We need a hearing and work session on SB27, the Oregon Better Health Act. People like myself and more than 7,000 other Oregonians have spent the last 2 years of our lives engaged in chapter meetings across the state to educate and work on health care reform. Former Gov. Kitzhaber, Archimedes members and all other Oregonians across this state deserve a fair shake at health reform. The fact that leadership has not even allowed this bill a hearing in Ways & Means is a slap in the face to all those involved and citizen involvement.

To get the grade higher, they have to stop referring issues to the voters when they can't get their own jobs done and finalize thye issues now. The issues sent to us by the ballot should never be sent to us in the first place. It is their job to finalize it and make it law - not us. That is what we vote them into the legislature for. Instead, they worry about thier next election and not their constituents. These people are gutless in their votes on these issues.

And they call us voters lazy...

Del Monte foods RAID should be a glaring example of the huge amount of Identity Theft/Fraud happening in Oregon. Only 48 out of 600 workers had a valid S.S.#. (Breaking up families? NO, all can go home and enjoy cheaper cost of living and slower pace of life & wait w/others to come back w/permission) Democrats have had 6 months to pass a Bill to require all Companies, Private & Public, to make all Employers check the S.S.# of every new Employee via the Fast & Free Basic Pilot program or S.A.V.E.

Drivers' License Bill to require proof also sits in Dem. Sen. Shraders desk, another important way to reduce Identity Theft.

Proof of Citizenship to Vote just failed, on Party lines by Democrats, as they trust the same people who committ Felonies via S.S.#'s and signing an I-9 (saying OK to work in U.S.) BUT Illegals are afraid to sign a Voter Card? Really? AZ.made this Law and 1ts year-ONE in THREE-tossed for Fraud.

Democrats also would not allow provision in Healthy Kids Bill to deny "Free" ongoing Health Care to Illegals (one reason it is stalled). A big chunk of those that are "unisured" are Illegal Aliens. They want to send their money home ($42 Bil.2006) Not pay for Health Insurance. I know I am an agent.

Democrats have had many chances to make sure Identity Laws are not violated and only LEGAL immigrants are part of LEGAL Tax Payer system, they have NOT. Election time next year, this will be a huge issue. I have many many friends that will make sure of it!

Hey, "We_Need_A_Hearing," I'm confused. Didn't SB 27 already get hearings on March 12, March 14, and April 30?

The leg. should try to get a higher beer tax for state cops. Republicans are supposedly pro law enforcement, so you would they think the D's could sway five our way. Sal Esquival, R from Medford is one fo the co-sponsors.

Get control of State government's IT operations. I have worked there and do business with the SOS' IT departments in at least 10 different states, in a calendar year, and Oregon is way behind the pack. No joke, you make Louisiana look positively progressive.

Today, for example, all the egov machines have been down all morning. In the last five years, I have seen only one case, in another state, where the business registry was unavailable, and that was for 5 minutes. Your Oregon systems are routinely down for most or all of the day. Better yet; do you know? You can get the Governor's itinerary, but you can't get the up time for the egov machine. That's because you have no control, no working oversight of the IT area. It's just a money pit. The "checks" in place are totally circular and co-opted. Which is to the point about identitfy fraud. NOTHING is policed, if it doesn't involve a rugrat. I come across business registrations, all the time, that are blantantly fraudulent. Business registration is the only link a consumer has with a business name and an actual person. This is the only way a consumer has recourse, in fraud cases. There is no enforcement and no active penalty for registering fraudulently.

I walked out to check the mail- can't get any work done- and an unemployed neighbor was talking about how he had to get the contact info. on a job that the State had called about, but he had a deadline. The website was down, and the phone rep. just types the same info. into the same system, so he's just SOL. In the meantime, you'll tax his unemployment benefits to pay the idiot that thinks it is perfectly acceptable for the machine to be down all morning. Oh, he's IT too, but could never have the job that isn't getting done. Won't drop his pants on command (pee test), so you'd rather have someone that is up front and honest about ripping you off in the job.

Angry, I went down to the offices by the Lloyd Center, where I know a mucky-muck in DHS IT. While waiting for her, I overheard the same obnoxious individual I had complained about 3 years before, going on and on about Rusty Coathanger this and Rusty Coathanger that. He maintains the State Abortions Registry. I decided enough is enough, I'm getting militant and walked over to say something. On the way I saw only contractors that have had their contracts yanked years ago and aren't even authorized to work there anymore. They are earning over $100/hour and some are absolutely incompetant in their areas. You cut state services to maintain these people. One decided, about two years ago, he didn't like drop down list boxes. So he designed a new one. Took 6 weeks. Took a DHS business analyst 2 hours a day during that time. That's $30,000 plus the cost to train every new employee how to use the damned thing. Where is the oversight? One little groid can write himself a check for $30,000 and I can guarranttee that if you asked the department director why that was, you would find that she had decided that "it just isn't working out with you and the project". No, I never heard that directed at me. I kept my mouth shut while I was there. That's why I'm so angry now. I designed the first drop down list in 1983, at Tandy. I volunteer at the Food Bank and can only dream of what $30,000 could do. I really want to get that bastard in front of us and have him explain to us just where he gets off.

