Oregon

Oregon

Citizen Initiative Review

Tue, Jun 22 2010 by Staff

Last October Citizens in Charge Foundation honored Healthy Democracy Oregon with the Lilburned Award for that month. They received the award for their creation of the Citizen Initiative Review. This panel is made up of voters in the state that are picked at random, they then hear arguments from both opponents and proponents of a given ballot measure. Once the arguments are heard they panel produces a “Citizen Statement” that is distributed to voters, giving them a fair and accurate picture of what they are voting on.

An Oregon nonprofit has mailed out 10,000 letters to voters, including some in Jackson County, inviting them to participate in a review panel to help inform fellow voters on ballot measures. “This is a really special opportunity,” said Elliot Shuford, a co-director of the nonprofit and nonpartisan organization Healthy Democracy Oregon. “Rarely do we get the chance to inform every voter about measures.”

Read the story from the Mail Tribune

Jeremiah McKay knocks on the first door in a quiet neighborhood off Southeast Powell Boulevard, near the eastern edge of Portland, during the 10 a.m. lull. Families had rushed to work and school, but plenty of retirees and stay-home parents remained. He’s wearing a sports shirt and khaki pants, trying to avoid the formal sales look he’d donned for seven years.

Read the story from Oregon Live

Common Sense for Oregon is boosting its signature gathering efforts for initiatives that would put legislative redistricting into the hands of a non-partisan commission and that would allow property owners more leeway to defend their property. Initiative campaigns are now required to turn in signatures gathered by paid canvassers every month. The deadline was 5 p.m. Monday, and I have some of the totals.

Read the story from Oregon Live

Supporters of an initiative to create a system of medical marijuana dispensaries in Oregon have submitted petitions with more than 110,000 signatures in hopes of getting on the ballot this fall. The Coalition for Patients’ Rights was able to gather the signatures before an early submission deadline, requiring the state Elections Division to immediately determine whether there are enough valid signatures to meet the minimum of about 83,000 needed to qualify.

Of the 45 states whose legislatures hold sessions in 2010, 27 of them have adjourned for the year, and 5 more will wrap up before the end of the month. Of the more than 80 bills dealing with the initiative and referendum process in various states, 51 of them would have reduced citizens’ initiative rights. Thanks to the work of activists in our coalitions, only 3 bills reducing citizen’s rights have passed and become law.

Ballot BoxIn Arizona’s first statewide special election since 1980, voters will decide today whether to raise the state sales tax by 1¢. Farther north, Oregon voters will decide whether to allow the state government to issue bonds to match local school district bonds as well as whether to authorize state spending on higher education. Both state’s ballot questions were referred by the state legislatures.

The latest monthly turn-in of paid petition signatures for Oregon initiatives still shows a relatively small number of measures are likely to make it on the November ballot. Under a new law, petitioners are required every month to turn in signatures gathered by paid petitioners (the major form of signature-gathering for citizen initiatives in Oregon).  The latest figures from the Oregon secretary of state leads me to list three measures that are now in the almost-certain-to-make-it-on-the-ballot category.

Steve Doell has seen people driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs again and again throughout the years. He has talked to the families of people who’ve been killed in impaired-driving crashes. He wants to know why DUI convicts are given so many chances. “Why should you ever get another chance when you continue to be repetitive? It’s ludicrous,” said Doell, the president of Oregon Crime Victims United. “We should have incremental increases in our punishment cycle for these people. In Oregon, its not really like three strikes you’re out. It’s like five strikes and you’re out.”

Oregon: Road naming could be on ballot

Fri, May 14 2010 — Source: CBS 13

Opponents of renaming Beltline Road as the Randy Papé Beltline want to take their opposition to a statewide vote in November. The first two signs for the Randy Papé Beltline were made Wednesday in Salem. Kevin Prociw and Scott Reynolds, who organized protests to the name change, want to put the issue on the ballot in November.

Read the story from CBS 13

The campaign aiming to tax and regulate marijuana through the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act (OCTA) is circulating petitions to get the measure on the ballot for November’s general election. By creating a committee to oversee the taxation and regulation of marijuana, OCTA would effectively decriminalize the cultivation, possession and personal use of marijuana in Oregon. The measure would be the first law of its kind in the nation.

Read the story from the Oregon Daily Emerald

Lake Oswego developers Matt Rossman and Bruce Studer announced last week the formation of a financial partnership group that will spearhead the development of a non-tribal casino in Wood Village. The multi-million dollar Oregon Entertainment Center would be the first casino in the Portland metro area, but laws banning non-tribal casinos must be lifted before it can be constructed. The proposed development would be located at the former Multnomah Kennel Club, located at Southeast 223rd Avenue and Halsey Street in Wood Village.

Two would-be casino developers from Lake Oswego launched a new campaign Friday to win voter approval for a private casino at the old greyhound track in Wood Village. Businessman Bruce Studer and attorney Matthew Rossman, who said they have the backing of investment firms in Toronto and Los Angeles, began gathering signatures on two ballot initiatives aimed at allowing them to establish what would be the state’s first private casino.

Read the story from The Oregonian

Oregon: Education funding on ballot

Tue, Apr 27 2010 — Source: KBND 1110 AM

A coalition of educators and business leaders push for voter approval of two ballot measures on Oregon’s upcoming May 18th ballot.  School Board Member Bobbie Regan says Measure 69 would expand the items that bond money can pay for. Measure 69 allows universities to use bonds to buy older buildings. Both were put on the ballot by a bipartisan vote in the legislature.

Read the story from KBND 1110 AM

Running schools in Oregon is one of the state’s big financial responsibilities. Building them is not. That could change under a ballot measure voters will see in May. Rob Manning reports on the constitutional change suggested in Ballot Measure 68. Oregon is full of schools in need of major repairs. Many could use 21st century electrical systems and energy upgrades.

Read the story from OPB News