Jump to a topic:

• Campaign Finance

• Redistricting

• Elections, Public Records, Police Body Cams

• Rights of Incarcerated People

• Government Ethics

• Election Methods

Governance

By Norman Turrill, Governance Coordinator, and Team

Campaign Finance

By Rebecca Gladstone

IP 9 petition cover and signature sheets are being prepared for signature gathering. The League supports IP 9 as a Chief Petitioner. The Oregon Supreme Court denied objections and certified the Attorney General’s ballot title: “Limits campaign contributions; political advertisements identify largest contributors; campaigns disclose true funding sources; other provisions.”

From OPB: Campaign finance limits could come up short in Oregon Legislature — again.

Redistricting

By Norman Turrill

There has been no movement on redistricting in the legislature. People Not Politicians has started collecting signatures on IP 14 petitions downloadable from its website.

Elections, Public Records, Privacy and Police Body Cams

By Rebecca Gladstone

Bills continue to move with enrollments. 

• HB 2095 Enrolled: This traffic cams in cities bill has been enrolled, passing in the Senate 20 to 9, on partisan lines.

• HB 5032 A: Awaiting enrollment. We support this Public Records Advocate funding (our testimony).

These have scheduled hearings: 

• SB 11: This access and transparency bill has strong bipartisan support, requiring virtual public state meetings to record and promptly publicize recordings. We will look for data retention rules.

• SB 510: This companion funding for SB 417, below, to improve efficiency, cost estimates and budgeting, and sustainable funding for the Public Records Advocate Commission (PRAC). See our testimony in support.

• SB 417: The Public Records Task Force, meeting since March 7, hopes to complete policy discussion and final edits this week, to propose an amendment; see our testimony.

• HB 2490 May 2 Work session scheduled in Sen Vets, Emerg Mgmt, Fed and World Affairs. It addresses Oregon’s growing cybersecurity vulnerability, to protect our defense plans, devices, and systems from public disclosure, also echoing our call to balance public records disclosure transparency and privacy. The League urges for maximum protection of public health, safety, and the environment. Defending our critical infrastructures is at stake (our testimony). 

Awaiting committee scheduling:

• SB 166: We hope scheduling delay implies amending to address our privacy and harassment concerns, our testimony. This three-part bill would codify that actual voting on ballots is not revealed (never has been). It only addresses protecting elections workers, offending substances shall not be thrown at them, and elections should have cybersecurity plans. We recommend further amending, citing extensive references to our earlier relevant testimony. Technical harassment definitions should be expanded, as we note, for example to doxing, with extensive privacy issues, and extended to protect all involved in elections, even voters, from harassment and intimidation, as reported last fall on OPB. We anticipate having these protections in place before the 2024 elections. We link our other testimonies’ support for elections as critical infrastructure, for cybersecurity, and for protecting our cyber defense plans, as mentioned in the bill below. Referred to House Rules March 7.

• SB 167: The SoS elections bill could replace candidate filing software (top of our list), add numerous efficiency improvements, address some privacy and cybersecurity issues, with efficiency tweaks. See League testimony in support.

• SB 614: We’re watching this police body cam, personal data retention and disclosure bill, after passing the Senate 18 to 10, on not entirely partisan votes. See the April 17 LR for details.

• SJM 6: This DC statehood congressional memorial was unanimously referred from the Senate floor on April 13 to Senate Vets, EM, Fed & World Affairs, with two R votes flipping to support. It has not been scheduled there. Taxation without representation is a fundamental democratic value, and we will support this.

Awaiting W&Ms scheduling:

• SB 510 This SB 417 companion funding bill passed unanimously to W&Ms without recommendation, to improve efficiency, cost estimates and budgeting, and sustainable funding for the PRAC. See our testimony in support.

• SB 1073 passed from JIMT April 5, to establish a state Chief Privacy Officer (CPO). See our testimony for the related bills and the hearing video, details in previous reports here.

• SB 619 was recommended do pass with amendments by prior reference. LWVOR strongly supports this AG’s consumer privacy bill (our testimony), now with a coalition letter.

Rights of Incarcerated People

By Marge Easley

SB 529, passed out of House Judiciary on April 25 with a do pass recommendation and is headed to the House floor. The bill establishes a structured and comprehensive drug treatment plan for incarcerated individuals and acknowledges that:

• Substance use disorders negatively impact adults in custody at a significantly greater frequency than non-incarcerated individuals in the community.

• Substance use disorders should be considered chronic illnesses for which effective treatment is available.

• Diverting sentenced offenders from a traditional correctional setting into structured programs that provide treatment for substance use disorders or cognitive restructuring has been proven to reduce criminal recidivism in this state.

Government Ethics

By Chris Cobey

SB 292 passed the Senate 26-0. It narrows, on a temporary basis, the applicability of the requirement that district school board members must file verified statements of economic interest to only those members of districts with specified number of students or districts that are sponsors of virtual public charter schools. Expands applicability of requirement to all members of district school boards in 2026. Directs Oregon Government Ethics Commission to provide training on filing of verified statements of economic interest to members of district school boards. 4/19: passed Senate 26-0-4, to House. See Malheur Enterprise article on Entire school boards quit over ethics rule, but reappointments expected. Ethics Commission history shows that most conflicts of interest occur in smaller jurisdictions.

HB 2422: Directs Legislative Administrator to pay costs of reasonable accommodation of member of the Legislative Assembly who is afforded rights and protections as person with disabilities under specified federal and state law. Directs Legislative Administration Committee to adopt an interactive process to determine reasonable accommodations entitled to payment. Appropriates moneys to Legislative Administration Committee to fund payments. House Rules: 4/25: work session, "do pass" recommendation on party-line vote.

HB 5021 A: Limits biennial expenditures from fees, moneys or other revenues, including miscellaneous receipts and reimbursements from federal service agreements, but excluding lottery funds and other federal funds, collected or received by Oregon Government Ethics Commission. 4/24: from JW&Ms "do pass" recommendation; 4/26: scheduled for Senate third reading.

SB 168 A: Expressly prohibits public employees, while on job during working hours or while otherwise working in official capacity, from promoting or opposing appointment, nomination or election of public officials. 4/27: House Rules public hearing scheduled.

SB 207: Authorizes Oregon Government Ethics Commission to proceed on its own motion to review and investigate, if the commission has reason to believe that the public body conducted meetings in executive session that were not in compliance with laws authorizing executive sessions. 4/20: House Rules work session held, unanimous "do pass" recommendation, House second reading.

SB 661 A: Prohibits any lobbyist from serving as chairperson of interim committees, or certain legislative work groups, or legislative task forces. Provides exceptions. 4/25: House Rules public hearing.

Election Methods

By Barbara Klein

No further developments this week.

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