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Redistricting Bill Passes House
The House has
passed HJR 31, which would change the implementation of the
2011 redistricting plan to the start of the 2013 session. Our
problem with that is the determination of how incumbent legislators would
run in the 2012 elections - from their current district or the new one
starting in 2013. We raised the question in the House Elections,
Ethics and Rules Committee and are awaiting a hearing in Senate Rules.
Kappy Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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Follow
Key Bills
The League's bill matrix, which
lists key bills that we are following this session, is updated
weekly. The matrix includes legislative action taken, League action
taken, and links to our testimony.
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LWVOR Action Committee
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Chair:
Norman Turrill
Vice Chair:
Marge Easley
Citizen Access Coordinator:
Paula Krane
Governance Coordinator:
Kappy Eaton
Natural Resources Coordinator:
Liz Frenkel
Social Policy Coordinator:
Karen Nibler
Legislative Coordinator:
Brena Lopez
Portfolio members and committee representatives:
Bob Adams
Debbie Aiona
Jane Baumgarten
Diana Bodtker
Anna Braun
Barbara Browning
Sarah Chaplen
Anita Francis
Barbara Fredericks
Norma Jean Germond
Gail Holmes
Peggy Lynch
Ellen Maddex
Janet Markee
Erin Miller
Margaret Noel
Barbara Ross
Nancy Stevens
Pam Vavra
Intern:
Terra Ashford
Legislative Report Editor:
Rebecca Smith
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Initiative Reform Update
HB 2082A, with several amendments that the League can
support, has been heard in Senate Rules. We had hoped it would be
sent to the floor by now, but apparently Senator Ferrioli is planning
further revisions. One is rumored to eliminate the increase in
signatures needed to obtain a ballot title (from 25 to 1000 as passed by
the House), and instead require no ballot title. We are waiting to
see what he proposes as a substitute so people will know what the
petition is about. If any further changes are made, a fairly
complicated conference committee will be required. The League and
others have waited for years for some positive changes to the initiative
process, particularly in the area of paid petitioners and the elimination
of the need for separate signature sheets for each county.
SB 73, which prohibits paying for signatures on
candidate nominating petitions and for voter registrations, has been
passed by both houses.
Kappy Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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Contraception Legislation Signed into Law
The
Governor signed HB 2700, the contraception legislation, in a special
ceremony on May 30. The League was represented along with many
other organizations and individual supporters. It has been a long
road to achieving equity in prescription drug coverage for women as well
as access to emergency contraception. Additional funding for
victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence has been added to the
Department of Justice budget, raising the revenue from $2.5 million to
$3.5 million, which will help ease the long waiting list for services.
Kappy Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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Ethics Reforms Moving Slowly
HB 5025, the budget for the Government Standards and
Practices Commission (GSPC) was heard again in General Government
Subcommittee of Ways and Means on May 31.
HB 2595, the administrative restructuring of the
GSPC, which requires additional training programs for state and local
government officials, clearer communications between the GSPC and the
entities it oversees, and different phases to its complaint
investigations, has been moved to the House floor.
SB 10A, the funding for GSPC outside the General
Fund, and other issues such as the amount of acceptable gifts and
expending campaign funds for personal use, is still in Ways and Means,
after extensive hearings in Senate Rules. There is uneasiness among the
natives about these issues, and the bill's fate is unknown.
Kappy Eaton,
Governance Coordinator
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Campaign Finance Commission
HB 2060 proposes a Campaign Finance Reform
Commission, as recommended by the Public Commission on the Oregon
Legislature. The League has testified in support of the amendments
to the bill that would increase the number of legislators on the
commission and change the number of public members - possibly 6 or 8
lawmakers and 5 or 6 citizens. We also supported
an amendment for a shorter timeline to possibly have a plan by the
special 2008 session.
Kappy Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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Donate to the Legislative Report
Thank you to those of you who have generously contributed funds for the Legislative
Report. The Legislative Report costs money to produce,
yet we don't want to limit who can receive it by charging a subscription
fee. Please support the volunteer Action Team's efforts to share
the developments at the Capitol with you and others. You can send a
donation, marked "Legislative Report" to the LWV address
below.
Thank you.
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Volunteer
Help is needed to
monitor legislative committees and report back to the Action
Committee. If you live close to Salem or have an Internet
connection, you can learn to track bills and listen to hearings. Help is
needed to monitor legislative committees and report back to the Action
Committee. It is a fascinating experience if you have time to
dedicate to the legislative process. Contact LWVOR
to volunteer.
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 Believe It or Not
Twenty
weeks down and four more to go for an expected Sine Die June 29!
Behind the scenes, "believe it or not" is happening.
