Oregon Senator Jason A. Atkinson, District 2,
Newsletter 6/27/09
Dear Friends,
It has been a busy few weeks in Salem. A lot has happened
since session began, and adjournment could happen at any
hour.
Rogue Valley Youth
Correctional Facility To Remain Open
Last week our office received news that the Rogue Valley
Youth Correctional Facility in Grants Pass will remain
open. Originally, the plan was to close the 100+ bed
facility in Grants Pass. The facility employs or helps
employ about 120 people in Josephine County, and is the most
efficient facility of the Oregon Youth Authority. With
unemployment at 15.8% in Josephine County, the facility is a
pillar of Southern Oregon.
By keeping the facility open, it allows the youths to be
closer to their families and their support system. This
support is critical to helping them be productive members of
society after they are released. It is thanks to the
hardworking and dedicated faculty and volunteers who give so
generously of their time that the facility will remain open.
They brought this issue to Senator Atkinson’s attention so
he was able to act quickly to get the Ways and Means
Committee to revise their closure plans.
Atkinson Kills Water Tax,
Water Resources Budget Passed
Thursday, the Senate passed the Water Resources Department’s
budget for the next biennium. The Water Resources
Department is the department that would have stood to
benefit from the passage of SB 740, which would have
assessed a $100 per year tax on all water rights in
Oregon. Senator Atkinson stood true to his word on this
bill. “I said this would pass over my dead body, and there
is a reason I am still standing. This bill deserves the
fate it is getting, to end the session gathering dust in
committee. Thanks to a lot of hard work from grassroots
Oregonians we were able to protect what I believe is a
fundamental and important right.”
Senate Passes Two Atkinson
Bills to Strengthen Salmon and Steelhead Populations
The Senate passed Senate Bills 472 and 545 Saturday
afternoon, bills that will create larger and healthier
salmon and steelhead populations in Oregon’s rivers. Senate
Bill 472 begins a pilot program through the Department of
Fish and Wildlife to revive the hatchbox program from the
1970’s on the Rogue River. A $45 hatchbox can incubate 1000
eggs, and increases survival rates to 65 to 95 percent, as
opposed to the natural survival rate of 5 to 20 percent.
Senate Bill 545 directs the Department of Fish and Wildlife
to study pathogens in fish hatcheries and determine what the
best methods are for raising fish in hatcheries.
“Fishing in Oregon’s streams and rivers is one of our
state’s great legacies,” says Senator Atkinson. “These bills
are in the best tradition of ingenuity and conservation, and
I believe it is a piece of protecting and resorting our
salmon and steelhead runs. The more eggs that survive to
the fry stage, the more fry have a chance of surviving to
adulthood. It is simple math, and I think it is another
thing we can do to help ensure there are strong fish
populations for our kids and grandkids to fish.”
“Yes means No” Election
Measure Sent Back to Committee
After an onslaught of public outcry in the past 48 hours,
House Bill 2414 was sent back to the Ways and Means
Committee Friday morning. House Bill 2414 would have
created massive confusion about tax measures passed this
session that are going to be sent to the people for
approval.
House Bill 2414 would have changed the meaning of voting
“Yes” and “No” for measures on the ballot. The bill reads:
The statement required by this paragraph shall be
phrased so that an affirmative vote corresponds to a
rejection of the measure and shall begin with the phrase, “A
‘yes’ vote rejects legislation that”…
…The statement required by this paragraph shall be
phrased so that a negative vote corresponds to an approval
of the measure and shall begin with the phrase, “A ‘no’ vote
approves legislation that”…
A measure referred to the people by referendum petition
may no be adopted unless it receives an affirmative majority
of the total votes cast on the measure rejecting the
measure. For purposes of this subsection, a measure
is considered adopted if it is rejected by the people.
“They couldn’t vote for it and keep a straight face,” said
Senator Atkinson. “This is a victory for Oregon voters,
taxpayers, and the English language. Democrats tried to
tear pages out of the dictionary and redefine words to their
liking. This was an affront to decency, integrity, and
common sense, and the public rose up and made a stand.”
Senate Votes to Take Away Local
Land-Use Planning Authority
On Tuesday, the Senate voted on HB 2227, which revises the
process and authority of the counties to site destination
resorts. The version of the bill passed by the majority
party takes away the authority of counties to site areas for
destination resorts, and places it in the hands of the Land
Conservation and Development Commission.
Senator Atkinson offered a minority report on the measure,
which would have kept that authority in the hands of locally
elected county officials. Should the bill be signed into
law, counties will have much less flexibility in being able
to determine the future of destination resorts.
Democrats Reject Third-Party
Fetal Harm Bill that Would Bring Justice to Victims Heather
Snively and Unborn Son John Stephen
Senate Bill 982 was introduced at the request of Chris Popp,
whose fiancé and unborn son were murdered. Heather Snively
was a 21-year-old who was looking to exchange used baby
clothes, and was 7 months pregnant with John Stephen Popp.
They were murdered, and Heather was cut open so her killer
could remove John Stephen from his mother’s womb. Under
current Oregon law the killer can only be charged with
Heather Snively’s murder; John Stephen Popp does not exist.
