Oregon
Controversial Oregon legislation, which makes minor petitioning infractions a potential felony offense for initiative sponsors, passed the Oregon House in a 35-22 vote along party lines, with Democrats in favor and Republicans opposed. Senate Bill 154 had already passed the state senate and is now headed to Governor John Kitzhaber, who is expected to sign it.
The bill requires any initiative campaign to have representatives sign a statement that the group’s petitioners understand Oregon laws regarding petitioning and that the campaign will abide by all laws. Initiative supporters fear that any infraction by any petitioner could then subject the measure’s sponsors to a felony charge of “False Swearing.”
A controversial bill aimed at toughening rules for petition signature operations in Oregon passed the House Friday on a 35-22 vote.
The largely party-line vote came after several Republican and minor-party activists complained that Senate Bill 154 could “criminalize” inadvertent errors and discourage people from mounting ballot measure campaigns in Oregon.
Those concerns were dismissed by the bill’s Democratic supporters, who used their majority in the House to win final legislative approval and send the measure to Gov. John Kitzhaber for his signature.
Senate Bill 154 continued its march through the Oregon legislature this week, despite the protestations of prominent petition-rights supporters and citizen groups. The bill moved via a party-line vote of 16-14 in the Senate, with Democrats supporting and Republicans opposing the legislation.
SB 154 requires petition firms to register with the Secretary of State and also to sign a statement affirming that the firms will not break the law. The bill also forces initiative campaigns to have two representatives swear that the campaign has broken no law. The problem is that petition companies and initiative sponsors can then be prosecuted on a felony charge of “false swearing” if someone working for them does anything wrong, even through an innocent mistake.
The Oregon Senate on Tuesday voted to toughen the regulation of signature gathering firms, despite the objections of Republicans and other critics who charged that it could have a chilling effect on ballot measure campaigns.
Critics said that Senate Bill 154, which passed on a party-line vote of 16 to 14, could subject canvassing firms to potential criminal penalties for inadvertent errors involving election laws.
Supporters, including a spokesman for Secretary of State Kate Brown, said that the measure only subjected firms that gather voter signatures to the same regulations that individual canvassers and the chief petitioners of ballot measures already must meet.
A broad coalition of citizens groups and petition-rights supporters in Oregon, joined by Citizens in Charge, sent a letter to state senators urging them to defeat Senate Bill 154, which “represents the extreme criminalization of direct democracy.” The bill is expected to be voted on by the full state senate next week.
Laurie Grooman of Newberg, Oregon has “Seen the Elephant,” so to speak, when it comes to being a paid signature gatherer for Voice of the Electorate. Arrested 3 times in 2012 after refusing to stop signature collecting in public places, Grooman is now filing suit against the city of Hillsboro for her arrest in May of that year. At that public event held at a recreational complex, other advocates were present to witness her arrest while petitioning for Oregon’s Ballot Measure 84.
“It’s a blatant civil rights violation,” Grooman’s attorney Ross A. Day says. “What she was doing was engaging in protected speech.”
The Damascus City Council voted unanimously tonight to file a ballot initiative to amend the city’s charter to offer more resident power over the city’s future comprehensive plan and similar plans and ordinances. With the initiative on the ballot, Damascus residents will vote on whether to add an amendment to the Damascus Charter that would “require voter ratification of any ordinance or plan adopted by City Council before such ordinance or plan is submitted to Metro, Land Conservation and Development Commission or the Department of Land Conservation and Development or their successors, retroactive to March 1, 2011.”
Gay rights activists in Oregon will not try putting marriage equality up for a vote in 2012, saying the support it needs doesn’t seem like a sure thing. Basic Rights Oregon announced its decision not to pursue a ballot measure Wednesday after a long flirtation with the idea. A local newspaper had reported in August, for example, that the group would pursue a ballot measure, only to have executive director Jeana Frazzini publicly correct the article.
A judge recently changed the wording on a ballot measure in Philomath, Oregon regarding whether or not the city should put flouride in the drinking water. This is not a nationally covered, and it really only affects those in one city, but it brings ups an interesting topic. How much should a judge be able to alter ballot measure wording? From an article on the wording changes:
Sometimes minor changes can make all the difference. After a hearing at the Benton County Courthouse on Thursday morning, Circuit Judge Locke Williams revised the language of a proposed Philomath ballot measure that aims to restore fluoride to the city’s water supply. Williams didn’t change much: He added one word to the question and summary that will go before Philomath voters if backers succeed in getting the initiative on the ballot.
The Oregon Senate gave final approval today to a bill that allows Oregon residents to review ballot initiatives and share their recommendations with other Oregon voters. The Citizen Initiative Review Commission, approved by the 2009 Legislature as a pilot project, brought about two dozen Oregonians in August to evaluate two ballot measures, render a decision and present their reasons in the Voter’s Pamphlet.
In 2009, Citizens in Charge Foundation gave the October Lilburne Award to Healthy Democracy Oregon, and organization working to improve the state’s citizen initiative process through citizen led review panels.
Yesterday, the Oregon House approved a bill that will create the very citizen review panels that Healthy Democracy Oregon worked for:
The Oregon House today approved a bill that would allow Oregonians to review ballot initiatives and share their findings and recommendations with other Oregon voters.
Hours after Wilsonville City Councilors voted to adopt an urban renewal district designed for SoloPower, local resident Vince Alexander launched a petition drive Tuesday morning to push the $11 million plan to a public vote. “Are we ready? Because now the roar starts,” said Alexander as he walked into City Hall at the open of business. Alexander’s political action committee, Stop Urban Renewal Giveway, now has 30 days to collect signatures from 10 percent of Wilsonville’s registered voters.
Studded tires in Oregon are out for the season as of today, and a proposed initiative would ban them permanently. The Oregon Transportation Department, which last week extended the end of the studded-tire season from April 1 until Monday night, did not extend it again. The agency said it might still be snowing on some passes from time to time, but the legal use of studded tires was over for now.
House Republicans may not get far in efforts to revamp Measure 67, the voter-approved ballot measure that raised corporate income taxes. The House Revenue Committee heard testimony Tuesday on four bills that would change Measure 67, which Oregon voters approved in January 2010. A news release from Republican supporters said replacing the tax will promote job creation in the state. But the bills seem unlikely to move out of committee.