I just turned around and left. I've detailed this for years and no one gives a good goddamn. Bottom line: don't whine about funding for schools, etc., while you continue to throw millions away on IT, while you allow your IT people to write their own checks. At least come up with some minimum standards for contracts. You have a WIC system in place that was contracted to use Windows look and feel, to reduce training costs. You paid premium dollar to get contractors that were experts in the area, then came up with your own controls and GUI interaction, solicited the legislature for funding for training, now necessary, and got it, and won't even clone off the result for use in the Food Stamp program, where they use an electronic version of the paper document that has been in place for 25 years. Imagine building contracts without performance standards or definitions. Just, build me a building. You'd get very expensive krap. That's what you've got in IT. To be fair, the problem is endemic. That's no excuse to let it rage out of control without even trying to contain the problems caused.

Name an area of state government. I'll show you how your IT in that area is giving you less for your money than any other states'. At least get the contractors in line. I swear I will gobsmack the next groid that I hear pontificate why the system has to suck, with the omnipresent tagline, "This is State goverment; what do you expect?" And worse, to the next State employee that hears that and adds, "you know the idealistic ones self-select out anyway". Never heard those statements? Talk to the real folks, for real. You can't go a whole day without getting it at least once.

And egov is STILL down.

Oregonians pay a lot for a lot of good ideas. You need to accept that the system is totally fraudulent, and do not part with a penny unless you can be actively involved in the process, and/or see how the policy is being implemented, that it is what you would do/want. All the rest is just behaviour to assuage a guilty conscience. The groid has many friends that are anxious to aquire their next nick-nack or Chinese baby. They're going to be giving your elected representatives the bill for many things that you really need, but don't know anything about. Trust them.

Dear Say What?

If you knew that then why ask me that question? Probably cause you are among the people who think that the legislature can only pass one health reform bill this session.

Anyways, the bill sits in Ways and Means and Oregonians deserve to have the conversation advanced.

Odds on "Say What?" being a staffer - 3:1

a higher beer tax for state cops.

I hate this idea. It's regressive, taxes an industry which should be promoted instead and leaves off the hook tea-totaling evangelical Christians. If state cops are a "must have" than budget for them and adjust the income tax rate accordingly.

Funding increases for: state troopers (unlikely).

The legislature did, in fact, increase funding for the Oregon State Police this year. That will add 100 new patrol officers and sergeants, plus a handful of lab and support staff, in the next biennium.

global warming is a local issue, too. by planting more trees in this state and stopping the clear-cutting we could do a lot to help in this area. I'd love to see the leg look at the Tillamook and other state forests and rein in the clear-cutting. If not this session, then let's get some legislation on this ASAP when they reconvene. I'd love to see a Oregon Million Trees a year campaign. One million new trees a year. Not just christmas trees....

Tuition Equity.

The Legislature should pass and fund HB 2763 ($350,000 for development of curriculum and promotion of Mandarin in K-12 schools statewide).

The issue is a rising China and how to prepare today’s students for the challenges and opportunities that China will present to them over their lifetimes. Our children and their children will live in a very different world. We need to help them create their future by giving more of them the skills they will need (Mandarin, time spent in China). There are many contemporary crises (the Middle East, North Korea, global warming, energy, terrorists, pandemics) but the central strategic and security issue of the 21st century will be the emergence of China as a world power and how the United States and China relate to each other. If these two great powers can get along, many other problems are solvable. If not, nuclear war and societal chaos are not impossible.

Consider the scale of the opportunities and challenges: Columnist Thomas Friedman wrote “that when the history of this era is written, the trend that historians will cite as the most significant will not be 9/11 and the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. It will be the rise of China and India.” Columnist Nicholas D. Kristof wrote “I’m a believer in China, and I think it will end this century as the most important country in the world.” Scholar Jeffrey Sachs advised Americans to prepare for a world where by the year 2050 China’s economy could be 75% bigger than our own. China is already the number two trading partner for Oregon. It will soon be the world’s largest market.

