The 2009 Legislative session was discouraging for Rep. Wayne Krieger. The Gold Beach Republican found himself on the short end of votes that raised taxes and increased government, with the general fund growing by 11 percent over the 2007 session. 

“For the first time since I’ve been a legislator, I’ve talked to people, both Democrats and Republicans, who have said they are going to move” out of the state, he said. “Oregon is no longer Oregon.”

Such is life for an Oregon conservative when Democrats run Salem.

The session was dominated by a liberal agenda and colored by the effects of an economic recession. Lawmakers approved hiring about 1,000 new employees for the Department of Human Services, in part to handle the needs of unemployed Oregonians. They passed a stimulus package at the start of the year that has workers making repairs at Southwestern Oregon Community College and the Coos Bay Armory, as well as at a number of state buildings on the South Coast.

Even representatives whose party was in power found difficulties in the session.

Sen. Joanne Verger, D-Coos Bay, said it was hard to be a moderate with the push for more environmental regulations and higher taxes.

Though the economic uncertainties led to some difficult decisions about program cuts, Rep. Arnie Roblan, D-Coos Bay, said he saw more collaboration among lawmakers.

That wasn’t to say there weren’t arguments, particularly regarding proposals to raise taxes.

Whereas Krieger fought against tax hikes with most of his Republican colleagues, Verger joined the Democrats in raising taxes on corporations and wealthier Oregonians.

She said it’s a difficult balancing act between voting on principle and staying on good terms with fellow Democrats to get resources for her district.

Verger split with her party over several major pieces of legislation, such as the ban on field burning. She also disagreed over several measures placing mandates on local government.

“If a bill was taking away the authority of local government, whether city or county, I just don’t go there,” she said. “I’m a local person and I vote that way.”

Roblan, who served on the Elections, Ethics and Rules Committee, worked on legislation that will make it easier to track state spending and make sure it’s being spent wisely.

“Hopefully people will have more confidence government is using the money the way they said they were,” he said.

The Legislature also passed legislation that will expand coverage under the Oregon Health Plan and allow more children to be insured. The additional revenues will come from taxing insurance companies and hospitals. The latter will benefit by seeing fewer uninsured patients.

Krieger was dismayed by much of the legislation passed in the final days, noting that he voted “no” more than 20 times on the final day of the session. But he has started a process that he hopes will help coastal economies. He read a report from Oregon State University that found that 50 percent of salmon smolt get eaten by cormorants heading back to the ocean in rivers along the north coast of Oregon. He said the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will study what happens with cormorants on rivers along the south coast, including the Rogue, Coquille and Siuslaw rivers. Eventually he’d like to get federal approval to eliminate some of those predators, like some Eastern states do. He said it could take several years before such permits are approved.

“Until you can control the number of predators, you’re not going to get your salmon back,” he said.

It was a different kind of predator that Verger spent much of the session thinking about. As a co-chairwoman of the public safety budget, she worked with district attorneys and sheriffs to find out how to deal with a budgeting shortfall with added sentencing guidelines from Measure 57. They decided to phase in the new guidelines, and to review the situation in the short session next winter. Doing so allowed the state to maintain its Oregon State Police staff levels and keep all Oregon Youth Authority offices open.

“I’m very satisfied with the end,” she said.

Roblan also expressed satisfaction with the session. Although the economy made for some difficult decisions, he said there was good communication across the aisles.

“We can have our arguments, but in the end, government is working,” he said.