Legislative Report - Sine Die
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Governance
By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team
Campaign Finance
In the final days of the legislative session only one bill, SB 166, the SoS’s omnibus elections bill, passed that included any campaign finance provisions. It included an aggregate annual contribution limit of $100 cash. We understand this was a result of huge contributions being given to the Democratic Party of Oregon and others in cash. Cash is, of course, untraceable.
See also IP 9 below.
Redistricting
SB 166 also included a provision that will help all initiative campaigns, requiring that single signature e-sheets only need to be signed once. Previously, these petitions had to be signed a second time to certify the same signature above. This bill was effective immediately upon the Governor signing it.
People Not Politicians has started collecting signatures on IP (Initiative Petition) 14 petition sheets that are downloadable from its website. This petition would institute an independent redistricting commission. Thousands of signatures have already been collected and more donations are needed. The petition is due July 5, 2024, requiring some 160,000 valid signatures of Oregon registered voters.
Elections, Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Public Records
By Rebecca Gladstone
Many bills passed in the final hectic flurry after the 43-day Senate walkout. We worked on several of these over numerous legislative sessions. They all reflect privacy and cybersecurity.
Elections
SCR 1: Early in the session the League condemned (citing SCR 1 text), “in the strongest possible terms, violence and threats of violence against election workers, and we call on all leaders to denounce these dangerous occurrences; and be it further Resolved, That we applaud the Oregon Association of County Clerks and all election workers for their professionalism and dedication to upholding fair and safe elections.” The SCR passed on partisan lines. League SCR 1 testimony respectfully urged for the protective legislation that we called for in 2022, with our testimony for HB 4144. The protections in SB 166 omit the coverage we called for, extending to anyone subject to election harassment: candidates, lawful protesters, public servants, and volunteers. See further protections in HB 3111 below.
SB 166 clarifies protections for election workers, ballot secrecy, the right to vote, and cybersecurity defense plans. Our elections are critical infrastructure and merit the League’s priority rating. We urged amending to expand protections to address privacy and harassment concerns. Our early session testimony predated a transparency amendment that we supported to limit cash “physical currency” contributions to directly address dark money concerns, of $100 annually, for aggregated campaign contributions.
HB 3073 protects candidate and incumbent home address privacy. Certifying candidate filing depends on verifying in-district residence with a home address that needn’t be publicized and will still be available through public records request. See League support.
HB 2107 extends Automatic Voter Registration to Oregon Health Plan patients. The League supports this improvement in government efficiency, expanding Oregon #MotorVoter. This brings the No Wrong Door health care concept of safety nets, networking services to support individuals, a step closer to “you’re in the right place and we are here to help you”.
We opposed HB 2585, to end “Motor Voter” voter registration. Now we should work on the underperforming party registration postcards.
HB 5035, the SoS’s budget bill, passed with League support focused on election issues of replacing filing and contribution software, risk-limiting audits, and election security.
SB 167: This extensive elections issue adjustment bill was heard but failed to receive a committee vote, possibly relating to concurrent Secretary of State’s resignation. Our testimony addressed many of the issues raised, including calling again for establishing an efficient electronic filing system.
Cybersecurity
HB 2049 establishes the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence to defend our critical infrastructures (our testimony). It passed with severely short funding, despite a concurrent global cyber-attack. (See LWVOR Newsroom, Oregon DMV Data Breach could affect 3.5 million Oregonians). This effort had full committee support during this and the 2022 session.
HB 2490 endeavors to defend our cybersecurity plans from public disclosure. League support.
HB 2806 passed to support updating statute for cybersecurity, privacy and safety of executive sessions, public meetings, and our critical infrastructures. See League support.
HB 3127: This “TikTok” bill relates to security of state assets and social media access. We plan to develop coverage with a growing League youth perspective.
Privacy
These privacy bills passed after two sessions with strong committee urging and League attendance for the Consumer Privacy Task Force since 2019, this from the DoJ on AG Rosenblum’s efforts.
● SB 619 will protect consumers’ personal data. This was listed as “A possible walkout casualty: a privacy law for Oregonians”. See our testimony in support.
