April 2009

  • East Oregonian Endorses the CIR!
    J Bombardier
    April 9, 2009 2:22
    4/9/2009 Something new under the sun is a great idea Love-hate is a good description of Oregon voters' relationship with our state's fabled initiative and referendum. On the one hand, voters are possessive of the ballot initiative. On the other hand, these ballot proposals are notoriously complicated, and their campaigns typically generate more heat than light. Most statewide ballot proposals are blunt instruments. Typically written by one or two people, these initiatives are not pretested like legislative proposals.
  • Next up, a work session for HB 2895
    Tyrone Reitman
    April 2, 2009 11:21
    UPDATE: Citizens' Initiative Review bill on the move. As announced last week, the Citizens' Initiative Review pilot legislation (HB 2895) was heard by the House Rules Committee in the Oregon Legislature on Monday (3/30). Sen. Whitsett and Rep. Cannon kicked things off with an introduction to the bill. Following their presentation, Elliot and I made the case for the CIR sighting recent polling data and going through the main points of the reform. Following our presentation the Rules Committee heard from Kathy Fantz, Jenny Lillge, and Frank Oliver, all of whom participated as panelists in the CIR demonstration run in Sept., 2008, on Measure 58. They were followed by Kappy Eaton, representing the League of Women Voters of Oregon, testifying in support of HB 2895 as well.