Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, sits in near-empty Senate on May 4, 2023, the second day of a Republican walkout to deny a quorum.

It is the Republicans and one independent in the Oregon Senate who have won this legislative session.

Not Democrats. Not Oregonians.

A small group of people became the master gatekeeper of bills. The Oregon Constitution handed them the tool with Oregon’s quorum rules. And they have used it to dictate the lives of Oregonians.

That such a small minority of legislators could wield such control is a hijacking, albeit a legal one.

It doesn’t matter if Republicans don’t get everything they want in the session to change bills on abortion, gender-affirming care and gun rights. They controlled the session.

The answer to the boycott on the Senate floor would make an autocrat smirk: Deals cut in a backroom. Democratic and Republican leaders have been back at that.

Behind closed doors, Oregonians will never know what was really offered, what was sacrificed. Who was eager to give up what for what? We like the idea of legislators being willing to consider compromises. It should be done in the open. How are Oregonians supposed to know if their politicians in the negotiations acted in a way worthy of earning a vote?

The leaders could have agreed to hold the negotiations in public. Our elected leaders are not brave enough for that.

Do you hope for a change? A constitutional amendment to require a majority for the Legislature to meet?

It doesn’t seem to be coming. One Democratic leader told us that there was not support from some Democratic leaders because any change would likely be a forever change. Democrats used walkouts/boycotts in the past, too. If they lost control of the Legislature, they might need the tool again.

We have heard the argument that participants in the Oregon Senate boycott — including state Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend — will pay the high price of not being able to run again for office because of Ballot Measure 113. That’s far from settled and not much of a balance to control of the session.

The true sound of Oregon governance is no longer open debate in committees and votes on the floor. It is silence as governance goes on behind a closed door.