2005-01-16 Alert

Update

Greetings to all:

Here is our first Legislative Update since the convening of the 2005 session on Jan. 10.

There have already been around 500 bills introduced. Most of them are requests by Oregon's vast number of boards, committees, commissions, advocacy groups, etc. These are introduced by the Governor or the two chamber leaders on behalf of the requestors. Many are what would probably be classified as "housekeeping" measures.

The good news is that there's been nothing so far (that we've seen at least) trying to outlaw voter annexation or cast "single majority" in stone for ORS-195. But we know that at least the latter is coming.

As usual, there are some good bills, some bad ones and some that are just downright silly. Examples in the first category include HB2302 to make it a crime to install or cause to be installed spyware on someone else's computer and SB259 to allow non-profit corporations to make decisions via email. But the REALLY GOOD one is Senator Kurt Schrader's SB 307 - another attempt at authorizing SDCs for schools. We need to support Sen. Schrader in any way we can on this!

"Bad" bills include HB2331 by Rep. Wayne Scott for The Oregon Restaurant Association to revoke the voters' decision on annual cost of living adjustments to Oregon's minimum wage. They tried the same thing last time without success. It is irresponsible representation to even introduce a bill to revoke a voter mandate! We also have SB295 to effectively shut down the Coburg and similar speed traps you read about in our recent newsletter. But probably the winner is a bill requested by "former Rep. Joe Smith" (he has a number of bills...looks like "former" reps still like to keep active) called "DOLLARS FOR DEMOCRACY." It would require the Secretary of State to mail $50.00 to every elector in the state each year. Each elector could then contribute this to any candidate or measure of his/her choice. The money would supposedly come from abolishing the $50.00 individual tax credit for political donations - but how many state electors take advantage of this? 

In the "Downright Silly" category we have a couple bills by Rep. John Lim. HB2342 would require any cell phone charger sold in Oregon to work with ALL cell phones in the state. HB2344 would require public schools to offer Tae Kwan Do as an education option. Bills like these (there are and will be a lot more) waste the Legislature's and taxpayers' time and resources. They demonstrate the validity of our oft-repeated charge that some legislators run for office primarily to push their own agendas, not to represent their constituents.

Despite the Governor's pledge not to seek new revenue, there are almost 2 dozen bills that raise or create new fees plus a couple that raise taxes. So we presume he'll veto these if they get to his desk.....(I'm giggling) And despite calls from Speaker Minnis to limit government, there are a dozen bills so far that create new commissions, task forces offices, etc. There are many new rules, regulations, crimes and penalties proposed.

So it's the same old thing, different day - and the session is only a few days old! We'll continue to issue updates as the session progresses. And if any of you learns about a bill that should be on our radar screen, please let us know ASAP.

A couple corrections regarding the SLAPP suit coverage in our recent newsletter: The quote attributed to Mike Walker was actually made by Jim Just, Executive Director of the Goal One Coalition. Also, the address for the Doob Defense Fund contributions is Goal One Coalition, P.O. Box 113, Lebanon, OR 97355. Regarding the case itself, the court has denied the plaintiffs' motion to reconsider its dismissal fo 4 of the 9 original allegations - and that's certainly good news. 

So watch your email closely - the fun's just beginning!

This page last modified on 2005-11-16 08:29.