Letters page
Welcome to the OFIR Letters and Op-Eds section. Here you can read Letters to the Editor and Op-Eds that have been published in various newspapers and news sources.
For decades, Oregon’s initiative and referendum process have provided citizens the opportunity to challenge or determine the future of a law passed by their elected lawmakers.
When legislators pass a bill, the people have a window of time in which they can collect a set amount of signatures to refer the law to a vote. Then the citizens, not the politicians, decide if the law is a good fit or not.
In recent years, it seems that process has come under increasing fire, and one current development is particularly troubling.
During the 2013 legislative session, lawmakers passed Senate Bill 833, which would allow undocumented residents to obtain a driver’s card in place of a driver’s license. The card would only grant driving privileges, and not serve as legal identification, so long as the applicant meet the requirements imposed on other drivers.
After the bill passed, citizens collected enough signatures to put the law to a vote, and a subsequent measure will appear on the 2014 ballot. So far so good, right? Another bill is referred to the people just like many others. Not quite.
Turns out that the Legislature, for the first time in Oregon history, has decided to step in and passed a law, House Bill 4054, that will enable them to choose the ballot title. Most ballot titles are determined by the Oregon Attorney General, with the intent of making the title as balanced and accurate as possible. If anyone disputes the given title, they can challenge it in the nonpartisan Oregon Supreme Court and justices will decide what is suitable.
This ballot measure title was in fact disputed and the Supreme Court is currently deciding what the title should be. Apparently that is not good enough for some lawmakers. Before the court has decided, the lawmakers have decided they want to name the ballot measure.
Bill supporters have not publicly given a reason for this unprecedented move, but it doesn’t really matter what their reason is. This sets an unsettling precedent that takes more power away from the citizenry, a group already struggling to have their say in the laws the state passes.
Changing something as simple ballot title may seem innocuous enough, but Sen. Doug Whitsett correctly pointed out that many voters base their decision on the ballot title alone. If that title is slanted in any way, voters could unknowingly cast their vote with one expectation and get an entirely different result.
This is the latest, and most troubling incident, in a growing trend. Many bills are introduced with an hour’s notice of a public hearing in Salem. How many citizens outside of the Willamette Valley can make those hearings, if any? Furthermore, the Legislature is passing a majority of its bills with an emergency clause attached, meaning it takes effect upon passage. Consequently, that window of opportunity to refer the law to a vote is gone. By the way, HB 4054 has an emergency clause attached.
Citizens should retain their power in the legislative process. Yes, they elected these representatives, but that doesn’t mean they will always do the will of the people. In those situations, the citizens need a way to fight back.
How many Oregonians have renewed their driver’s licenses since Senate Bill 1080 was passed by the 2008 Legislature? I was born in Eugene, have had an Oregon license since 1958 and was shocked at the documentation that’s now necessary to renew a driver’s license.
Now the Legislature in pushing to save SB 833, which allows the state to issue a “driver card” to undocumented immigrants. Go figure. A referendum on the driver card law will be on the Nov. 4 general election ballot, thanks to a number of concerned citizens, but why has the issue advanced this far?
Why doesn’t the Legislature follow Section 4(1) of the law, which requires a person to provide proof they are legally present in the United States before he or she can receive a limited-term driver’s card, driver’s permit or ID card?
Will it be necessary to file a class-action lawsuit against the state of Oregon for discriminating against its own law-abiding citizens and violating its own law? Vote to repeal SB 833, and then vote out of office the people who sponsored the bill.
It’s a remarkable scenario of legislative overreach.
• The Legislature passed a bill.
• Seeking to reverse that action, opponents successfully gathered signatures to put the issue on the ballot.
• The attorney general, as provided by law, wrote the ballot title.
• Now the Legislature wants to rewrite the ballot title to obscure its meaning.
It’s a bit like the proverbial fox guarding the hen house.
The issue is driver’s licenses for illegal immigrants.
