Oregon state Senate President Peter Courtney (D) announced on Tuesday that the climate change bill at the heart of GOP state senators’ walkout won’t pass.
“House Bill 2020 does not have the votes on the Senate floor,” Courtney said during the Senate’s morning session. “That will not change.”
Sen. President Peter Courtney to Republicans: We do not have the votes for the cap-and-trade bill. #orleg #orpol pic.twitter.com/o32P9qW5nY
— Lauren Dake (@LaurenDake) June 25, 2019
Courtney asserted that he was making the announcement of his “own free will.”
The move signals an end to Oregon Democrats’ standoff with Republican senators, who ran out of the state last week to avoid voting on a sweeping cap-and-trade bill aimed at dramatically reducing carbon emissions. Gov. Kate Brown (D) sent the state police after them, and right-wing militias swore to protect the Republicans.
The scuffle reached the point where Democratic senators had to cancel a Saturday session after receiving a “credible threat” that the militias would show up at the capitol building (no militias ultimately showed up).
