Sen. Rob Wagner, Oregon State Senate president, attends the opening session at the Oregon State Capitol in Salem, Ore. on Monday, Feb 2, 2026.
Saskia Hatvany / OPB
Republicans in the Oregon Senate were a no-show in the chamber on Wednesday, stopping action in the chamber as Democrats teed up one of the session’s most controversial bills.
As the Senate attempted to reconvene at 1:30 p.m., none of the chamber’s 12 GOP members were in sight. That denied the majority Democrats the 20-member quorum needed to conduct business.
The quorum denial appears connected to transportation funding, an issue that has dominated the Capitol for the last year. The maneuver came as the Senate neared a vote on Senate Bill 1599, a Democratic proposal that would move the date of a public vote on an increase to gas taxes and other transportation fees.
Republicans are adamantly opposed to moving that vote from the November general election to the May primary.
On Monday, Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr, R-Dundee, and House Minority Leader Lucetta Elmer, R-McMinnville, sent a letter to Secretary of State Tobias Read that suggested such a move would be illegal.
“You, as the Secretary of State entrusted by the people of Oregon with the integrity of elections, have a choice: comply with the letter and spirit of the law ... or join the blatant partisanship and violation of law embodied in Senate Bill 1599,” that letter read.
Starr, who remained in the Capitol on Wednesday despite being absent from the Senate chamber, told OPB his members are waiting for a response.
“We’re looking for an answer from them, and at that point we’ll have the opportunity to have further conversation,” Starr said. “This is not unusual. The minority is hitting a pause button so we can have conversations with the majority.”
Read, a Democrat who was elected to the statewide position in 2024, issued a brief response on Wednesday, after Republicans launched their boycott.
“I received and carefully reviewed your letter dated February 16, 2026,” Read said, adding: “I took an oath to uphold the Oregon Constitution and the laws passed by the state legislature. I intend to keep it.”
While Republicans only blocked one floor session, the move immediately conjured memories of walkouts that have dominated legislative sessions in recent years.
In 2023, Republicans walked away from the Senate for six weeks, largely to block Democratic bills touching on gun laws and transgender care.
The party ultimately returned after winning significant concessions. But the 10 senators who participated in the walkout ran afoul of Measure 113, the 2022 law that says lawmakers can’t seek reelection if they have at least 10 unexcused absences.
The timing of SB 1599 has been a key focal point of this year’s one-month legislative session.
After Democrats passed a six-cent gas tax hike and other fee increases last year, a signature-gathering campaign led by Republicans collected more than enough signatures to put the new taxes before voters in November. The GOP is keen on ensuring the unpopular gas tax remains on the same ballot in which many of those Democrats are seeking reelection.
Time is running short on Democrats’ hopes. Read’s office issued a memo last month that said SB 1599 needs to be passed and signed by Gov. Tina Kotek by February 25 in order to ensure election officials have time to get the gas tax vote on the May 19 primary ballot.
Speculation has run rampant during the session about what tactics Republicans could use to delay the passage of SB 1599. But the bill is not the only controversial proposal that the majority Democrats are proposing.
Democratic bills that touch on gun control laws and abortion access are adamantly opposed by Republicans. With the tight timelines of the five-week legislative session, those bills’ fates — along with many others — would be in question if Republicans in one or both chambers choose to block legislative action.
“It’s not just about 1599,” Starr said. He declined to say whether his members were considering boycotting the Senate for nine days, the maximum allowed before penalties kick in.
No Republican senators received an unexcused absence on Wednesday, because the party attended an earlier floor session. Republicans in the House were present for a floor session on Wednesday afternoon.