There are bipartisan workgroups hammering out agreements on healthy
kids (tobacco tax), financing state troopers (beer tax), corporate
minimum tax, and perhaps even a financial restructuring of the
Legislature. Hearings are occurring early in the morning and late
into the afternoons. The bills that have passed one chamber are
piling up in the other, and evening floor sessions are expected soon,
and/or even weekends may be in the offing. A number of significant
bills for the League are still pending and noted in the following
updates as of May 29.
Kappy
Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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Healthy Kids Still Top Priority
Healthy
Kids remains a top priority for both the Governor and the Legislature,
so the Senate is poised to pass both a statute and a constitutional
amendment referral, with a statutory referral ready to be heard in the
House. SB 31 provides the health care program. and SJR 4 has been stuffed with the referral of
increased cigarette, cigar and other tobacco products taxes. The
date for the election has not been filled in. A hearing was held May 29
in Senate Rules with many supporters for the Healthy Kids program and
only two representatives from the tobacco industry speaking in
opposition. The constitutional amendment dedicates the tax revenue
to health care for children, low-income adults, and other medically
underserved Oregonians, and to tobacco use prevention and
education. About 117,000 underinsured children would receive
basic health care services and 10,000 adults would be added to the Oregon
Health Plan. The House version, HB 3558, puts the Healthy Kids program into statute
with a referral to voters of similar tobacco tax increases and
conditions. It is hoped that the bi-partisan support for the
program will get final passage of a program through the Legislature.
The plan will pass the Senate. All the Ds and 5 Rs must approve
it in the House.Kappy Eaton,
Governance Coordinator
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 Funding Public Safety
On
May 29, the House passed SB 5533, funding for the State Police out of the
General Fund. However, also on May 29, the Ways and Means
Subcommittee on Public Safety heard HB 3535, which creates an Oregon State Police
Patrol Division Fund to handle the revenue from the General Fund, but
in a separate fund. Another bi-partisan workgroup comprised of
both senators and representatives presented their plan for a dedicated
source to fund the 100 state troopers expected to result from the
budget. Their revenue source would be one-half of the Oregon Liquor
Control Commission's (OLCC) budget and a 5-cent beer tax. The formula
to fund the State Police Patrol Division would be ¾ from the OLCC and ¼
from the beer tax. Thirty per cent would be used to fund county
jails, sheriff's patrols and cities' police, as well as alcohol abuse
programs. Seventy percent would be used for the State Police.
Passage will require a 3/5 vote in each house, but the bi-partisan
support seems strong, judging from the testimony of several
legislators. Stay tuned.
Kappy Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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A Smart Increase
The
Minimum Corporate Tax also is undergoing workgroup scrutiny and will
come to the House Revenue Committee as a package within the next two
weeks. The Revenue Coalition has submitted a letter to committee chair
Representative Phil Barnhart, detailing our support for an increase and
the concerns we have about suggested legislation. The Coalition wants:
- a clause ensuring that
any tax cuts traded for an upgraded corporate minimum would go
into effect only if the minimum increase withstands a ballot
challenge;
- a reasonable net
revenue sum worthy of defending at the ballot box;
- a scaled-down version
of the estate tax law change currently being proposed (forest and
farm exclusion);
- assurance that the
total package does not encourage plant and equipment investment at
the expense of good job creation and retention
- universal applicability
to all business types (LLCs, S corps, C corps).
The
Coalition does not want:
- inclusion of any
reduction in the state capital gains rate;
- a proposal that is too
complex to be understood and defended;
- a proposal which
includes elements that would impose bad tax policy in exchange for
one good policy element (minimum corporate tax increase).
Kappy
Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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 Double Majority
The
double majority legislation, HJR 14 and SB 512, had a public hearing and work session in
the Senate Finance and Revenue Committee on May 31. The League has
testified in support and expects the bills to be referred to and passed
in the Senate. HJR 14 provides for revision of the election
requirements of at least 50 percent of registered voters participating,
plus a majority of voters voting in favor to pass. Under the new
law, no such restrictions would apply to any elections held in May or
November. SB 512 sets the election date for the referral since
the law is in the Oregon Constitution. The date is expected to be
in 2008.
Kappy Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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Election Laws Changes Move Ahead
HB 2080, which provides for an additional seven
days to cast ballots in the event of any emergency declared by the
Governor and Secretary of State, has passed both houses.
The Secretary of State's budget has passed both houses and
provides for all expenses to print and distribute the Voters'
Pamphlet and for a fraud investigator position in the Elections
Division.
SB 78A has passed the Senate and an amended version
has been heard in House Rules. It now will allow candidate
campaigns to have a third person, in addition to the candidate and
treasurer, who can file the required contribution and expenditure
reports. The cost of $500 for a complete electronic list of Oregon
registered voters was questioned, but the bill was sent to the House
floor. It now goes back to the Senate.
