A short time ago – and this may seem far fetched – but there were a total of 9 seconds given to a speaker testifying before the Oregon Legislature.

How much can you say in 9 seconds? Before the person could finish a sentence or two, the legislative panel moved on.

In this age of PowerPoints, people are able to testify remotely and able to watch online as many legislative hearings as they dream of. But time is still the problem. Sessions last a few months. There were more than 1,200 bills introduced this session in the Senate, alone. There was another weighty pile from the House.

How many of those bills get abundant, thoughtful, nuanced debate with plenty of time for follow up questions? It’s more than you might guess, likely less than should. Behind the scenes, there is a winnowing of bills. There are negotiations that the public doesn’t get to see. That’s one problem in Oregon’s supposed open and transparent Legislature. But another is time.

The 9 seconds was an extreme outlier. It was the time given to one speaker in front of the Oregon Legislature’s Senate Committee on Rules on Wednesday for a bill, Senate Bill 686, that may help determine the future of journalism in Oregon. State Sen. Kayse Jama, a Democrat who represents parts of Multnomah and Clackamas counties, wasn’t trying to cruelly limit time by giving one speaker only 9 seconds. He had set time limits for various sides to present testimony and about 9 seconds was all that was left. There were also so many people signed up to testify that many didn’t get to testify.

We are acutely sensitive about that bill. It relates to journalism and recouping some of the revenue from internet companies that filch information created by journalists and profit from it, while all the while the number of journalists in Oregon shrinks.

We asked Gov. Tina Kotek’s office what her position was on the bill.  “The Governor reviews all legislation that reaches her desk for signature,” Elisabeth Shepard, the governor’s public affairs and communications director told us promptly.

To be fair to Kotek, there is no time with so many bills to do much more.