Editorial: This week's winners and losers

LOSER: Oregon House. Legislators are mocking voters by interfering with a referendum on whether to let undocumented residents drive in Oregon.

Last year, the Legislature approved Senate Bill 833. It is a worthwhile law that authorizes issuance of “driver cards” for residents who can prove U.S. citizenship or other legal residency. A form of shorter-term driver license, the card will permit people to drive but cannot be used for federal identification, such as at airport security.

However, opponents collected enough signatures to block the law from taking effect last month and putting it before voters at the November 2014 general election. On Thursday, the state House stacked the deck.

Lawmakers passed House Bill 4054A, which would throw out the ballot title that the state Department of Justice wrote for the referendum, substitute one written by the Legislature, and prevent referendum backers from challenging that change in court.

That would appear to violate the constitutional separation of powers.

Legislators claimed that the ballot title — the wording that appears on the ballot — and related information did not adequately convey their intentions in passing SB 833. Tough. That is what pro-and-con election campaigns are for.

All that the House achieved was giving voters another reason to dislike both the driver cards and the Legislature. The Senate should deep-six HB 4054A.