Media skewers Legislature for hiding things

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

We love the Statesman Journal quote this week, “[Budget] Details were published March 1 while lawmakers were away from the Capitol for the weekend, and just days before session must end March 8.”

Oregon media has also been upset about HB 4177 which allows local politicians to meet more behind closed doors.

We’ve faulted the Legislature for ram-ramrodding bills.

An hour before the extremely controversial and consequential gas tax election date swap bill, SB 1599, was set for a hearing it was not listed on the official bill list on the Legislature website.   This means that people who follow the Legislature’s website to see new bills had no idea it existed for several days, nor people looking for the bill could find it.

Willamette Week slams ODOT from hiding billions in over-runs from the public.

The Oregonian Editorial Board began Session by blasting the Legislature on the ODOT failure by repeating the same theme of doing things in secret and at the last-minute, “…unveiling a ridiculously large transportation package less than three weeks before the legislative session was to end, Kotek did no one any favors by staying on the sidelines until the session’s dwindling days…. relying on a Democratic supermajority to push through a bill rather than deal in good faith with Republicans whose constituents deserve representation as much as anyone else. Supermajority or not, listening to only one side of the aisle in crafting a massive tax increase is a recipe for severe voter backlash — a lesson she soon learned.”

When will the secrecy and hiding end?

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