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Oregon state Sen. Lew Frederick, a Democrat from Portland, speaks to reporters on Thursday, March 5, 2020, as other Democratic lawmakers look on. At the news conference in the Oregon State Capitol, frustration boiled into the open after Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., said his party would return from a boycott of the Legislature on Sunday only to vote on emergency budget bills. Democratic lawmakers said representative democracy is at stake by repeated use of walkouts to deny a quorum and freeze all legislation. Later in the day, the 2020 legislative session ended early over the impasse, with Democratic Senate and House leaders rejecting Baertschiger's proposal.(AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)

Oregon state Sen. Lew Frederick, a Democrat from Portland, speaks to reporters on Thursday, March 5, 2020, as other Democratic lawmakers look on. At the news conference in the Oregon State Capitol, frustration boiled into the open after Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger, Jr., said his party would return from a boycott of the Legislature on Sunday only to vote on emergency budget bills. Democratic lawmakers said representative democracy is at stake by repeated use …

March 6, 2020

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Oregon Legislature crashes over climate, leaving acrimony
March 6, 2020 1:40 p.m.

Oregon Legislature crashes over climate, leaving acrimony

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A total of three bills passed while hundreds died as the Oregon legislative session went down in flames and cost taxpayers a half-million dollars, including $151 per diems to minority Republican lawmakers who went into hiding to kill environmental legislation.