Any hiccup could end up with Democrats playing a game of chicken with the Oregon Constitution, which says lawmakers get 160-days to write, propose, vote, amend, and get a bill to Gov. Kate Brown. On Jan. 19, the clock starts ticking down 24-hours a day, seven-days a week, through weekends and holidays, fires, floods, ice storms and lightning strikes, pandemics and political pauses.

What started Tuesday, Jan. 19 must end by Sunday June 27.

Yes, Senate President Peter Courtney, D-Salem, on Monday introduced Senate Joint Resolution 24 on directing the legislature to adjourn. One thing missing: A date. The actual date and time is a fill-in-the-blanks amendment yet to come.

While not eager to say where the agenda might fall short, Democratic lawmakers in recent days have said it is unlikely that major campaign finance reform will be able to elbow its way into the final agenda.

Attempts by some Democrats to revise criminal sentencing laws to allow for more discretion on the part of judges has slowed to a stop, facing opposition from Republicans and some Democrats who support minimum sentences for major crimes.

One development that is welcome in Salem is the apparent end of walk-outs and slow-downs by the Republican minorities in the House and Senate.