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2005-05-24 Alert
ACTION NEEDED NOW!
Friends & Neighbors -
We've all been working hard to enact meaningful annexation reform in this legislative session. But as of tonight, those efforts are in serious trouble because of opposition by Speaker Minnis and other legislators who are listening to the League of Oregon Cities.
HB 2484, the double majority reform for ORS-195 which passed the House 45 - 13 is currently bottled up in Senator Ringo's Environment & Land Use Committee and going nowhere because (we're told by a trusted source) the League wants it dead. As I've previously noted, this has been their obvious strategy all along.
HB 3084, which was recently amended to reform only ORS 222.750 (island annexation) by prohibiting using streets as one border of an island was pulled today by the Speaker. We're told this action was mainly because the sponsors planned to insert ORS-195 reform into the bill. I'll also note that our concerns regarding language in the earlier versions of this bill possibly impacting our local voter annexation charter amendments have been addressed to our satisfaction.
SB 887A, the bill that contains the interim work committee, is in danger of being amended to death (20 proposed amendments so far). It may come out of Rep. Garrard's committee this week, but the track it appears to be taking means it is likely to be toothless and provide no real and lasting reform - except perhaps for certain big businesses.
Time is running out: committees will start shutting down within the next 2 weeks. Right now, the two bills that provide the annexation reform we all originally wanted are HB 3084 (islands) and HB 2484 (ORS-195 double majority).
We have to act NOW. We need vast NUMBERS of contacts made to Reps Minnis & Garrard. I know Rep. Garrard has gotten on me in the past for "turning the dogs loose," but I feel we have no choice. Contacts:
The messages:
- Allow HB 3084 to include the language of HB 2484 and MOVE IT FORWARD
- We need annexation reform for the ENTIRE STATE in THIS SESSION, not 2 years down the road.
- Do not allow SB 887A to be stripped of the protections passed in the Senate.
- Please represent US - the "People of the State of Oregon!" The League of Oregon Cities does NOT represent "The People!"
And if you haven't yet contacted Senator Ringo and asked him to move HB 2484, please do that now as well. sen.charlieringo@state.or.us
Do this NOW - and get as many people as you can to do it NOW. We are at the most critical juncture of the game. If these messages are not heard loud and clear, there's a very good chance that the party will be over!
Jerry Ritter
Secretary, OCVA
This page last modified on 2005-11-16 08:29.
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