A bill named after a Madras boy who was severely beaten by his mother’s boyfriend in 2017 will not be moving forward in the 2021 legislative session.

House Bill 2339 would have allowed enhanced sentences for those convicted of assaults that result in permanent injury to the victim.

The bill was among hundreds of pieces of legislation that expired when they failed to meet legislative benchmarks to move forward. 

A partisan battle between Democrats and Republicans in the House significantly slowed the progress of bills during the first half of the 160-day session.

Republicans say “Ezra’s Law” had little chance of success when Democrats are moving bills to rein-in police and court discretionary decisions. The reforms are intended to reduce what they contend is racial bias in arrests, prosecutions and sentencing.

Democrats say the tactic of a slowdown of voting in the House used by Republicans to delay Democrat’s agenda led to a massive backlog of bills. “Ezra’s Law” was among hundreds of bills that didn’t move forward and ran out of time under the Legislature’s rules.

HB 2339 had a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee on Jan. 26, but was never scheduled for a required work session, in which the committee could offer amendments and vote on the final version of the bill to move forward.

A compromise reached between the two political parties after the deadline has unblocked the spigot of legislation in the House.

House Minority Leader Christine Drazan, R-Canby, one of the co-sponsors of the bill, said the bill would be re-submitted in the next session of the Legislature, which starts in January 2022.

“We need to right that wrong and take the opportunity to fix it,” Drazen said Thursday.

The bill would have allowed for enhanced — longer — sentences for those convicted of an assault that resulted in permanent injury to their victim.

If passed, it would have been informally known as “Ezra’s Law,” after a Madras boy who who was two years old in 2017 when he was viciously beaten by his mother’s boyfriends.

Ezra needs 24-hour care every day and is unable to do anything on his own. He has breathing and feeding tubes and a shunt to keep fluid from building up in his brain. He’s legally blind and has as many as three seizures an hour. The medical prognosis is he is unlikely to live to age 18.

Josue Jair Mendoza-Melo pleaded no contest to the attempted murder of Ezra. Under Oregon’s sentencing guidelines, and Mendoza-Melo’s lack of a previous criminal record, he received 12 years in prison.

Supporters of the bill believe Mendoza-Melo should have received at least double that length of time.

Tina Jorgensen, of Madras, Ezra’s grandmother, told the Madras Pioneer she was disappointed that she the effort did not result become law. 

“I try to find the triumph in this tragedy,” she told the newspaper. “I want people to see what life is like and that it’s not a normal life for Ezra.”

Drazan said Ezra and his family will suffer long after Melo-Medoza will likely be released.

“This is in essence a life sentence for Ezra,” she said. “Folks like Ezra’s family are severing it with Ezra.”

Along with Drazan, some of the six sponsors also included Rep. Daniel Bonham of The Dalles, Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, and Rep. Paul Evans, D-Monmouth.