Both houses have passed SB 74, which removes all references in Oregon
statutes to polling places except for the county elections offices.
The League is supporting HB 2910, which allows 17-year-olds to register to
vote at any time rather than 60 days before they turn 18. It
simplifies the procedure and uses the electronic records kept for the
centralized voter registration list to notify these young people when
they are eligible to vote. We submitted a supportive floor letter to
the House, in partnership with Democracy Reform Oregon (formally Money
in Politics Research Action Project-"MiPRAP").
Kappy Eaton, Governance Coordinator
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Mental
Illness and Juvenile Crime
In
the recent past, juvenile offenders, who were mentally ill, were
committed to the Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) for placement or for
secure custody in a correctional facility. They did receive mental
health treatment in the custody of OYA but it was not the appropriate
placement. Alternatively, juvenile offenders could have been placed in
Department of Human Services (DHS) custody for placement in mental
health treatment centers, but there was no secure component for those
who were dangerous to self or others.
Last session the
Legislature established a Juvenile panel on the Psychiatric Security
Review Board (PSRB) and set up the procedure for a defense of insanity
in Juvenile Court delinquency cases. The Juvenile panel started meeting
in January 2007 and the Department of Human Services has been planning
to manage the custody of those juveniles who are committed to DHS due
to insanity pleas.
The Circuit
Courts have had the option of the insanity defense for adult criminals
and have committed adults who were found guilty except for insanity to
the Department of Human Services to be housed at the Oregon State
Hospital. The children's ward at the Oregon State Hospital has been
closed. Since then the Department of Human Services has contracted with
the Children's Farm Home for placement of juveniles who are mentally ill
and committed to DHS for secure placement. Those mentally ill
juveniles, who need less secure custody, are placed at the Kerr Center
in Portland. The PSRB can also return the juvenile to the community
under the supervision of the county mental health department with
reports to PSRB and the committing court.
SB 328A, which further defines the process, was
passed out of the Human Services Subcommittee of Ways and Means on May
30. This bill gives the Psychiatric Security Review Board jurisdiction
over juveniles committed to DHS for placement. If the board finds the
placement to be inappropriate or dangerous to self or others, the board
may direct DHS to place the juvenile in a specific facility for care
and supervision. The bill also includes mental retardation or
developmental disability as part of this defense.
The Juvenile PSRB combines both the public safety and
treatment components with hopefully better outcomes.
Karen Nibler, Social Policy Coordinator
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Juvenile Justice
The
Oregon Youth Authority (OYA) Budget SB 5544 cleared the Public Safety Subcommittee on
May 10 and was passed by the Senate on May 22. The Legislative Fiscal
Office recommendation included the addition of 145 close custody beds
and 161 staff to the correctional facilities. The Oak Creek
facility in Albany will be reopened this winter and will be remodeled
to accommodate 75 young women. The additional 70 beds will be added
to 3 other expanded facilities. The budget also adds 10 staff,
nurses and psychiatric staff in older facilities and one new staff for
young women's programs at Oak Creek. Medical and pharmacy costs
were added to correctional facilities budgets.
OYA was granted the addition of 73 residential beds in the
community along with 7 additional staff. The provider rate for
residential placements was equalized between OYA and DHS which resulted
in decrease for OYA and increase for DHS. The rate increase was a
minimum of 9.1% which was a third of the recommended adjustment.
Juvenile Crime Prevention and Diversion grants were
increased 15% above the last biennial budget, but the amount is only
half of what the Governor recommended to restore prior reductions.
Multnomah County received $1. million in Gang Funds and Competitive
Gang Funds of $1.55 million will also be available statewide.
Capitol Construction was restricted to improvements at Oak
Creek and other short term projects. Members of the committee objected
to the lower provider rates and deferred capitol improvement projects.
Representative Nathanson was impressed by the Key Performance Measures
that indicated Oregon was below the U.S. average in recidivism. If
funds were available, increased provider rates and increased funds for
county partners would be her recommendation. LWVOR testified in
support of program restorations and juvenile crime prevention funds in
the community.
Karen Nibler, Social Policy Coordinator
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Adult Corrections Budget Passes Senate
The
Department of Corrections (DOC) Budget SB 5505 was passed out of the Public Safety
Subcommittee on May 9 and was passed by the Senate on May 29. The
new prison facility in Madras will begin operations in September of
2007 and will accommodate growth through the biennium. The prison
population was 13,574 in July of 2007 and has been forecasted as 14,163
by July 2009. The operations budget was increased to add 446 new
staff. Utility and energy costs increased for prisons as
well.
