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Senator introduces bill to require nonlegislative bill requests be routed through lawmakers
Summary
Senate Bill 1006 would bar executive and judicial branches from directly requesting legislation without a senator or committee sponsor; sponsor argued the change would return lawmaking to legislators and align Oregon with most states.
Senate Bill 1006 drew a public hearing in the Senate committee on Holders on March 19, where sponsor Senator **** Thatcher argued the measure is a corrective to a decades-long practice by which nonlegislative entities request and obtain drafts of legislation without a legislator sponsor.
“Mister chair, Senate Bill 1006 requires all legislative measures to be requested and introduced by either members or committees of the legislative assembly,” a committee staff member summarized. Senator Thatcher said the bill responds to changes first enabled in 1953, when a statute allowed the legislative counsel to draft bills for agencies with confidentiality protections. Thatcher argued that practice has eroded lawmakers’ control over the lawmaking process and said the bill would require the executive and judicial branches to route bill requests through a legislator or a legislative committee.
Senator Thatcher cited research she said came from the National Conference of State Legislatures to support the proposal, and told members that 40 states do not allow nonlegislative entities to directly introduce legislation. “Oregon. Okay. So here in Oregon … there are 159 bills that were proposed solely by the executive branch,” Thatcher said, adding that the practice produces a substantial flow of nonlegislative bills into both chambers.
During questioning, Senator Golden asked whether Thatcher brought the bill from a governance perspective or in response to particular bills; Thatcher said it was principally a governance issue, though she described practical instances — including frustration when agency-requested drafts preempt a legislator's ability to file. Senator Patrick said he supported the bill and indicated he intended to cosponsor after Thatcher's testimony.
Supporters at the hearing argued the bill would restore legislative accountability by ensuring elected lawmakers sponsor the measures that become law. Opponents were not recorded in this hearing. No committee vote was taken; the committee held a public hearing and moved on to subsequent measures.
