Description of Proposed Oregon Measure 56 from BallotPedia.org:
I think Measure 47 was a pretty good idea. The people working in the government should be able to plan a little farther ahead than next week. The should be able to plan far enough ahead that they can put the proposed tax bills on the November ballot that will fund their agency till the next general election.
There has been entirely too much emphasis on tax cuts and how high taxes are. We need more emphasis on the community services those taxes fund. Every time you drive by a big road construction project there is a sign that says "Your Tax Dollars" at work. We need more signs like that. Put them on police cars, fire trucks, schools, all the kids who go to school.
There have been excesses, and it might be a good idea to have an independent agency reviewing the finances of government agencies on a regular basis to evaluate whether the "people" are getting their money's worth.
Constitutional Amendments
Some of the Measures that make it to the Oregon ballot are proposed Constitutional Amendments. A number of these have been passed over the years and now the Index to the Oregon Constitution is forty pages. I have no idea how long the entire constitution with all its' amendments is. I do know that I would not want to have to read it.
What I was taught in school was that a constitution was a serious document. You put some effort into crafting it, and you tried to make it durable. It wasn't something you were supposed to change to accommodate every little whim that came along. You need to able to modify it, but any modification should only take place after due consideration. I don't think this is what we have in Oregon.
I think we need a new constitution for the state of Oregon. We should convene a new Constitutional Convention for the purpose of writing one. I do not know if that will every happen, but I believe it is something we should work toward.
Sandbox Elections
Part of problem, at least according to rumors I have heard, is that some of these measures make it onto the ballot of the general election because the legislature will not, or can not, come to some kind of agreement on what needs to be done, so they throw up their hands and turn it over to the "people". Of course what happens is that the people who have an interest in the issue start an advertising campaign to convince other people to vote one way or the other on this issue. My inclination on most of these things is to just vote NO. Take your squabbles some place else, I am not interested in learning every detail about every issue. That's why we have legislators, and why they have staff. They are supposed to wade through this stuff and figure out what is best for the state.
Maybe our legislature is hopelessly deadlocked. Maybe that's why they can't decide. I imagine it is the rural Oregonians versus the urban ones. There seems to be a big divide between the two groups, and Oregon still has a relatively sizable rural population.
Perhaps what we need is a method to get grievances to be aired, and if they are found to have merit, refer them to the legislature for due consideration. Allow people to put advisory measures on the ballot. Putting these measures on the ballot would have the same requirements as ballot measures do now, but when passed, would not become law, but would be forwarded to the legislature with the requirement that they review these measures and make a formal report back to the populace. This would involve a great deal of effort and discussion, but it might keep us from enacting bad legislation with far more serious consequences.
May And November property tax elections are to be decided by majority of voters voting in the relevant election (removes supermajority requirement established by Measure 47 in 1996.I do not know why we have elections twice a year. I suppose someone thinks it's a good idea. Once a year would be plenty for me. A while back some tax measures were passed in the Spring election and that annoyed some folks, so they came up with Measure 47. Measure 47 says that if you want to add a property tax at a Spring or odd year election, you need a supermajority to get it passed. That means a majority of the registered voters have to vote, and a majority of them have to approve the measure. That pretty much killed the idea of getting any taxes passed anytime except during the main elections.
I think Measure 47 was a pretty good idea. The people working in the government should be able to plan a little farther ahead than next week. The should be able to plan far enough ahead that they can put the proposed tax bills on the November ballot that will fund their agency till the next general election.
There has been entirely too much emphasis on tax cuts and how high taxes are. We need more emphasis on the community services those taxes fund. Every time you drive by a big road construction project there is a sign that says "Your Tax Dollars" at work. We need more signs like that. Put them on police cars, fire trucks, schools, all the kids who go to school.
There have been excesses, and it might be a good idea to have an independent agency reviewing the finances of government agencies on a regular basis to evaluate whether the "people" are getting their money's worth.
Constitutional Amendments
Some of the Measures that make it to the Oregon ballot are proposed Constitutional Amendments. A number of these have been passed over the years and now the Index to the Oregon Constitution is forty pages. I have no idea how long the entire constitution with all its' amendments is. I do know that I would not want to have to read it.
What I was taught in school was that a constitution was a serious document. You put some effort into crafting it, and you tried to make it durable. It wasn't something you were supposed to change to accommodate every little whim that came along. You need to able to modify it, but any modification should only take place after due consideration. I don't think this is what we have in Oregon.
I think we need a new constitution for the state of Oregon. We should convene a new Constitutional Convention for the purpose of writing one. I do not know if that will every happen, but I believe it is something we should work toward.
Sandbox Elections
Part of problem, at least according to rumors I have heard, is that some of these measures make it onto the ballot of the general election because the legislature will not, or can not, come to some kind of agreement on what needs to be done, so they throw up their hands and turn it over to the "people". Of course what happens is that the people who have an interest in the issue start an advertising campaign to convince other people to vote one way or the other on this issue. My inclination on most of these things is to just vote NO. Take your squabbles some place else, I am not interested in learning every detail about every issue. That's why we have legislators, and why they have staff. They are supposed to wade through this stuff and figure out what is best for the state.
Maybe our legislature is hopelessly deadlocked. Maybe that's why they can't decide. I imagine it is the rural Oregonians versus the urban ones. There seems to be a big divide between the two groups, and Oregon still has a relatively sizable rural population.
Perhaps what we need is a method to get grievances to be aired, and if they are found to have merit, refer them to the legislature for due consideration. Allow people to put advisory measures on the ballot. Putting these measures on the ballot would have the same requirements as ballot measures do now, but when passed, would not become law, but would be forwarded to the legislature with the requirement that they review these measures and make a formal report back to the populace. This would involve a great deal of effort and discussion, but it might keep us from enacting bad legislation with far more serious consequences.
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