BY SARAH ROSS

Rep. Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg) speaks of Oregon’s high levels of unemployment during the first House Floor Session for the 2010 Special Session.

YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIyIxxsUhFo

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- The first day of the Oregon Legislature’s special session turned out to be a long day with, as one lobbyist put it, “a whole lot of nothing” besides mingling in the halls of the capitol.

Between the lobbyists and the politicians, the only thing that remained clear for the session is that the body is trying to squeeze six months’ worth of work into their restricted one-month period. And with staff being cut back to handle about two committees each, the schedule will be even more hectic than during regular sessions.

Legislative concepts were introduced in various committees, as were the members of each committee. Work plans were also approved, laying out the agenda for the next few weeks of hearings.

Bills must leave their original committees by February 11. From there they will proceed to the other chamber’s committee, and then to the respective floor sessions for a full House and Senate vote.

It should be a very interesting month.

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- Monday will ring in Salem’s test case for annual sessions, bringing state legislators to the state capital for the body’s Special Session.

And what is on the agenda for the month-long meeting? Everything from a constitutional amendment declaring health care a right for all Oregonians, to the House Speaker’s repeal of a ban on teachers wearing religious garb in the classroom.

Also on the list is a ballot measure which would bring about another constitutional amendment allowing for annual meetings of the Legislature, instead of the current meeting every two years, and a ban on the chemical Bisphenol A.

More bills include an extension of unemployment benefits, early release for over 4,000 inmates, sobriety checkpoints to stop DUII offenders, new limits on the controversial Business Energy Tax Credit, an ethics bill to prevent legislators from accepting jobs in state government, and a modification of the current kicker refund.

On the business front comes a proposed tax credit for making capital improvements and a tax credit for woody biomass, pushed by the Republican caucus.

For more information on the session’s bills, check out the Oregon Politico’s Bill Tracker.