Article X-A, section 4 and 5 of the Oregon State Constitution

In this post, we look at Section 4 and 5 of Article X-A of the Oregon State Constitution.  Article X-A is entitled "Catastrophic Disasters".  Section 4 deals with emergency powers of the Legislature during an emergency. Section 5 provides for virtual house and senate assemblies.

Section 4, Subsection (1)

This subsection defines 6 additional powers that the Legislature can exercise during an emergency.  Each of these powers is an exception to a constitutional requirement.  In reading this section, you get the feeling that those who proposed the amendment wanted to throw out the constitution and say, look, the Legislature will do what is necessary and reasonable in an emergency, we can trust them.  Oh! Look, these sections were proposed by the Legislature!  This kind of thing is what causes people to go cynical about politics and politicians.
If you are interested in the details, you have to track back all the references, but the net effect is that if there is an emergency called, the legislature can do anything with the money it has "to address the catastrophe" unshackled from the all of the usual spending rules and quorum requirements.

Section 4, Subsection (2)

This subsection states that the Governor can still veto any legislation per the usual method described in the constitution during an emergency.  For legislation that uses any of the provided exceptions in subsection 1, the Governor is the only check and balance against misuse of these powers.

Section 5

This section provides for the possibility that if a member is not able to attend in person due to a catastrophe, since we have technology, they could attend in some virtual fashion.  The in-person requirement is really to address the authentication of the person's identity when voting.  Using different technology should really be addressed ahead of time in terms of determining what will be acceptable vs. not.