This content was published: February 24, 2009. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Rep. Dembrow takes his first bill to the House Floor
Photos and story by Dana Haynes
OK, this is sort of cool.
Michael Dembrow, longtime PCC instructor and freshman member of the Oregon House of Representatives, carried his first bill to the floor today.
“Carried a bill to the floor” is Legislature-speak for taking a bill that has passed in a committee and being its “floor manager” during a session of the House. Michael got to introduce the bill and make the first speech in favor of its passage.
Veteran lawmakers who have done this scores of times tell me they still get butterflies. Have they gauged the opposition correctly? Have they lined up the right proponents and made sure they’re armed with the right arguments? Will they get bushwhacked by some side issue that they hadn’t considered?
In Rep. Dembrow’s case, he’d done his homework. The bill passed 58 to 1. It goes next to the Senate.
House Bill 2135 would require the owners of rental property to clearly tell would-be renters of smoking is allowed on the entirety of the property, banned on the entirety of the property, or allowed only in designated areas.
OK, so it’s not the Voting Rights Act of 1965. It’s still an important bit of legislation, and it will forever more have Michael Dembrow’s name attached to it.
Not bad, that.
dana
About Dana Haynes
Dana Haynes, joined PCC in 2007 as the manager of the Office of Public Affairs, directing the college's media and government relations. Haynes spent the previous 20 years as a reporter, columnist and editor for Oregon newspapers, including ... more »