● HB 2052 This data broker registry bill is a first in the nation, passing with strong support this session. See League testimony in support.
We spoke for the public right to know, for broadband access, juror pay, and with a DEI lens to adequate funding of our understaffed and funded Judicial Department. Balancing privacy and transparency are addressed together in our positions.
● SB 5512, the Judicial Department budget, passed unanimously despite absences. Our testimony.
● HB 3201 for broadband assistance, allocated federal funding and passed, initially on partisan lines. The League signed a coalition letter in support.
● HB 2224 this juror pay bill passed unanimously from committee, but died in W&Ms. League testimony.
SB 1073, to establish a Chief Privacy Officer, failed to progress in W&M despite League support.
Public Records
HB 3111 addresses information privacy, clarifying disclosure exemption for state employees, volunteers, and retirees. Our testimony also referred to our 2022 HB 4144 testimony.
SB 510: This relatively unnoticed Public Records Advisory budget bill passed with League support.
HB 5032 addressed funds related to the Public Records Advocate. League support cites our extensive 2017 public records law work.
Two bills from the Public Records Advisory Council addressed public records requests, both failing. Progress was stymied despite League support as the Senate Rules Chair requested stakeholder Task Force met for months to refine references to “media”, set fee waivers, and reasonable response times.
● SB 160 would have reduced fees for public records requests made in the public interest, League testimony.
● SB 417 would have addressed trending public records request campaigns observed trying to overwhelm public agencies, including Elections offices (press).
Election Methods
By Barbara Klein
On the last day of the legislative session, the final version of HB 2004 for Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) was passed as a referral to voters. The Senate voted 17-8 and the House 34-17. The Senate president and House speaker signed the bill on June 29; filed with the SOS on 7/6, and the bill was referred to the ballot on July 18.
HB 2004 establishes RCV as the voting method for selecting the winner of nomination for, and election to, offices of US President, US State Senator and Representatives in Congress, Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, and Attorney General. The Bureau of Labor and Industries Commissioner will be included, but that election is held during the primary. It does not include the Oregon state legislature House or Senate seats.
The bill is referred to the November 2024 general election ballot, and with much input from county election officials, would be implemented in 2028.
LWVOR has been a strong supporter of RCV and of this bill, one of 39 Oregon organizations working in coalition towards its passage. This is a historic win for the state, and is the first time that any legislature in the United States has referred a statewide RCV bill to the ballot. The League, along with the coalition and other allied groups or interested leaders, will continue to support, and most importantly educate voters as they make their 2024 choice.
Ballot Measures continue. The League will continue to follow several proposed ballot measures (in numerical order).
IP 9 measure regarding Campaign Finance Reform, entitled (by petitioners) as Honest Elections: Fight Political Corruption and Require Disclosure and Transparency. The League endorsed, and petitions are circulating.
IP 11 measure requires statewide use of STAR -Score then Automatic Runoff voting. The measure includes all statewide, county, city or special districts elections offices, including State Senators and State Representatives, Circuit Court Judges and District Attorneys. Also covered are federal offices of President, Senator, and Representative. (There is an exception for any county, city, district, special district, and metropolitan service district office that has already adopted an alternative system such as approval or ranked choice voting). Measure has received a certified title.
IP 14 See elsewhere in this report People Not Politicians (peoplenotpoliticiansoregon.com). The League has endorsed.
IP 16 (see IP 26)
IP 19 Oregon Election Reform Act. From the Oregon Election Reform Coalition, this statutory measure is described as a Final Five Open Primary, using RCV or STAR in the general. LWVOR has endorsed IP 19, now by way of a new League position on Open Primaries adopted by concurrence at our May 2023 convention.
IP 26 measure from All Oregon Votes “Amends Constitution: Changes election processes. All voters/candidates for certain partisan offices participate in the same nomination procedure.” (This is similar to the certified ballot title for IP 16, which organizers, All Oregon Votes, appealed to the Supreme Court, but which the Court approved without change. IP 16 is not yet listed as withdrawn.) It has received a certified title.
