After the Oregon State Senate passed a bill allowing same-sex civil unions, the Oregon House has gutted the bill. However, that's not the point of this post. This post is about the failure of House Speaker Karen Minnis (R-Wood Creek) to "play fair." After the Senate's passage of the bill (with some Republican support) Minnis declared that she would not permit the Republican-controlled House to vote on it. I wonder what Speaker Minnis was afraid of. The only reason to exercise this kind of authority is for fear that the majority of members support the bill. And if that's the case, why should a single individual be able to kill the bill? The other possibility is that Minnis sought to protect her caucus from having to go on record against the bill. But if members of the House are not willing to go on record with a no vote, then they have not earned their seats - and are not performing the public's business.
Karen Minnis should suck it up and let the members go on record concerning this bill so that their constituents can judge them at the next election. Anything less is undemocratic.
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