Currently less than 1% of Oregon high schools graduates have had two years or more of Mandarin. While some expansion is underway, it is unlikely to reach 2% soon. At the university level, less than 2% of the undergraduates at the U of O, OSU and PSU now study Mandarin. During the 2003-04 academic year, only 35 (0.044%) of the 79,558 students in the Oregon University System studied abroad in China. These are not the statistics of an educational system preparing students for the 21st century or to engage a rising China constructively.

Do not these set of issue deserve attention? So far this session, the House Education Committee held one hearing related to China (a show and tell by Higher Ed that revealed some of the statistics above). No follow up hearings. No hearings asking for experts to answer the question what does a rising China mean for Oregon and what should we do. No hearing on "the trend that historians will cite as the most significant." The House Education Committee did pass HB 2763 out to the Ways and Means Committee, where it now sits.

So far, on this issue, the governing party has failed to govern responsibly. They have not even asked the important questions, and time is running out.

"The failure to strike a deal led to the "let's dump it back on the ballot" agreement. Characterize as you wish."

I Characterize it as a small group of severly gutless wonders who succumbed to the effects of the drivel of propaganda spewed by those who passsed the original measure. Can't these "adults" think for themselves?

Apparently not...

This has been a great session, given the slim majority in the House. I'd give 'em an A- already. Elect a few more D's in the House in '08 and you will see an A+ session in '09. Believe it.

We CAN Do Better..we WILL DO Better ! We will not give uyp until the legislature passes SB27...to open a path to discussion of quality, affordable health care for ALL Oregonians.

Let's keep up the good work with our legislators, tell them not to go home until they pass SB27.

We need to pass a comprehensive health care package.

Top of the list of ingredients to such a package is the Healthy Kids Plan. So far we've incompetent at doing anything substantial about health care reform, and our kids should not be made to continue suffering from our incompetence.

Next should be to pass the DHS budget containing monies to restore the Oregon Health Plan - Standard. Thousands have been shoved off the plan due to a poor economy. This step is needed while the next two steps are worked through to a positive conclusion.

The next two ingredients focus on providing a long term solution:

The Healthy Oregon Act begins to build a "Oregon" health care system to improve the health of Oregonians. It seems well on its way to passage.

The Oregon Better Health Act takes the "Oregon" idea for better health to the nation, because no lasting solution to our state's health problems can be maintained without national changes. Oregon can be in the lead on this discussion, this is a problem than cannot wait any longer for a solution.

If you knew that then why ask me that question?

Hmm, I think it's a pretty reasonable question. You asked for something that, apparently, already happened. I think it's reasonable to expect some confusion as a result.

...you are among the people who think that the legislature can only pass one health reform bill this session.

No way! Let's pass six health care plans... heck, let's pass twenty-six! :)

I guess if you identify yourself as "Say What?" that's a signal to not be taken seriously. But since the subject is health care reform, and so-called "Say What?" has bothered to comment invites response.

So I suggest if a serious health care package wouldn't contain,

1. The Healthy Kids Plan;

2. The DHS budget to support the Oregon Health Plan-Standard;

3. SB 329, the Healthy Oregon Act; and

4. SB 27, the Better Health Act

then, in terms of what's before this session, what would it contain?

The health care issue is about as amusing as a heart attack. I hear Michael Moore's movie "Sicko" will illustrate another poorly known aspect of our miserable health care system, the fact that folks who feel they're well covered, aren't.

This legislative session can easily start the ball rolling to remedy this - by bringing real health care reform on the scene. No more bandaides - a total review of our sick system.

a higher beer tax for state cops.

I hate this idea. It's regressive, taxes an industry which should be promoted instead and leaves off the hook tea-totaling evangelical Christians. If state cops are a "must have" than budget for them and adjust the income tax rate accordingly.

In response, OR's beer tax is the lowest in the nation and hasn't been raised in 30 years. I can't imagine that a nickel more would hurt the industry. Those of us who buy OR micro brews (myself included) already pay close to twice the cost of some nasty beer like Budweiser. Don't tell me that another nickel is going to drive anyone away.

Considering the fact that half of all traffic accidents are alcohol related (not to mention murders, sex crimes, assaults, ect...) and I think that this tax makes sense. We love to talk up our state's beer/wine industry but fail to look at the dark side of alcohol.

Yes, the leg. did add 100 cops, but that will still only bring us to under 400, vs. over 600 in 1980 when the state's population was approx 40% less than it is today. They will also be the first to be cut with an economic downturn.

<h2>Also, if tea-totaling fundamentalist Christians" don't drink, than at least in that regard they are smarter than us drunken heathens (or drunken Irish-German Catholic, in my case.)</h2>