VALE — State Sen. Lynn Findley, one of the Republican senators whose absence from floor sessions at the state Capitol over the past month has stymied the majority Democrats’ ability to pass bills, said almost all the constituents who have contacted him support his participation in the walkout.

“I’ve been hearing from a lot of folks, and with four or five exceptions all of the responses are encouraging me to do what I’m doing,” said Findley, the senator from Vale whose district includes Grant County.

Findley represented the county in the state House of Representatives from 2018-20 before being appointed to the Senate in January 2020 and then elected in November 2020.

Findley said on Thursday, June 1, that he’s received far more complaints from people living in the Willamette Valley — 50 or 60 — than the handful from his constituents.

“I don’t care what people in the Willamette Valley think,” he said. “I’m concerned about the residents of my district.”

By staying away from floor sessions, Findley and other Senate Republicans have denied the chamber the two-thirds majority that the Oregon Constitution requires for the Senate to take votes.

The GOP walkout is the longest in Oregon legislative history.

Although Findley repeated the complaint that Republicans made when the walkout started in early May — that the summaries of some bills are written at a reading level higher than is required by a 1979 law — he said he also objects to the contents of certain legislation that majority Democrats support and likely would pass but for the Republicans’ absence.

Probably the most contentious is House Bill 2002, which the House, also controlled by Democrats, has passed. The bill was the subject of negotiations last week between Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek and lawmakers, including Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp of Bend.

Those talks didn’t end the stalemate. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn June 25.

House Bill 2002 has multiple components, but it’s generally intended to guarantee and expand abortion rights and gender-affirming procedures.

Democrats introduced the legislation after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in 2022 overturning Roe v. Wade.

Another piece of legislation, Senate Joint Resolution 33, would give voters a chance to amend the state Constitution to guarantee the right to same-sex marriage, abortion and gender-affirming care.

Findley said Oregon already has “the most liberal abortion policies in the nation, and there’s no attempt to change that.”

But he said House Bill 2002 would, among other things, make it legal for a girl as young as 10 to have an abortion without her parents being notified.

“It’s not about reproductive rights, it’s about the removal of parental rights,” Findley said.

Reelection

After Republicans staged similar walkouts in 2019, 2020 and 2021, Oregon voters last November passed a measure, with nearly 70% in favor, that disqualifies lawmakers with 10 or more unexcused absences from seeking reelection.

Findley is among the senators who have exceeded that threshold.

It’s not clear, however, whether that measure would affect senators who, like Findley, could seek reelection in 2024, or whether it wouldn’t apply until 2028.

Findley said that issue is “just chatter for me.”

Whether he can seek reelection, and when, is a minor matter, he said, compared with continuing to do what his constituents expect him to do.

Findley dismisses the notion that he and other Republican senators are “not doing their jobs.”

He said he’s still working long days in Salem, attending committee meetings and other events. The only exceptions, he said, are the floor sessions.

“I’m working all day long,” Findley said.

Languishing bills

Although Findley is participating in the boycott to block certain bills, he said there is other legislation that he supports that could also be a casualty of the walkout.

That includes legislative packages designed to address the effects of drought, and another that would support economic development in rural areas.

“Those would help rural Oregon a lot,” he said.

Findley said he also supports the $10.2 billion public school funding bill that the House could pass this week.

He voted for that bill during a meeting of the Joint Ways and Committee, of which he is a member, on Wednesday, May 31.