A group of 18 local organizations have joined together to form a PAC in an effort to put pressure on Republican lawmakers to return to Salem before the short legislative session ends this Sunday.
The coalition, No More Costly Walkouts, has already spent $9,000 on social media ads, according to a KGW8 report. Their slogan: “We show up to work. So should our lawmakers.”
The targeted effort responds to GOP lawmakers in the Oregon house and senate who have abandoned their job posts in order to boycott Senate Bill 1530—the contentious “cap-and-trade” bill that aims to reduce statewide carbon emissions by requiring big polluters to buy carbon credits from the state.
This is the fourth time in less than a year that Republican lawmakers have resorted to this tactic. No More Costly Walkouts wants to help put an end to this practice by highlighting the financial burden borne by Oregon taxpayers every time the state government shuts down.
A quote pulled from the homepage of their website reads, “As Oregonians, we don’t get to keep our jobs if we don’t show up. And we certainly don’t collect a taxpayer-funded paycheck when we don’t go to work. But twice last session, senators skipped work, shutting down the government and wasting tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars.”
It remains to be seen whether these online appeals to wasted taxpayer dollars and a sense of duty will hit too close to home for GOP lawmakers and help bring them to the table by the end of the week.
These are the partnering organizations:
- APANO
- Causa Oregon
- Climate Solutions
- Democratic Party of Oregon
- Fair Shot for All
- Family Forward Action
- Forward Together
- NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon
- Oregon AFL-CIO
- Oregon AFSCME
- Oregon Environmental Council
- Oregon League of Conservation Voters
- Oregon Nurses Association
- Our Oregon
- Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste (PCUN)
- Renew Oregon
- SEIU Local 503
- Unite Oregon
By JD Brookbank
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