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The
ability of American citizens to petition their government to redress grievances
is enshrined in our nation’s founding documents. The right to refer measures
passed by the Oregon Legislative Assembly for the voters to decide is also
established in our state Constitution.
Article
IV, Section 28 of the Oregon Constitution states that no
law will be enacted that takes effect before the 91st day after the
end of the legislative session, unless an emergency is declared. Bill for
raising revenue are prohibited from having an emergency clause.
Additionally,
Article
IV, Section 1 (3) (a)
states any law may be referred to the people for a vote that does not become
effective until after the 91st day following the end of the
legislative session. That time frame was deliberately designed to provide
enough time for citizens to gather the signatures required to refer the law for
a vote.
An
outstanding example of the referral process occurred in Oregon’s November 2014
general election. Legislators had enacted Senate
Bill 833 during the 2013 regular session. The law ordered the
Department of Transportation to issue, renew or replace a driver card without
requiring a person to provide proof of legal presence in the United States.
That
bill passed through the Oregon House and Senate with bipartisan support after
multiple contentious debates in committee and on the floors of both chambers. I
voted no on the bill for a variety of reasons. It was signed into law by
then-Governor John Kitzhaber. Fortunately, the bill did not have an emergency
clause.
Citizens
were outraged at its passage. They organized and gathered sufficient signatures
to refer the matter for the people to decide on the November ballot, in the
form of Ballot
Measure 88.
Then-Governor
Kitzhaber, a coalition of dozens of various organizations and the editorial
boards of newspapers throughout the state campaigned to convince the voters to
repass the law. Over half a million dollars was spent on the campaign to defeat
the referral. Contributions came from powerful union groups such as SEIU and
UFCW.
In
spite of being outspent more than six-to-one, the majority of voters who wanted
the law nullified prevailed. Voters overwhelmingly rejected the law by an almost
two-to-one landslide vote. The direct democracy feature of the referral system
functioned as it was intended, expunging SB 833 from Oregon law.
An
emergency clause attached to a bill makes the law become effective immediately
upon the signature of the Governor. The clause makes the bill effective before
the 91st day; thereby, effectively prohibiting its referral to the
people.
Throughout
my three terms of service in the Oregon Senate, I’ve written
extensively about the legislative abuse of the
emergency clause. It has long been my contention that emergency clauses are
routinely attached to bills where no justifiable emergency exists. They are
added to the bills for the express purpose of preventing their referral to the
voters to decide.
For
the past several legislative sessions, as many as two-thirds of all the bills
introduced have had emergency clauses attached. It even appears that
Legislative Counsel may automatically attach an emergency clause when drafting
a bill unless specifically requested to leave it off.
I
introduced bills in the 2013
and 2015
regular legislative sessions to try and to end this flagrant abuse. Both were
thwarted by the majority party leadership. To my knowledge, no bill intended to
make it more difficult to attach an emergency clause to any proposed legislation
has even been allowed the courtesy of a public hearing.
The
2015 and 2016 legislative sessions saw multiple instances of controversial
bills with emergency clauses attached. Most had no expressed purpose other than
preventing Oregon voters from exercising their constitutional rights to refer
the new laws.
During
the 2015 legislative session, several of the most contentious bills passed in
recent memory had emergency clauses attached. They included such laws as the Low
Carbon Fuel Standard, heavily supported by out-of-state
billionaire Tom Steyer, and the firearm
background check bill,
insisted upon by groups funded by billionaire and former New York Mayor Michael
Bloomberg. A divisive anti-business bill mandating government
regulated retirement plans for
private sector employees also had an emergency clause attached, even though it
hasn’t taken effect more than a year later.
Some
of the worst bills passed in the 2016 short session also bore emergency
clauses. They include the job-busting minimum
wage increase that creates mandated three-tiered minimum
wages based on geographical location and the so-called "Coal
to Clean" bill, which will drive up the costs of
electricity for businesses and residents while doing nothing to reduce the
state’s share of global greenhouse gas emissions.
My
office received numerous e-mails and phone calls from constituents registering
alarm about all of these bills. Their expressed concerns were both for the
substance of the bills and for the emergency clauses prohibiting their
referral. I’m confident that the required number of signatures could have been
gathered to challenge several of these bills. However, the legislative majority
denied voters that choice through the use of the emergency clause.
Fortunately,
legislators are not alone in recognizing the frequent and blatant efforts to
prohibit citizens from exercising their Constitutional rights to refer
legislation for the people to decide. Oregon citizens have taken it upon
themselves to force the issue at the ballot box.
Petitions
are being circulated for Initiative
Petition 49, which would amend Article IV, Section 28
of the Oregon Constitution to end emergency clause abuse. If enacted, the
Oregon Constitution will require a two-thirds vote of the members of both the
House and the Senate to affix an emergency clause to a bill. Passage of IP 49
would serve to prohibit any act from taking effect until 90 days from the end
of the legislative session, except in case of an actual emergency being
declared by supermajorities of both chambers.
IP
49 specifically exempts bills that are passed in direct response to the
declaration of a catastrophic disaster by the governor, within an emergency
session operating under article X-A of the state Constitution and bills limited
to reducing appropriations in order to balance the state budget during a
revenue shortfall.
It also does not apply to budget bills that
are limited to funding “current and ordinary expenses,” with certain
exceptions. Those important exceptions that are not “current and ordinary
expenses” include expenditures for activities or programs of agencies that were
not funded in the prior biennial budget, increases to agency budgets in excess
of 12 percent above the prior biennium and bills appropriating funds for
capital expenditure projects that include an authorization for debt financing
that will not be fully repaid in two years. Voters certainly should retain the
right to weigh in and vote on these important exceptions.
However,
time is running out. Approximately 117,578 valid signatures will be required
for IP 49 to appear on this November’s general election ballots. Organizers
have given themselves a deadline of June 29 to gather the signatures in order
to have them turned in to the Secretary of State’s Office for validation on
July 8.
Recent
editorials in the Bend
Bulletin and The
Oregonian newspapers highlight many of the reasons why voters should
support IP 49. For more information about the measure, or to print and sign a
petition, go to http://nofakeemergencies.com/.
Please remember--if we do not stand up for rural Oregon, no one will.
Best Regards,
Doug
Senate District 28
Email: Sen.DougWhitsett@state.or.us I Phone: 503-986-1728
Address: 900 Court St NE, S-311, Salem, OR 97301
Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/whitsett
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