats who are in charge of both the 60-member House of Representatives and the 30-member Senate, and the other is from Republicans who are in what’s called “the minority.”

They often differ on, not only what the problems are, but what constitutes solutions.

For this report, I rely mostly on the Oregonian newspaper which produced a solid story to mark the end of the session.  By reporter Carlos Fuentes and others, it appeared under this headline:  OREGON LAWMAKERS CLOSE OUT 2026 SESSION HAVING ADDRESSED IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT, TRANSPORTATION CUTS, ARENA FUNDING

Here is how the story started:

“Oregon lawmakers ended this year’s legislative session Friday after spending five weeks addressing bills in a hodgepodge of policy areas, ranging from federal immigration enforcement and tax breaks to NBA arena funding and transportation program cuts.

“The short session did not see the level of divisive partisanship that marked 2025’s long session, with its implosion of Democrats’ planned transportation package.  But there were outbreaks of partisan bickering and grandstanding.

“Most notably, Republicans spent several weeks pushing back against Democrats’ effort to move a statewide vote on transportation tax hikes from November to May.  That prompted multiple short boycotts from the minority party and a lawsuit challenging the move.”

Here are other highlights – or, perhaps, depending on political persuasion, some observers would call some of them lowlights:

• Lawmakers, local governments and state agencies had braced for steep budget cuts that did not materialize.  Legislative budget writers had warned of a gap as large as $750 million in the state’s two-year budget.  But ultimately they trimmed just $128 million of staffing and supplies from the $39 billion general fund following a positive revenue forecast and after Democrats pushed through tax changes that further slimmed the deficit.
• One agency did face deeper reductions.  Lawmakers cut or redirected $290 million in services at the Oregon Department of Transportation to address the budget gap at the agency, which largely relies on its own revenue streams.

They were forced to create the plan after a referendum campaign, led by Republican lawmakers, successfully gathered enough signatures to halt tax hikes passed by Democrats last fall and place them on the ballot.

This was the issue with the deepest political disagreement.  Republicans wanted to leave the issue to voters on the general election ballot next November.  Democrats wanted to change it to the May primary election ballot – and they did.

One reason was to get the unpopular gas tax off the same ballot as Governor Tina Kotek’s re-election bid.

The move to May might stay because, immediately after the session, Republicans filed a motion in court to retain November.  So, Oregonians still don’t know when they will vote on the issue.

• In a bi-partisan effort to ensure that the Portland Trail Blazers stay in Oregon under new ownership, lawmakers authorized issuing $200 million in state debt to upgrade the Moda Center, with an additional $165 million outlay planned for the next two-year budget.  The Moda Center is where the Blazers play home games.
• Democrats also passed a package of bills responding to what they view as federal overreach and aggressive immigration enforcement tactics.  Those bills will allow people to sue federal agents, set protections for immigrants in hospitals and create alert notification systems when immigration authorities are on school campuses, among other things.
• Although Democrats had pledged to make economic development a top priority for the session, they passed few bills expected to significantly boost Oregon’s ailing economic indicators.  One exception was a compromise plan that lawmakers approved on the final day of the session that will shield recreational providers, such as ski resorts, from costly lawsuits while still allowing injured people to sue under certain circumstances.
• The most notable win for Republicans:  Democrats, in the final days of the session, agreed to gut a bill that would have made several changes to Oregon’s voter-approved gun control law and instead merely moved the measure’s effective date back to 2028 if the Oregon Supreme Court finds the law constitutional.
• Many times during the busy session, lawmakers noted that a bill they were about to pass would require improvements in 2027.  A prime example was an update to the state’s open meetings law.  Senator Kate Lieber, a Portland Democrat, said the bill added important clarity about what elected officials can talk about with reporters, citizens and each other outside of public meetings.  But, she said, reporters and others are justified in worrying that the law will result in public business being discussed privately.
• Democrat lawmakers entered the session with a package of bills aimed at addressing actions by President Donald Trump’s administration, ranging from increasingly aggressive federal immigration enforcement tactics to the sales of public lands and withholding of federal dollars.  One high-profile bill that passed on the final day of the session will restrict the use of masks on law enforcement officers and require them to visibly display their badge number or name and agency. Similar laws in other states have been challenged by the federal government in court.
• For the first time ever, Oregon lawmakers took steps this year to rein in tax incentives for data centers operated by massive tech companies.

So, good or bad?  As always, both, depending on your point-of-view.

Mine focuses on the process and not as much on the results.  For what it’s worth, I opposed the move to annual sessions — the short sessions in even-numbered years.  Better to leave things as they were – the long six-month regular sessions in odd-numbered years.

That would mean legislators would have time between sessions to work on crafting middle-ground solutions to pressing problems, such as the public meeting issue mentioned above.

As it is, only partial solutions meet the light of day the short sessions and that is not a good look for persons interested in consensus, middle ground public policy decisions.