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The agreements that ended the Republican-led walkout at the Oregon Legislature won’t please the ideological purists or the one-issue voters who equate compromise with betrayal.

But for the millions of Oregonians who live with compromise as a reality of daily life, the restart of the legislative session is an enormous relief.

Oregonians need legislation that helps provide more housing and removes barriers to construction. They need behavioral health investments that answer the urgency of the mental health and addiction crises playing out across the state. They need reforms to Oregon’s broken public defense system to ensure representation for those charged with crimes.

And they need the Legislature to act this session — not wait for next year’s.

Democrats made the right call to compromise on abortion and gun-safety bills in order to address the numerous emergencies facing Oregonians. Oregon is already among the most liberal states in the country on ensuring abortion access and has adopted several laws in recent years that help reduce gun violence.

And while Democrats hold majorities in both chambers of the Legislature, they need enough Republican or Independent legislators to attend Senate floor sessions to meet the constitutionally-required two-thirds minimum of legislators to vote on bills.

Lawmakers have a lot of ground to cover before the mandated June 25 adjournment, but the breakthrough and speedy work so far by the Senate suggest they will be able to do so.

Predictably, Democratic and Republican legislative leaders all declared victory for their side and for Oregonians as a whole. But they are correct. A failed session would have been a disaster for all.

It is a reflection of legislators’ commitment to public service — which is far from an easy career path — that they ultimately set aside animosity to find a path forward.

Legislators, however, cannot keep playing this game of chicken, where Oregonians are the ones who end up crushed in the collision of agendas, left and right.

Ironically enough, this session, which made history for Oregon’s longest ever legislative walkout, also demonstrated how to avoid a repeat. The session began with bipartisan collaboration to pass critical bills addressing Oregon’s housing crisis and the state’s competitiveness for federal semiconductor investments.

While lawmakers rightfully debated and disagreed on elements of legislation, they broadly recognized the urgency of action and followed through with impressive support.

The impending June 25 deadline appears to have lent the same kind of clarifying momentum. Trust, relationships and a focus on unifying priorities matter — and can make all the difference between a successful or failed session.

Oregon used to pride itself on leaders’ ability to find solutions through bipartisan pragmatism. But we’ve moved away from the “Oregon Way” to a legislative philosophy that might makes right. But Oregon’s civic health needs a more magnanimous strategy that seeks to pull people into the circle rather than pummel an agenda through.

It may be unrealistic to suggest that the Legislature can go from the brink of disaster to a new era of collaboration and compromise. But there is something so hopeful about the fact that legislators peered into the abyss and chose to step back.