SALEM — The Senate and House met Monday morning, Jan. 9, at the Oregon Capitol in Salem to organize for the 2023 session of the Legislature. Later in the day, Gov.-elect Tina Kotek was sworn-in during a joint session in the House chamber.

Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, the longest serving member of the House, started the morning in the chamber by welcoming lawmakers and leading them in the Pledge of Allegiance. Smith said his opening message boiled down to “lift where you stand.”

“If we can lift where we stand,” he said, “we can do some pretty heavy things.”

Rep. Khanh Pham, D-Portland, read a poem, “The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman.

“We will not march back to what was but to what will be,” she read.

Lawmakers were sworn-in by new Oregon Supreme Court Chief Justice Meghan Flynn. She was named to the position by outgoing Gov. Kate Brown effective Jan. 1, with the retirement of Chief Justice Martha Walters.

Rep. Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, was elected Speaker of the House. Democrats hold a 35-25 majority in the chamber.

Rayfield was nominated from the floor by Rep. Rob Nosse, D-Portland, a longtime colleague and friend.

“We know Representative Rayfield for his ability to get things done, and his approach – his kindness and his patience,” Nosse said. “… I have trust in his values, his commitment to this state, and his ability to do this difficult job.”

Later in the day, Rayfield addressing a joint session of the Legislature said he wanted to strive to solve major challenges on housing, health and other issues facing Oregonians. He said it would take cooperation from all side. A goal that might not be easy to reach at times.

“I’m not suggesting this session is going to be all unicorns jumping over rainbow,” he said.

The House has 21 new members, more than a third of the 60 members. About half are new to the House since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Oregon that followed immediately after the end of the March 2020 session.

Smith said this session signals a generational change in Oregon politics, with the longest-serving Senate president, Democrat Peter Courtney, Salem, retired, and the longest-serving House speaker, Democrat Tina Kotek, now the governor of Oregon. Smith said this opens the doors to opportunities for lawmakers to try to work together and advance positive agendas.

To that end, Smith said he made a motion the House has not voted on since 2005.

“Today we actually passed a vote of acclamation,” he said. “All 60 members voted for it.”

Smith said he moved for a vote of acclamation for Rayfield as well as the speaker pro tempore Rep. Paul Holvey, D-Eugene.

“I hope it sends a message to Oregonians that the Legislature wants to work together for the betterment of both rural and urban Oregon. This is just a small gesture as we kick off the session that we have faith that we can work together.

One landmark is the election of five Vietnamese-American lawmakers — the most of any legislative body in the nation.

“I see great opportunity in the turnover we have in this body, ” Rayfield said. “Many of you are entering this building with a fresh perspective.”

One of the first actions of the House was to approve new rules, which included removing many of the COVID-19 restrictions put in place over the past two years. Similar rules were later enacted by the Senate.

Sen. Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, took the gavel as Senate President that was held for two decades by former President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, who retired with the swearing-in of the new lawmakers.

Democrats hold 17 of 30 seats. 

One of the closest elections of 2022 was a Senate seat won by former Rep. Mark Meek, D-Oregon City. A noted singer who often was called on for vocal duties in the House, Meek made his Senate solo debut on Monday with a full-voiced rendition of the national anthem.

In his first speech to senators, Wagner referenced President Abraham Lincoln in saying reaching a true democracy was a process, not a destination.

“We make not the perfect union, but a perfect union,” Wagner said, and the true measure was the direction not the finish line.

In a rapid-fire reality-check of things to come next week, the House began reading the titles of the more than 2,000 pieces of legislation that were prefiled to be formally introduced. 

No action will take place until Jan. 17, when the 160-day session gets down to business. Most of the bills will never get to by-then Gov. Tina Kotek.

Legislation is introduced and assigned by the presiding officer of each chamber to a committee. It can be considered, amended and approved. More often, the legislation — especially bills from the minority party (currently Republicans in both chambers) is left to languish and expire.  

With a few exceptions, bills that have not had a hearing and scheduled for a committee vote by March 17 are dead for the session. There are several more deadlines along the way that cull scores of bills.

As the bills being read flew by, the gist of the legislation in the titles could be made out. There were hot-button issues such as guns, housing, homeless, environmental controls, taxes and health care.

But the list also included the usual crop of resolutions and bills that deal with less serious matters but are perennial legislative items meant to buttress the state’s reputation or elevate one of its aspects or products into higher status.

Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 3, his latest attempt to get the Legislature and governor to have the potato named Oregon’s official vegetable. Hansell’s district includes much of the potato crop in Oregon. He made a similar effort in 2021.

Hansell at that time said $200 million dollars worth of potatoes, accounting for 25 percent of all french fries exported overseas, came from Oregon. He also showed off a canvas bag that was sent to each senator that included a potato and spud-inspired recipes.

The bill stalled as the legislature hit the wall of the mandatory conclusion of the session in late June before taking up the issue.

Rep. Kevin Mannix, R-Salem, is making up for the lost time of a more than a decade away from the Legislature. His 38 prefiled bills include allowing landlords to terminate month-to-month rentals for no cause.

Mannix is on his third stint as a “House freshman.” Elected in 1988 as a Dem, he returned in 1998 as GOP, and reprises GOP after 2022 win. In between were runs for attorney general, governor and as the author of several major ballot initiatives.

Rep. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, has been chosen by a panel of county commissioners in Senate District 1 to replace Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, who recently resigned mid-term. If sworn-in to the Senate, a replacement for Brock Smith in his House District 1.

With the swearing in of new lawmakers, the 60-member House now has two Rep. Levys.

Rep. Bobby Levy of Echo is a conservative Republican who has represented a Northeastern Oregon district since 2021.

Newly elected Rep. Emerson Levy is a progressive Democrat whose district in northern Deschutes County includes parts of Bend and Redmond.

— East Oregonian managing editor Phil Wright contributed to this report.