Get your news here at HDO’s Initiative Roundup!

With the November election quickly approaching, we at Healthy Democracy Oregon would like to extend an invitation to anyone interested in keeping-up with news and stories relating to this year’s ballot measures to use the ‘Initiative Roundup’ portion of our homepage as a “one stop shop” so to speak for the latest initiative news. My name is J.P. I’m an outreach coordinator for HDO working out of our Eugene office. I’ll be the one scouring all of the news sites for ‘Roundup’ material. Since our organization is working to improve the initiative process for all Oregonians, our goal is to post news and fact oriented articles containing as little editorial input as possible. As we gear-up for the Citizens’ Initiative Review demonstration in September, we hope that the ‘Initiative Roundup’ will be a reliable and timesaving tool, helping Oregon voters stay informed on this year's ballot measures. As many of you will have already heard, Oregon Secretary of State Bill Bradbury released the numbers of the measures which will appear on the statewide ballot this November. Although the assignment of measure numbers is a standard pre-election occurrence, it does serve as a reminder that an important statewide election is just around the corner. So without further introduction, here are the titles by which this years ballot measures will be identified: Measure 58 Certified Ballot Title: Prohibits Teaching Public School Student In Language Other Than English For More Than Two Years Measure 59 Certified Ballot Title: Creates An Unlimited Deduction For Federal Income Taxes On Individual Taxpayers' Oregon Income-Tax Returns Measure 60 Certified Ballot Title: Teacher "Classroom Performance," Not Seniority, Determines Pay Raises; "Most Qualified" Teachers Retained, Regardless Of Seniority Measure 61 Certified Ballot Title: Creates Mandatory Minimum Prison Sentences For Certain Theft, Identity Theft, Forgery, Drug, And Burglary Crimes Measure 62 Certified Ballot Title: Amends Constitution: Allocates 15% Of Lottery Proceeds To Public Safety Fund For Crime Prevention, Investigation, Prosecution Measure 63 Certified Ballot Title: Exempts Specified Property Owners From Building Permit Requirements For Improvements Valued At/Under 35,000 Dollars Measure 64 Certified Ballot Title: Penalizes Person, Entity For Using Funds Collected With "Public Resource" (Defined) For "Political Purpose" (Defined) Measure 65 Certified Ballot Title: Changes Partisan Primaries: Primary Ballots Contain All Candidates; Top Two Candidates Proceed To General Election If readers have any observations or suggestions regarding the 'Initiative Roundup' or any of the articles posted, we encourage them to contribute to the success of this endeavor with their comments. Thanks in advance for your help in making the 'Initiative Roundup' an informative destination for Oregon voters! Stay Tuned... J.P. Bombardier HDO Outreach Coordinator