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Members take a look back Term limits, partisanship criticized By PETER WONG SALEM -- Two first-term members from Jackson County said they had a good time and accomplished a lot during Oregon's third longest legislative session, which ended Saturday after 195 days. "I really enjoy it and I am going to miss it," said Rep. Jason Atkinson, R-Jacksonville. "But I'd like to go home for three weeks and sleep in my own bed for a full week. "In one respect, it feels like the end of college, because some people are going on to other things and other people might not come back. But it has been educational and a tremendous privilege." The political star of Rep. Rob Patridge, R-Medford, ascended suddenly Friday night, when he and others led a successful effort to revive and pass a gasoline tax increase for road projects. "I got pretty much everything I wanted," Patridge said. "It was slow going, but I think term limits have had a huge effect on the session and people's ability to know what is going on and how to work the system." Unlike most of the legislative newcomers, Patridge has worked as an aide in the Oregon Senate and both houses of the U.S. Congress. Although they shared many of the first-termers' goals, such as more money for public schools and state universities and more state troopers on the highways, Jackson County's veteran legislators said the session was hampered by the influx of newcomers and increased partisanship. Sen. Lenn Hannon, R-Ashland, said he feared the session would run longer than the usual six months because Oregon's term limits and the 1998 election brought 27 newcomers to the 60-member House. Just two had been in the Legislature before. In contrast, five of the six newcomers to the Senate had been in the House before. "I guess I became disillusioned early on when I realized this would be a session different from any of the others I have served in previously," said Hannon, the Senate's senior Republican, who completed his 13th session and returns for one more in 2001. "So it has been frustrating. "I think it has been brought about because of term limits and the number of new members in the House. I do not blame the Senate. I blame it on the process. It just takes time to bring new people up to speed." Though only in her third term, Rep. Judy Uherbelau, D-Ashland, was one of the House's 17 senior members this session. She said partisanship exacerbated the problems, leaving little room for pragmatists to work together. "You should ask me in a couple of weeks how I feel," she said. "Right now, I feel this is the most dysfunctional session of the three I have served in. I feel we have not done a lot of positive things and we did not deal with a lot of issues. "I think it will continue because of term limits. People are not here long enough to think about good policy and make choices -- it's more of an attitude that something has to be done for today." One issue that Uherbelau, Patridge and Hannon salvaged was the proposed increase in gasoline taxes and vehicle registration fees, part of which will support $600 million in state highway projects, including a potential $62 million in projects for Medford. Atkinson opposed the bill. They all ended up supporting an education budget that was $25 million more than Gov. John Kitzhaber requested. But they parted ways on state aid to public schools, the largest item in the state budget. Atkinson, Patridge and Hannon supported the Republican leadership's budget of $4.81 billion; Uherbelau opposed it as inadequate. Though Atkinson and Patridge voted together on most major issues, Atkinson was more conservative and Patridge more moderate on a handful of votes. "This session has not been an eye-opener to me so much as it solidifies what I thought," Atkinson said. "I enjoy sparring with a handful of Democrats, but on my bills and theirs, we have worked them together. "People send us here to disagree, and some do not like it. It is an adversarial system. But in the middle, good policy comes out." All of them won approval of one or more personal priorities: For Hannon, an increase in required insurance coverage for treatment of mental illness, drug and alcohol dependency, $500,000 toward an amphitheater at the Jackson County Exposition Park and $100,000 for planning for a Southern Oregon advanced technology center. For Patridge, a ballot measure for cities and counties to zone sexually oriented businesses, tougher penalties against repeat drunken drivers and methamphetamine manufacturers, a checkoff for taxpayers to decide whether to keep income tax refunds or let the state keep them for schools, and more state grants for public libraries. For Atkinson, property tax relief for seniors (vetoed by the governor) and a change in the state's wild-fish policy to accommodate hatchery restoration programs of Columbia Basin tribes. For Uherbelau, police authority to confiscate cars of repeat drunken drivers. But there were personal disappointments. Hannon would have liked to have secured more for regional projects. Patridge said Jackson County courts need another judge or two, but the Legislature approved none statewide. Uherbelau blamed the Republican majorities for their unwillingness to look at long-term school financing or tax overhauls. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA