Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) has sicced the state police on 11 Republican state senators after the lawmakers left the Capitol in protest Thursday to avoid a vote on cap-and-trade.
The Democratic supermajority in the Senate was set to pass carbon cap-and-spend legislation, but the GOP lawmakers made a last-ditch effort to sabotage it by fleeing Salem and denying the upper chamber its necessary quorum for voting.
State Senate Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr. issued a statement Thursday morning, saying, “Protesting cap-and-trade by walking out today represents our constituency and exactly how we should be doing our job. We have endured threats of arrest, fines and pulling our community project funds from the governor, Senate president and majority leader. We will not stand by and be bullied by the majority party any longer,” Fox News reported.
Gov. Brown held a news conference following the Republicans’ protest of the climate bill, telling reporters, “It would have been historic for Oregon, historic for the country, and frankly historic for the world. Unfortunately, Senate Republicans failed to show up and failed to do their jobs.” – READ MORE