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LWVOR President:
Marge Easley
LWVOR Action Committee
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Chair:
Norman Turrill
Citizen Access Coordinator:
Paula Krane
Governance Coordinator:
Kappy Eaton
Natural Resources Coordinator:
Peggy Lynch
Social Policy Coordinator:
Karen Nibler
Portfolio members and committee representatives:
Bob Adams
Debbie Aiona
Jane Baumgarten
Diana Bodtker
Anna Braun
Barbara Browning
Sarah Chaplen
Anita Francis
Barbara Fredericks
Liz Frenkel
Norma Jean Germond
Gail Holmes
Ellen Maddex
Janet Markee
Erin Miller
Margaret Noel
Barbara Ross
Nancy Stevens
Pam Vavra
Legislative Report Editor:
Rebecca Smith
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LWVOR Legislative Report, (c) 2008. Information
contained in this report may be reprinted with attribution to the League
of Women Voters of Oregon.
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Volume
18, Issue 4
February 22, 2008
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Sine Die is scheduled for February 29, but there are many
indications that the end of the session may be earlier than planned,
perhaps even this weekend! Hearings are taking place at all
hours in the committees in the second chamber.
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 Budget Issues Are Key
All state agencies seem to be having their day for budget challenges at
the Ways and Means Committee hearings that take place just about every
day. No final decisions have been made, and the projected
shortfall in the February economic forecast provides concern for the
legislative priorities (see the Legislative Report Background Page)
that leaders would like to protect. We know that work groups are
meeting on specific issues, but the solutions are being amended to
bills the day they are heard in committee. The final budget
readjustment will take place just before Sine Die. See
the Legislature's press release covering budget
issues discussed this week.
The Senate has passed SB 1082, which requires the Department of Revenue to report
and evaluate its policies regarding compliance of taxpayers in filing
income tax forms. It was heard in House Revenue on February 18 and
sent to the House floor after an excellent report from the Department
of Revenue about their compliance practices and current technology
changes. A report on the status of Other Funds included in
General Fund revenue was also presented during the second meeting of the
committee. Also moved to the House floor was SB 1081 (which passed the Senate
30-0), which is a reconnect to the federal tax code to correct
for the tax impacts from the congressional stimulus package and which
could result in up to a $35 million revenue loss. For more
legislative history on these bills, see the Legislative Report Background Page.
Probably dead-in-the-water is SB 1077A, which would have allowed
an income tax credit for seniors when their property tax equaled or
exceeded a specified percentage of household income. The
projected fiscal impact was minus $1.2 million for the current biennium
and minus $2.4 million for 2009-11. The bill could be held for 2009,
however, in case the revenue forecast improves.
Kappy Eaton
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 Driver's License Restrictions Pass Quickly
It took just five days last week for the driver's license issue
to make its way into law. SB 1080, which requires a social
security number and proof of identity in order to obtain a drivers
license, had an early hearing and passed the Senate Chamber on February
11 by a 23 to 7 vote.
The House version, HB 3624, was entered into the
record in House Transportation the next day and was referred to House
Elections, Ethics and Rules without a recommendation. When Rep. Greg Smith objected to
transferring the bill to the Rules Committee without a public hearing,
it was noted that over 4 hours of public testimony had been heard during
the interim.
Meanwhile SB 1080 was referred to Ways and Means by the Speaker of the
House, and no hearings were held. When SB 1080 came back to the
House floor, it was passed by the House with a vote of 45 to 15 on
February 13.
The Governor signed the bill two days later, which kept Oregon
in compliance with the Federal Real ID Act.
Other than a rally on the day the Supplemental Session opened, the
Legislature dodged the immigration issue bullet.
Karen Nibler
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 Aggregate Issues Resurface
On February 19, the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural
Resources was the scene of an interesting informational hearing about
the ongoing conflicts that arise when instream and floodplain
aggregate mining occur in the Willamette Valley. The League was
granted permission to testify in this "invitation only"
hearing because of our participation in the Aggregate/Farmland
Consensus Group between 2004 and 2006. At that time we represented the
public perspective in this attempt to reconcile the need for
aggregate with the increasing loss of high-value farmland.
Unfortunately, the group disbanded without achieving agreement, and the
problems still fester.
Thus, the goal of the February 19 hearing was to revive the issue,
setting the stage for an interim workgroup and possible legislation in
the 2009 session. Following testimony from the key players (including
the Governor's office, Oregon Farm Bureau, and the
mining industry), I delivered testimony based on national
League positions that support the management of land as a finite
resource and the need to regulate areas of critical concern. In the
testimony, I urged solutions that would be mindful of the "public
good," would preserve valuable Class 1 and 2 soils, and would keep
Oregon's long term economic and environmental health in the forefront
of decision-making.
Marge Easley
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 Annual Sessions: To Be Continued?
Rumors always abound around the state Capitol, but
there is one scenario about annual sessions which seems to have legs.
It goes like this: At the close of the current special session,
no constitutional amendment would be forwarded for a public vote.
Instead, there would be another special session in 2010, after
the 75th Assembly in 2009, and the necessary amendment would be
submitted in an election that year, or in 2011 at a special
election. Take your pick and join the annual session
lottery.
One fact has emerged in the session debate and seems to be generally
agreed upon: the special session this year does enable the critical
discussions around the state and national economies and allows budget
readjustment by the Legislature, rather than by the smaller
Emergency Board. It is that need for an annual budget assessment that
led the League to adopt its position in favor of annual sessions.
