Speaker Kotek gets good ink.

Carla Axtman

It would seem that the Eugene Register Guard loves them some Tina Kotek.

To wit:

In 2011-13, Democrat Arnie Roblan and Republican Bruce Hanna shared the speakership of an evenly divided House, and drew national attention for the bipartisan comity. Roblan, of Coos Bay, and Hanna, of Roseburg, also gave the House a downstate image. Kotek was set up to be judged against a high standard, with partisan rancor likely to be attributed to the Portland area’s deep-blue streak.

But Kotek held her own. She favored modest changes in the Public Employees Retirement System, and that’s what the Legislature approved — despite Kitzhaber’s and Republicans’ support for a more ambitious plan. She was a strong supporter of a new Interstate 5 bridge over the Columbia River, and the Legislature approved $450 million for the project — in contrast to the Washington state Legislature, where a bridge funding proposal failed.

Kotek’s worst moment came in mid-session, when a package of tax increases came up for a vote in the House. Such proposals must be approved by a three-fifths supermajority, meaning she needed two Republican votes to reach the required number of 36. Kotek said she had those votes, but when the counting was done no Republicans crossed to her side. It was an embarrassing failure, but Kotek did not attempt to shift blame. She simply moved on to the next business, cementing her reputation for an aversion to drama.

I've been a long time fan of the Speaker, even while strongly disagreeing with her on the Columbia River Crossing. I think she's generally headed in a good direction the vast majority of the time. Also, she's very open to having discussions on why she's going in that direction. I've found that refreshing.

I'm not sure I'm completely on board with the glowing rendition painted by the RG. Mostly because there's still a LOT of consternation around PERS, to the point that the Governor is considering another special session (GAH!). Clearly the Speaker hasn't been able to drive home her point on this one, and I'm not sure her caucus would hold together on keeping the cuts from getting deep and potentially draconian. I would love it if there was a way for the Speaker to register some disgust with having two special sessions in the same year on top of the regular session. That's clearly overkill.

Yes, a girl can dream.

I also think the inability to get the tax package done was not awesome. The GOP held together on that one, and either somebody lied to Kotek, or the nose count wasn't there and she didn't see it.

But she rocked tuition equity and some good changes were made to public safety. A whole big bunch of construction jobs are going to happen due to an influx of money for capital construction projects. More money is in the pipeline for mental healthcare, too. She did a good job and got some important experience under her belt. The potential for her to be an amazing Speaker is definitely there.

By Carla Axtman July 16, 2013