Legislative Report - September Interim
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By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team
Campaign Finance and Redistricting
The LWV of Oregon has endorsed and is actively circulating IP 9 on Campaign Finance and IP 14 on Redistricting. We urge you to download, print, sign and return petitions by mail from Honest Elections for IP 9 and People Not Politicians for IP 14.
Both initiative petitions are due to be filed by July 5, 2024 with the Secretary of State.
Elections, Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Public Records
By Rebecca Gladstone
Joint Info Management & Technology, Cyber Advice
Another ransomware attack, in Curry County, expects $3 million in recovery costs. They didn’t trust attackers to protect and return their data, not to escalate, and didn’t pay ransom. They are calling for legislation to develop, supply and fund rapid cyber response teams.
Cyber Insurance is not an easy out. You can’t get cyber insurance without using multi-factor authentication (MFA) and other safety precautions. Insurance policies are less available, more expensive, with increasingly higher deductibles. Cyber firms can review your exposure, help you to improve your safety, and help to set up emergency plans. You can be prepared if you receive a note, as Curry County did on a printer: You’ve been attacked, are being held hostage.
Cyber Advice:
Check URLs before clicking on links. Prevent exposure, don’t let malware in. Even if messages look okay, they may be “spoofing” to get your ID, credit card number, etc.
Never give out personal information if they call or email you. Don’t use their links or phone numbers. Call your bank back using a known phone number. Log on to your trusted website links, not in messages that may not be legit.
Regularly back up your files and use a security scan. Curry County had NO backups.
Use MFA, add a security step to be safer. Use MFA, by confirming with a code to your cell or email, using a code generator app. This can prevent most problems.
Have a security protocol. Curry County now prohibits plugging in outside devices, like thumb drives, into their hardware. Make sure your group (our Leagues’ leaders, for example) know about the plans, and we all step up to not being weak links that let malware in the back door.
House Rules Committee Meeting 9/28/23
We look forward to working on extensive meeting materials from the Secretary of State. Others spoke to the condition of Oregon’s local journalism, of deep concern to us, with “Free Press and the Survival of Democracy” as our LWVOR 2023 state convention theme.
Electronic Portal Advisory Board (EPAB)
The board oversees state websites, currently analyzing public survey results, overseeing agency project updates, increasing other languages access, improving cybersecurity awareness, and increasing lateral connections between agency sites, for easier navigation. The Board meets quarterly, with Governor-appointed members, including a UO Computer Science grad student just added and League member Becky Gladstone as the public member since 2018.
We welcome comments, for example, from Sen Jeff Golden’s news, wanting easier navigation. “I’m retired,” he said, “and have time and ability to find information about this program online. But I can’t find what I need to know about requirements, about where and how I can have my say on proposed rules, on what incentives there could be to do the work on my land. There are too many programs and agencies to keep track of!”
Action since our Sine Die report:
HB 2107 effective Jan 1, 2024, to extend automatic voter registration to certain Oregon Health Authority clients. Our testimony in support, filed late in the session, glad that early support for a pilot program at Powder River Women’s correctional facility was reinstated.
HB 2049 Enrolled took effect July 31, 2023, to transfer OR Cyber Ad council from EIS to OR Cyber Center of Excellence. Ceremonial signing Sept 27, LWVOR invited.
HB 2052 Enrolled data broker registry, effective July 27, 2023, first in the nation.
HB 2490 Enrolled effective Jan 1, 2024 for cybersecurity defense plan protection.
HB 3073 Enrolled took effect Sept 24, to protect candidate home address disclosure, on request.
SB 619 Enrolled effective Jan 1, 2024, for consumers’ personal data rights.
Republican Aug 8 PR on unexcused Senate absences administrative rule (OAR).
CFR, Campaign Finance Reform, from SoS: Clear Initiative
The CLEAR initiative is a new project aiming to increase compliance with Oregon’s campaign finance laws through greater transparency and education. Everyone wins when campaigns play by the rules. This summer, the Elections Division announced three initial steps for an ongoing project:
increase visibility for online campaign finance information
a new database of campaign finance violations and associated penalties
more training and educational materials to help campaigns comply with the rules
Learn more on the Elections Division’s website.
Election Methods
By Barbara Klein
There were no bills taken up during this interim legislative session that relate to election systems. There were rumors of some efforts to oppose Ranked Choice Voting via legislation or the ballot, but as of yet, it is unclear whether this will materialize. Due to the decision of the legislature in June 2023, Ranked Choice Voting will be on the 2024 general ballot (for implementation in 2028).