2 bills restrict citizens from using petitions – hearing alert!

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

There are two bills up today in the House Rules Committee (HJR 11, HJR 3) that both aim to limit and reduce people from using the petition initiative process.

HJR 11 raises the number of signature requirements to qualify a measure to the ballot by 25% to 33% higher.  For state law changes (statutory) HJR 11 raises the number of signatures by 33% (it takes it from current rule of 6% of the people voted in the last election for Governor to 8%).   For Constitutional changes, HJR 11 raises it 25% ( it takes it from the current law of 8% of people who voted in the last election for Governor and raises it to 10%)

HJR 3 takes it a step further by requiring a prospective petition to get a threshold of signatures from each of the 36 counties.   Currently, petitions must get a 6% of the people who voted in the last election (for Governor).  Now HJR 3 wishes it to be 6% from each county.  This is a near impossible task.   This bill has bipartisan support.  Liberal Democratic lawmakers favor it because they loathe the long list of past tax cutting and anti-crime measures passed by voters and now wish to block voters from the democratic process.   A few Republican lawmakers favor this bill because big city population centers find it easier to gather signatures — and liberals utilize this difference by putting measures on the ballot that are wildly unpopular or destructive to rural Oregonians.   What Republican politicians may not understand is that Portland is a great place to gather signatures for more conservative measures as well.   Despite these arguments, HJR 3 calls to effectively shut down the initiative for everyone both urban and rural — this is a massive big mistake.

Furthermore, HJR 3’s power to make it illegal for non-Oregonians to financially support a ballot/oppose an Oregon ballot measure.  This is really foolish and outright censorship.   If you are a business owner across the river in Vancouver Washington and you own 100 farm stands in Oregon and there is a ballot measure to ban farm stands, under HJR 3 that man and his right to protect his Oregon employees from extinction with a simple $1 donation would be illegal under HJR 3.

The huge drop in citizen-led and grassroots driven petition drives is a direct result of politicians making the initiative process much harder.   Many of the measures on the statewide ballot are referrals from the Legislature.   Now under these two bills, getting signatures would be even more difficult.

The people’s petition process is a critical check on politicians’ power.

Please oppose HJR 11 and HJR 3 by submitting online testimony within 48 hours of this Monday’s hearing:

You can oppose HJR 11 with online testimony here (click submit testimony tab)

You can oppose HJR 3 with online testimony here (click submit testimony tab).

HJR 11  summary, “The measure proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to require petitions for a proposed initiative law to be signed by a number of qualified voters equal to not less than eight percent of the total number of votes cast for Governor at the previous election divided equally from among the congressional districts in Oregon. It also requires petitions for a proposed constitutional initiative amendment to be signed by a number of qualified voters equal to not less than 10 percent of the total number of votes cast for Governor at the previous election divided equally from among the congressional districts in Oregon. The measure refers the proposed amendment to the people for their approval or rejection at the next general election.”

HJR 3  summary,  “The measure proposes an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to require petitions for a proposed initiative law to be signed by a number of qualified voters from each county that equals six percent of the total number of votes cast in the county for Governor at the previous election. It also requires petitions for a proposed constitutional initiative amendment to be signed by a number of qualified voters from each county that equals eight percent of the total number of votes cast in the county for Governor at the previous election. The measure also prohibits persons who are not qualified voters from directly or indirectly making contributions in connection with an initiative measure or to influence the outcome of an election on an initiative to the extent contribution limits are permitted under the United States Constitution. The measure refers the proposed amendment to the people for their approval or rejection at the next general election.”

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