Oregon lawmakers get back to work Monday after a snow day Friday threw a wrench in the schedule. The short week turned up the pressure on an already brief session.
The unexpected day off meant committee chairs had to scramble to reschedule hearings. That sets up a hectic few days at the capitol with possible votes on gun control, marijuana legalization, liquor sales in grocery stores, and new regulations on electronic cigarettes.
By Thursday the 35-day session will be one-third of the way through. So legislative leaders want to keep things moving by setting up short term goals.
That means if a bill isn't moving along, it's effectively dead. Of course, there are a few procedural tricks to revive dead legislation, but at a certain point lawmakers who support a bill just have to acknowledge that their proposal isn't gaining enough support this time around.
As of now, many of those controversial proposals such as marijuana legalization and gun control are still in play.
On Wednesday, lawmakers will get a look at the latest financial projections for the state. That will tell budget-writers whether they need to make cuts or whether they'll have additional money to spend.
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