SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Republican senators in Oregon who walked out to thwart climate legislation didn’t show up to work for a fifth day Monday, with the GOP lawmakers insisting they will stay away and Democrats saying the minority party was stirring up “dangerous sentiments.”
The eleven GOP senators fled the Legislature on June 20 to deny Democrats the number of lawmakers needed to vote on legislation. Democratic Gov. Kate Brown sent the state police to seek out the Republicans and bring them back to the Statehouse for the vote, but the senators were still absent Monday.
Many have fled the state, where Oregon State Police have no jurisdiction.
Police can force senators into a patrol car to return them to the Capitol, but the agency has said it would use “polite communication” and patience to bring them back. All 11 Republicans have been fined $500 a day.
The debate over the climate legislation gets at the heart of a widening gap between the liberal priorities of cities like Portland and much of the rest of the state, where conservative causes hold sway with most rural residents.
The walkout attracted national attention after a tumultuous weekend that began with the Senate leader ordering the Capitol closed because of a “possible militia threat” from far-right groups, who threatened to join a peaceful protest organized by local Republicans.
One of those groups, the Oregon Three Percenters, joined an armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in 2016 and has offered safe passage to senators on the run.
The threat, however, never materialized and fewer than 100 people showed up.