Kappy Eaton
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Alternatives to More
Mandatory Sentences
 Kevin Mannix's Initiative #40, which would
require mandatory prison sentences for property and drug offenses,
has inspired legislators to offer alternatives. SB 1087 proposes a legislative
referral to the voters that would increase some crimes on the
sentencing guidelines and require the Department of Corrections (DOC)
to provide increased addiction treatment in prison facilities.
HB 3638, which modifies the
DOC alternative incarceration program and specifies eligibility,
was presented in the House Judiciary Committee on February 15.
The DOC would not be required to provide treatment to every individual,
and prisoners who will leave the state are not eligible for treatment.
The Criminal Justice Commission
provided data on the probable costs of Initiative #40 within the
DOC and estimated lower costs for the proposed alternatives.
First time offenders with one crime may get probation rather than
prison time, but repeat offenders could still receive longer sentences.
The judges have the discretion for upward and downward departures on
the sentencing guidelines. The court has discretion to order addictions
treatment at any level of crime. There was also discussion about
female offenders and the impact of prison time on the custody of their
children. The costs and personal impacts go well beyond the
prison system.
After negotiations among workgroup parties, the amended HB 3638 was
supported by the Oregon District Attorney's
Association, the Oregon State Sheriffs' Association,
the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police,
the Association of Oregon Counties, Oregon AFSCME employees and OPERA, the Oregon Prevention
Education & Recovery Association. The lone dissenter was
Steve Doell of Oregon Crime Victims United, who
said he can't support a challenge to Measure 11 and may support
Initiative #40. The Judiciary Committee passed HB 3638 with
unanimous approval. Both SB 1087 and HB 3638 have been approved by
Judiciary Committees and have passed Ways and Means. They should
be on the consent calendars for floor votes in the Senate and House
chambers this week or early next week.
Karen Nibler
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 Reducing Energy Use by 20%
The House passed HB 3612 by a 59-0 vote on Feb.
18. The bill requires state agencies to reduce energy
consumption by 20% by the year 2015. This is an idea to
discuss with your local governments. For more information, see
the Legislative Report Background Page.
Peggy Lynch
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 Gut and Stuff Is Back
A familiar tactic has emerged this session: gut and stuff, where one
bill's contents are removed to put in different issues.
Anything can be added, as long as it has the same relating clause.
This creates a major problem for those of us trying to monitor various
measures since the amendments (which could, in essence, be a whole new
bill) appear as we walk in the door to hearings. Sometimes this occurs
after a bill has moved out of committee and has passed in one
chamber. Even at that time, amendments can change the bill so
that it addresses almost a wholly different issue in the other chamber.
See the article Election Reform Updates for a good example of a bill
that has been gutted and stuffed.
Kappy Eaton
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 Pesticide Use and Schools
Expect to see legislation in 2009 requiring
schools to implement an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) program by
2012 among other ideas. A broad-based work group has been meeting
under the leadership of Rep. Suzanne Bonamici to discuss
issues surrounding the use of pesticides in and around our
schools. As a result of hearings last session on SB 20, the group has a set of
recommendations to include an IPM for schools, require that pesticides
be done by a licensed applicator, notify parents and others when
pesticides are used, and work on pesticide drift that can occur from
neighboring properties.
Peggy Lynch
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The House Elections, Ethics and Rules Committee is now debating the
merits of SB 1071B, which requires ORESTAR to indicate out-of-state
campaign contributions and changes prior-year reporting requirements.
It should pass out of committee. The committee is also debating SB 1098A, but it was gutted
and stuffed after leaving the Senate Elections and Ethics
Committee. It would have required the Department of Motor Vehicles to
register a citizen to vote unless they opt out. It now deals only
with the timing and receipt of  mailed
voter registration cards and directs the
Secretary of State to subscribe to a change of address service to
update voter registration records and to provide such information to
county clerks. It is expected to pass. See the Legislative Report
Background Page for more information on elections and campaign finance.
A new bill, HB 3634, was heard February 19
by the House Elections, Ethics and Rules Committee. This proposal would
require that the Secretary of State number ballot measures for the
General Election in the following order:
- Constitutional
amendments referred by the Legislature first, in order of their
certification
- Statutory
referrals from the Legislature in order of their certification,
and
- Citizen
initiatives and referenda last, in order of their certification.
Bills for nonpartisan state offices and fusion voting did
not make it out of committee, but are expected to appear in 2009.
Kappy Eaton
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 Recycle Your Oil Filters?
Did you know that your motor vehicle oil filters can be recycled and almost
the entire filter can be reused? Not only can you retrieve
the oil, but the filter can be burned and the metal recycled. Look
for a bill in 2009 to require vendors of oil filters to provide a
method of recycling.
Peggy Lynch
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Initiative
Reforms on the Horizon for 2009
Both the House and Senate Election committees held informational
hearings on the recommendations in Portland City Club's report on initiative reforms and
the Citizen Initiative Review
proposal by Healthy Democracy Oregon.
The committees asked excellent questions, and proposals for
initiative reforms will be forthcoming in 2009. The citizen
review idea is expected to be tried in a pilot demonstration in
Portland in August, using one of the 2008 qualified initiatives for the
discussion.
Dead for this session is SB 1083, which required
timelines for the Supreme Court to respond to ballot title challenges,
quicker response time for election fraud complaint solutions, and
greater scrutiny of rejected petition signatures. See the Background Page for more
information.
Kappy Eaton
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