Governance 

By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team

Campaign Finance Reform

Redistricting

Election Methods

Elections

Rights of Incarcerated People

Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Transparency

Volunteers Needed

Campaign Finance Reform

There have been no new bills filed and no activity for CFR.

Redistricting

By Chris Cobey and Norman Turrill

The People Not Politicians coalition, in which the LWV of Oregon is a leader, has now decided to circulate only IP 14 (only legislative redistricting) and to begin collecting petition signatures probably in February. Four bills related to redistricting have been filed in the Legislature, detailed in the last LR.

Election Methods

By Barbara Klein

Another Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) bill (HB 3107) is on tap. It is a committee bill sponsored by House Rules and filed at the request of Rep. Julie Fahey, also a sponsor of HB 2004. It is at the Speaker’s desk, awaiting referral. The description says the bill would establish RCV as the voting method for selecting the winner both for the primary nomination and final election to nonpartisan state offices and county and city offices except where home rule charter applies. It also establishes RCV for primary and general elections for federal and state partisan offices. Important note: This includes state senators and representatives (Sections 2 - 2.d and 3.d). Other than that, it is quite similar to HB 2004, which is currently in House Rules. Chief sponsors are Rep. Rayfield, Fahey, Reynolds, Marsh, and Sen. Sollman; and regular sponsors are Rep. Pham K, Sen. Dembrow, and Golden.

Elections

By Tom Messenger

SB 499 moves the Presidential Primary to Super Tuesday and eliminates the precinct committee person (PCP) positions (internal political party positions) from the ballot.

Status: The bill has been introduced, and Tom Messenger is working on getting a hearing for SB 499 in Senate Rules. This week the LWVOR Action Committee approved bill support. For the bill to have a chance at success, many voices have to be heard supporting the bill. If you would like to be one of those voices, please contact Tom Messenger (tom_messenger@hotmail.com) for more information to craft a support letter or make a supporting phone call. If the bill gets a hearing, you can testify in favor of the bill.

Rights of Incarcerated People

By Marge Easley

SB 579, which restores voting rights to incarcerated citizens, appears again this session at the behest of the Oregon Justice Resource Center. The League testified in support at a January 26 hearing in Senate Judiciary. We base our support on the League principle that voting is a fundamental right of citizenship. It is also a recognition that the disenfranchisement of incarcerated individuals is a relic of the Civil War era–a way to withhold power from black citizens. We believe it is time to correct this historic injustice and allow Oregon to join Maine, Vermont, Puerto, and Washington, D.C. in giving incarcerated citizens the right to vote.

Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Transparency

By Becky Gladstone

Overall LWVOR advocacy is already intense with testimony and logo-sharing for numerous bills and collaborations. Read here for the confluence of Cybersecurity, Data Privacy, and Public Records across portfolios. We will watch for public hearings, working on testimony in advance. 

Data Privacy

• HB 2052: We testified in support of an Oregon Data Broker Registry, a priority this session.

• SB 619: This detailed consumer data bill, now in Senate Judiciary, addresses many issues we raised in our Privacy and Cybersecurity work, including consumer access to rectify personal data inaccuracies. Sen. Prozanski and Rep. Holvey are sponsors. Senate Judiciary now meets Monday-Thursday, sure to raise other relevant topics. 

Cybersecurity

• HB 2049: This committee cyber omnibus calls for a Cybersecurity Advisory Council, is currently in the Joint Information Management and Technology (JCLIMT) committee.

• HB 2490: Exempts cybersecurity plans, devices and systems, etc., from disclosure, in the House Emergency Management, General Governance, and Veterans, sponsors Reps. Nathanson and Neron.

Campaign Finance Transparency

These campaign finance transparency studies are single paragraph bills, may be placeholders:

• HB 2106: From the SoS, in House Rules, to focus on contribution reporting.

• HB 3104: From Speaker Fahey, in House Rules, requires the SoS to study how to improve this reporting.

• SB 170 From the SoS, how to improve the campaign finance system.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDED. Worthy causes go unaddressed for lack of League volunteers. If you see a need and can offer your expertise, please contact our staff at lwvor@lwvor.org to connect with us.