The Legislature approved Senate Bill 833 in 2013, granting four-year driver cards for residents who cannot prove they are in the state legally. Advocates said the law would encourage illegal residents to learn the rules of the road, get insurance and drive legally, helping them get to and from work and participate fully in the economy. The cards would have a label to distinguish them from regular licenses.
Opponents successfully challenged the bill, getting enough support to suspend it and send the question to voters this November.
The attorney general’s office wrote the ballot title, which says it “provides Oregon resident ‘driver card’ without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States.”
The Legislature, through House Bill 4054, now wants to replace that title, saying the measure “establishes limited purpose, duration driver card for individuals who prove Oregon residency, meet driving requirements.”
The new language includes no mention of legal residence, no way for a voter to know what the issue is really about.
Disputes about ballot language are common, because it can influence voter understanding and affect outcomes. Although a more complete discussion appears in the voter guide, some voters will see only the words that appear on the ballot. The words are powerful and deserve careful attention.
Even those who fully support giving driver cards to illegal residents should be outraged at this attempt to hide the issue and confuse voters.
Apparently Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (HD-44) along with Representatives Jessica Vega-Pederson (HD-47) and Vic Gilliam (HD-18) don’t trust the wisdom of more than 71,000 Oregon voters state wide in 2013 who had the opportunity to read Senate Bill 833 and then sign a referendum 301 signature sheet that puts the issue of whether or not those illegally present in the state should be allowed driver cards before the state’s voters in November of this year.
Unfortunately these legislators, Reps. Vega-Pederson and Gilliam who were original sponsors of the driver cards legislation, want to pass a law to rewrite the ballot title of referendum 301 even before the Oregon Supreme Court gets a chance to make a decision on the input given by opponents and proponents of the current ballot title.
All members of the 2014 Oregon State Legislature legislative session should in all fairness to the state’s voters that signed referendum 301 stay out of the way — they had their turn at amending the legislation during the 2013 legislative session — and let the state court have the final say on the ballot title of the referendum.
Oregonians who oppose driver cards for those illegally present in the state should contact their state senator and representative and tell them to reject any tampering, call it obfuscation, of the current ballot title which clearly reveals the consequences of the legislation if it becomes state a state law — “Provides Oregon resident ‘driver card’ without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States.”
David Olen Cross of Salem writes on the subjects of illegal immigration and foreign national crime. Contact him at docfnc@yahoo.com.
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.
Desperate to assure that the driver card bill for illegal aliens (Senate Bill 833) will go into effect this year, several Oregon legislators are trying to change the title of the opposing citizen referral No. 301.
By erasing any reference to legal presence and replacing it with a slogan about road safety, these legislators hope to confuse voters about the referral’s intent.
Everyone wants “road safety,” but nothing in SB 833 provides any, which spurred concerned citizens to march this bill to the voter. If SB 833 was about safety, it would have demanded irrevocable prepaid insurance for the life of the four year license, but it doesn’t. It allows illegal aliens to buy insurance just long enough to get their card.
This practice was so common that after driver’s licenses for illegal aliens ended in 2008, the DMV admitted it didn’t notice any change in insurance non-compliance. As for DMV testing, I remember a scandal involving the Salem DMV helping Spanish-speaking applicants with the written section, and what happened on the road test is anyone’s guess. What would prevent the DMV from passing bad drivers as a way of easing the pressure on the system again?
Call me unconvinced. SB 833 also protects foreign drug dealers from the automatic car searches that getting caught driving without a license would have triggered. Does Senate Bill 833 make you feel safer now?
Sadly, every Democrat legislator passed this toothless “road safety” bill, along with some Republicans including Vic Gilliam, Ted Ferrioli, Mark Johnson, Bill Hansell, Bob Jenson and Greg Smith. Vic Gilliam just joined Democrat representative Jessica Vega-Pederson to pass a law allowing the legislature to change the title of referral No. 301. It’s like letting a politician write his opponent’s campaign slogans, but to lawmakers who protect law breakers, changing the rules after the fact to undermine a citizen referral is just part of the game.
