East Oregonian Endorses the CIR!

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. There is no hearing process in which the public testifies. Too many initiatives have giant unintended consequences. For instance, Measure 5 of 1990 was ostensibly about limiting property tax, but it also empowered the state Legislature to become Oregon's school board. In other words, Measure 5 caused the loss of local control. Money is the missing element in many measures. Thus we have had a succession of prison-building initiatives with no means to pay for construction or operation of the new prisons. The basic piece of information on which voters rely - the Voters' Pamphlet - is not terribly useful. It is a collection of statements by proponents and opponents. One nugget is a fiscal impact statement drawn up by representatives of the secretary of state, treasurer, department of revenue, department of administrative services and a fifth party. Known as the price-tag committee, this group holds public hearings prior to developing its finding of fiscal impact. In an attempt to bring much more depth to the Voters' Pamphlet and inject a dose of reality into the initiative review process, the nonpartisan, nonprofit Healthy Democracy Oregon has created a prototype citizen review process. Prior to the 2008 election, 23 citizens gathered in Salem to spend five days reviewing Measure 58 limitation, which concerned English as a second language instruction in the schools. These citizens held hearings and developed an analysis of the ballot measure. Now state legislators want to make the Healthy Democracy Oregon prototype a part of the Voters' Pamphlet. Rep. Brad Witt, R-Clatskanie, is one of the 25 legislative sponsors. Witt's bill would create a grant-funded pilot project that would review one to three of the ballot initiatives in the 2010 election. There is something new under the sun. This is a great idea that merits enactment and eventual extension into the biennial election process. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board, comprised of Editor George Murdock, Associate Publisher Kathryn Brown, General Manager Wendy DalPez and Managing Editor Skip Nichols. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian.  Original Story