IP 27 measure entitled The Voter Choice Act was filed late in the session. This is described as “An Initiative to Give Voters the Option to Rank Candidates in Oregon and, which would expand the terms and offices covered by the current bill above (HB 2004, which was ultimately referred to the ballot for voters to decide in 2024.
Rights of Incarcerated People
By Marge Easley
The League’s interest in the rights of incarcerated people continued this session as we supported the passage of several bills to improve the lives and recidivism rates of those housed in Oregon’s correctional facilities. These bills facilitate the provision of a wide array of drug treatment programs in correctional facilities (SB 529); require publicly accessible data on the use of segregated housing (HB 2345); and authorize the Department of Correction to enter into agreements to offer higher education academic programs to adults in custody (SB 270).
The League was disappointed that SB 579, allowing incarcerated people in Oregon to vote, did not advance this session. We will continue to advocate for passage in future sessions.
Government Ethics
By Chris Cobey
HB 2038: Amends ORS 244.060 by adding subsections (9)(a)-(e) to expand reportable sources of income for officeholders and candidates required to file Oregon statements of economic interest.
HB 5021: Effective July 1, 2023 as an emergency measure, establishes the amount of $3,926,618 for the biennium as the maximum limit for payment of expenses, as specified, with exceptions, received by the Oregon Government Ethics Commission.
SB 168: Amends ORS 260.432 by expressly prohibiting public employees, while on the job during working hours or while otherwise working in official capacity, from promoting or opposing appointment, nomination, or election of public officials. It also provides that a public employee may communicate with a separate public employee or elected official about the appointment of a person to public office if such a communication is made in furtherance of the recipient's official duties relating to appointment required by Oregon Constitution or state statute.
SB 207: Adds ORS 192.685(1)(b) to expand the authority of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission by permitting it to proceed on its own motion to review and investigate, if the Commission has reason to believe that a public body conducted meetings in executive session that were not in compliance with laws authorizing executive sessions.
SB 661: Effective September 2023, prohibits a lobbyist from serving as the chairperson of an interim committee, a joint interim committee, a legislative work group, or a legislative task force that is staffed by nonpartisan staff of the legislative department, with exceptions.
Access
By Paula Krane
NO WIN SESSION - Missing Our Access This Session
“Business as usual, funny business, political partisan games!! What is happening with the Legislature at the capital this session? It is really a mixture of all of these things and everyone seems to be doing something that is taking away our access to and especially slowing down the political process.” This is what I wrote in the middle of the session and nothing seemed to have changed until the last couple of days of the session when most of the bills passed without any floor debate. No one had a chance to discuss and understand the issues. The process this session was a mess. Many proposed bills did not get a hearing, a vote in committee or sent to the floor of both houses. Many of the bills that the League advocated for did get passed but without the process we also advocate for.
Some of these procedural things used to slow us down this session were: Periodically over the session bills were being read completely word for word in both houses. A few bills were being sent from committee directly to the proper chamber with no public hearings on the bill and especially after amendments were added that significantly change the original bill. The information (bill description or summary) at the top of the bill was supposed to be written at an 8th grade reading level and so bills were being sent back for a rewrite (next session all bill descriptions and summaries will be written at an 8th grade reading level). The proper business protocol was not happening for many days in the capital. Too many discussions were being held behind closed doors. The public was left out for most of the session. Then we had the walkout by some Legislators in the Senate and the business we sent our Legislators to Salem to accomplish came to a complete standstill. Yes in the end many bills passed (not as many as should have been) however without public input.
Because of the construction at the Capital building, there were limited hearing rooms. Many of the committees were compressed and the days they met were less than usual. This caused less true public interaction. However, even with the hybrid compressed meetings people from all over the state were allowed to participate even for only 2 minutes. Also because of the shortened time frame, there were few questions by legislators to the public who testified. The legislators, their staff, committee staff, and all the departments should be given a big hand of applause for all their hard work this session on IT. With each session it gets better.
If your legislator walked out ask why and have them explain why they thought they were doing their job and representing all their constituents and the people of Oregon. Will the 2024 short session be more of the same or will we get our access back and have a working Legislature? Let’s hope so.