Apparently Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek along with Reps. Jessica Vega Pederson and Vic Gilliam want to undermine the will of more than 71,000 Oregon voters in 2013 who had the opportunity to read SB 833 and then sign a Referendum 301 signature sheet that puts the issue of whether or not those illegally present in the state should be allowed driver cards before voters in November 2014.
These legislators want to pass HB 4054 that rewrites the ballot title of the Referendum 301 even before the Oregon Supreme Court gets a chance to make a decision on the input given by opponents and proponents of the current ballot title.
The 2014 Legislature should in all fairness to the voters who signed the referendum not interfere and let the state court have the final say on the ballot title of the referendum.
Oregonians opposing driver cards for those illegally present in the state should contact their state legislators and tell them to reject the plot to change the current ballot title which clearly reveals the consequences of the legislation if it were to become a state law — “Provides Oregon resident ‘driver card’ without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States.”
David Olen Cross
Salem
Six of the House Rules Committee’s nine members voted Tuesday to hijack the normal process for writing ballot titles. The move is a barely disguised marketing effort for a law that would grant driving privileges to people in this country illegally. It won’t work, and driver-card supporters who value the Legislature’s credibility should oppose the change during an expected House vote Wednesday.
The certified ballot title, which has been appealed to the Supreme Court, is as follows: “Provides Oregon resident ‘driver card’ without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States.”
The end-run ballot title upon which the House may vote Wednesday is as follows: “Establishes limited purpose, duration driver card for individuals who prove Oregon residency, meet driving requirements.”
... the most notable difference between the original title and the proposed replacement is the removal of “legal presence,”...
And as for accuracy, the DOJ’s ballot title practically quotes SB833, which directs 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 …”
The Legislature’s effort to write its own ballot title has nothing to do with accuracy. The effort, rather, betrays a belief that voters won’t approve SB833 if they know what it actually does.
Apparently Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek (HD-44) along with Representatives Jessica Vega-Pederson (HD-47) and Vic Gilliam (HD-18) don’t trust the wisdom of more than 71,000 Oregon voters state wide in 2013 who had the opportunity to read Senate Bill 833 and then sign a referendum 301 signature sheet that puts the issue of whether or not those illegally present in the state should be allowed driver cards before the state’s voters in November of this year.
Unfortunately these legislators, Reps. Vega-Pederson and Gilliam who were original sponsors of the driver cards legislation, want to pass a law to rewrite the ballot title of referendum 301 even before the Oregon Supreme Court gets a chance to make a decision on the input given by opponents and proponents of the current ballot title.
All members of the 2014 Oregon State Legislature legislative session should in all fairness to the state’s voters that signed referendum 301 stay out of the way — they had their turn at amending the legislation during the 2013 legislative session — and let the state court have the final say on the ballot title of the referendum.
Oregonians who oppose driver cards for those illegally present in the state should contact their state senator and representative and tell them to reject any tampering, call it obfuscation, of the current ballot title which clearly reveals the consequences of the legislation if it becomes state a state law — “Provides Oregon resident ‘driver card’ without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States.”
Legislators did the right thing last year when they approved Senate Bill 833, which would allow some people who are in this country illegally to obtain driver cards....Some lawmakers want this outcome so badly, however, that they may be willing to do the wrong thing.
A group that includes House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland, may try to rewrite the referendum’s ballot title, a breathtakingly cynical move that would taint the very law they’re trying to preserve. To vote for a referendum doctored in this fashion would be to endorse an abuse of process. ...
Opponents of the law are right to be furious, and supporters should be.... They won’t be favorably impressed by the Legislature’s decision to game the political system in order to help those who have gamed the immigration system.
Lawmakers may be tempted to believe their manipulation will be forgotten long before ballots go out this fall. That would be a mistake. Voters will remember because driver-card opponents, not being foolish, will see that they do. And in this regard, at least, their anger will be justified.