Mental Health staff in 34 positions will become DOC
employees in lieu of contracted employees in the prisons. Medical
costs continue to expand as the prison population ages especially for
community hospital or specialist visits. Transition Services were
increased to provide workforce development, education, life skills and substance
abuse treatment to prepare offenders for return to the community.
A pilot program for sex offenders was approved as well as a cognitive
treatment program for inmates with the highest risk to re-offend.
The purpose of these programs is to reduce recidivism (new crimes) or
return to the prisons for those currently incarcerated. The LWVOR
testified in support of the restoration of prison programs.
The Community Corrections funding in the current budget
has been increased by 19%, which only pays for about half of the cost
to the counties for supervision of felony probationers and prison
parolees. Objections to the funding level were expressed because costs
exceed the reimbursement and counties may have to lay off
employees. Community Correction bears the jail costs for those
sentenced for 12 months and/or for parole or probation violations under
30 days. The Community Corrections population statewide was
35,301 in July 2001 and is expected to grow to 36,103 in July
2009.
The Department of Corrections purchased property in
Junction City for future prison construction, which is projected to be
needed in 2012. The current budget includes facility design, site
planning, and intergovernmental agreements, but no construction.
The State of Oregon has announced a plan to build a 300 bed state
hospital on the same site. The DOC and Department of Human
Services have been directed to consider the planning and infrastructure
design and future joint activities. The agencies will report back
to the Interim Joint Ways and Means Committee or the Emergency
Board. Certificates of Participation will be issued for the
projects when approved.
Karen Nibler, Social Policy Coordinator
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 Bottle Bill
Finally Passes
Making
a simple change to the bottle bill has been anything but simple.
But in the end both the House and Senate have passed SB 707B, which, for the first time since 1972,
expands the types of beverage containers subject to the nickel deposit
to now include water and flavored water. The bill also sets up a
Bottle Bill Task Force to study the issue and make recommendations to
the Legislature by November 1, 2008.
The League delivered testimony in support of the bill in
both Senate and House committee hearings. However, it was clear
from the discussion that the expansion to water bottles was not at all
popular with grocers.They were very clear they didn't want to handle
more bottles; in fact, on May 9 they presented a surprise last-minute
plan to the House Energy and the Environment Committee, which outlined
how they would get out of the recycling business all together.
Their plan was to expand the bottle bill to even more bottles, but
instead of store recycling, the state would administer redemption
centers, financed in part by an increase in the deposit amount that
they calculated would generate $60 million. They even sweetened the pot
by offering to give unredeemed deposit money to SOLV to help with
litter pick-up programs. While there may be some merit to this
idea, it proved to be too much too soon for the committee, and they decided
that a more ambitious plan would have to come from the task
force. On May 24, the bill passed the House on a bi-partisan
42-16 vote, and the next day the Senate concurred on a 20-8 vote.
It is awaiting the Governor's signature.
Marge Easley, Action Vice Chair
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What Did You Say??
There
are many terms that are used in the Legislative process that we assume
everyone knows the meaning of. We were all novices at one time
and slowly over the years have acquired this knowledge. During my
first session as a part of the League action team I did a lot of
pretending I understood when these terms were used. I
now find myself using terms, seeing blank faces, and having to explain
myself, but not all of us will ask or have someone around to ask.
On the Legislature's web site is a very comprehensive list of terms and
their definitions, and in the process of reading the Legislative Report
if we drop one of these "insider terms" you can look it up.
Here are a few of the terms used regularly:
- A-Engrossed:
An engrossed (meaning "to make a final fair copy of")
bill is a bill that is printed with its amendments. If a bill is
so engrossed, it will be printed as "SB____, A-eng.,"
meaning "Senate Bill ____, including its amendments." A
bill may be amended more than once; in that case, the bill will be
printed "B-eng.," and so on.
- "Gut
and Stuff": A slang term which refers to removing the text of
a measure and inserting entirely new language which, while it may
change the nature of the bill completely, still falls under the
measure's "relating-to" clause.
- "Indefinitely
Postponed": A motion from the floor to postpone further
consideration of a bill, without identifying a time certain for
further consideration. In the majority of cases, bills that are
indefinitely postponed are not heard again.
- Relating-to
Clause: The clause found just underneath the title of a bill
identifying its subject matter: for example, HB 2000, relating
to charter schools. In Oregon, a bill may only address one
subject, and for this reason the relating-to clause becomes an
important element of the bill. Relating-to clauses may be broad or
narrow.
- Sine
Die: "Without fixing a day for a future meeting": the
last day of a legislative session.
Paula Krane, Citizen Access Coordinator
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