Amendment defies Oregon voters

State Sen. Lee Beyer’s Senate Committee on Business and Transportation just flipped a big middle finger to Oregon voters. It approved an amendment to House Bill 4111 that at least partially nullifies the voters’ overwhelming 2014 decision (Measure 88) to deny driver licenses or cards to anyone who cannot prove legal presence in the United States.

There were no exceptions granted by the voters. Under the amended bill, a person “is not required to provide proof of legal presence in the United States” if certain conditions are met and if the person provides certain documents to the Department of Motor Vehicles. But the department is prohibited from verifying the documents.

Supporters claim the bill applies only to Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipients. However, neither the term “DACA” nor its translation appears in the language. They further assert this action “has nothing to do” with Measure 88. It has everything to do with Measure 88.

A bogus “emergency” clause was included to prevent another voter rebellion.

The legislators — mostly Democrats — promoting this amendment clearly couldn’t care less about voter mandates. They’ve seen that voters will return them to office election after election no matter what they do. That’s the real travesty here.

Jerry Ritter, Springfield