GOP reaps rewards by not walking

By Terry Murry on Thursday, July 1st, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

ATHENA – There was no Republican walkout in the 2021 session that ended last weekend. Sen. Bill Hansell (R-Athena) said there was considerable pressure on the GOP to walk out early in the session from the Oregon Firearms Federation over a gun control bill.

“Six Republicans elected to stay and fight rather than run,” Hansell said. “Denying quorum is a tool, but you don’t use it every time there’s a bill that you don’t like.”

Hansell is sure that if there had been a walkout that early in the session, it would have created a toxic atmosphere between the two parties that would have prevented much of the work that was done cooperatively.

“Everything that we were able to get accomplished would have not happened, because we would have shut the whole system down,” Hansell said. “It would have built a huge amount of animosity and revenge.”