Last Friday, the Senate rejected Senator Atkinson’s motion
to withdraw SB 982 from the Ways and Means Committee.
Senate Bill 982 would expand criminal homicide to include
the killing of an unborn child, whether or not the killer
knew or could reasonably have know the woman was pregnant
(such as killing a pregnant woman in a car crash or before
she was visibly pregnant). It would also create the crime
of assault of an unborn child. A person commits the crime
of assault of an unborn child if a person knowingly causes
physical harm to the mother of an unborn child, and the
attack causes the unborn child serious physical harm or
causes the child to be born prematurely. As with criminal
homicide, it is no excuse if the assailant did not know or
could not have reasonably known the woman was pregnant. This
may seem contradictory, but here’s how it works: if someone
were to purposely assault a pregnant woman, but she was not
visibly pregnant and caused physical harm to the baby, he or
she could be charged with assault of an unborn child.
Senate Bill 982 would bring justice to victim’s families
like Chris Popp’s who are destroyed by these heinous crimes.
Senate Passes Bill to Prevent
Prescription Drug Abuse
Thursday the Senate passed SB 355, which establishes the
Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). The program will
compile all of the controlled substance prescription data
from Oregon pharmacies so pharmacists can see if patients
are purchasing controlled substances (e.g. narcotics and
substances of common abuse) from multiple doctors and
pharmacies.
This bill is needed as prescription drug abuse is a growing
problem throughout the US. Currently, 38 states in the US
have a PMP, with Oregon and Montana being the only states in
the West which do not have one. Often, prescription drug
abusers move away from states with these programs and into
states without them because it is much easier to obtain
drugs in states like Oregon.
The database would work like this: Oregon pharmacists would
be required to submit controlled substance dispensing data
into the PMP on a weekly basis. The database will be
accessible, with a number of safeguards and security
measures, to practitioners. There are a number of
safeguards and security measures in place to prevent any
breaches of the database; there have been no breaches of any
similar database to date. Law enforcement agencies will
only have limited and regulated access to the information in
the database, and only with a court order pertaining to a
specific case. This is not, nor will it be, a tool for
law enforcement, but rather a tool for practitioners to
prevent dispensing drugs to, or being “scammed” by abusers
and addicts.
Education Funded in Oregon 84
Days Late
Last Friday the Senate finally voted on, and passed, the
K-12 education bill. The 75th Oregon Legislative
Session began on January 12 of this year, yet it took the
Senate until June 19 to pass an education budget; the same
day the Senate debated whether to allow farmers to grow
industrial hemp. Tuesday, however, Governor Kulongoski
vetoed the education budget, sending it back to the
legislature for a potential veto override vote. The Senate
and House voted to override the governor’s veto Wednesday.
The issue that caused the veto was the depletion of the
state education reserve funds.
Over the last six years the Oregon Legislature has created
two separate reserve funds, and they each have different
economic “triggers” for when they can be dipped into. The
first is the School Stability Fund. All of the triggers for
being able to access this fund have occurred and the
Legislature has decided to use all of the funds allowable by
law from this fund. This is a simple matter, as the School
Stability Fund is in the Oregon Constitution, meaning the
Legislature can only withdraw as many funds from it as
prescribed by the Oregon Constitution; if they wish to
withdraw more they must get the people’s approval to do so.
The second reserve fund the Legislature established was the
Rainy Day Fund. The economic triggers for this fund are
basically the same as from the School Stability Fund, but
the main difference is this fund is not in the Constitution,
only in the ORS. This is significant because the
Legislature has the power to ignore any laws and/or rules it
has set up for the fund simply by inserting the words “Not
Withstanding” into a bill that draws from this fund. The
majority party is proposing withdrawing the majority of this
fund. In the interests of full disclosure, the proposed
Republican budget would have also withdrawn from this fund,
but only as much as allowed by law.
The Governor thinks the reserve funds should not be depleted
to that level, and he even met with the Republican
leadership to see if they would help him prevent a veto
override. Senator Atkinson is not satisfied with either
side.
He believes education should be the number one
priority of the Oregon Legislature. The Senator has
proposed in repeated sessions a constitutional requirement
for Oregon to fund education by the 81st day of
session, or the legislators would forfeit their
compensation. Under Senator Atkinson’s proposal, it would
not have taken this legislature 165 days to fund education.
As its stands currently, the Republican Back to Basics
budget would give education $245 million more dollars
than the majority party did. It is clear the majority
party’s priorities are out of order, and that it is time for
new leadership in Salem. For more information on the
proposed Back to Basics budget, and how the Oregon
Legislature can fully fund education, human services,
and public safety without raising taxes, go to
www.backtobasicsbudget.com. You can also see the
Top Ten Truths (Truth
#7,
#8,
#9, and
#10) about the Oregon budget that will surprise you.
After session ends, you will receive a sine die
newsletter, which will analyze and interpret what happened
during the 75th Regular Session of the Oregon
Legislature.
All Best,
Kyle Vinyard
Senator
Atkinson’s Staff
