What's the worst bill of the 2007 session?
Kari Chisholm
The Senate Republicans are wondering: what's the worst bill of the 2007 session?
As the final hours of session tick off the clock, the Senate Republican Office wants your thoughts:What is your vote for the worst bill of the session? There are plenty to choose from whether your pet peeve is increased taxes, more of big brother, or just really stupid ideas.
Please let us know what bill made you roll your eyes and throw something across the room, and we will tally the results for a future Capitol Update. You can contact us either by replying to this e-mail or sending a new one to [email protected].
Of course, since it's unlikely that they're going to take my suggestions and your suggestions very seriously, go ahead and post your ideas here.
Here's my first nomination for Worst Bill of 2007:
House Bill 2607, sponsored by Rep. Jerry Krummel (R-Wilsonville), would have repealed the $50 political contributions tax credit. That's right: Krummel would have punched democracy in the mouth by eliminating the major avenue of participation for grassroots activists. And this isn't some ideological thing, either. After all, progressives use the tax credit, but so do Oregon's right-wingers. Krummel's just about helping increase the power of special interests and corporations. Unbelievable.
What do you think? What's the worst bill of 2007?
(Hat tip to Loaded Orygun's TJ, who has a few ideas of his own.)
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7:25 p.m.
Jun 21, '07
Surely the fact that it's a Republican-sponsored tax increase disqualifies HB2607 from being the worst bill of the session. I have to give it positive points for irony.
Jun 21, '07
Four words: Dave Hunt handcuff bill.
10:50 p.m.
Jun 21, '07
THE BOTTLE BILL!!!
(…just kidding guys…)
Jun 22, '07
The one pronouncing a new state symbol - state soil (dirt) - to be announced at a later date by Rick Metsger.
Don't we have enough state symbols already?
Jun 22, '07
Can we talk about worst introduced bill this session? I know my man John Lim is gonna be somewhere at the top of that list. He might even shoot to the top of that list at the speed of a meteor.
8:47 a.m.
Jun 22, '07
RE: John Lim
Here are the bills in which he was the principal sponsor From: http://www.leg.state.or.us/07reg/pubs/hsetb.pdf
HOUSE BILLS 2439, 2443, 2447, 2466, 2494, 2501, 2509, 2510, 2511, 2514, 2515, 2533, 2555, 2556, 2572, 2599, 2642, 2678, 2765, 2766, 2804, 2805, 2806, 2807, 2879, 2880, 2881, 2882, 2883, 2884, 3028, 3350, 3351, 3352, 3531
HOUSE JOINT MEMORIALS 13, 20
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTIONS 11, 12, 29, 30, 36
SENATE BILLS 472, 646
Jun 22, '07
A definite nomination is the JobsPlus bill, which would attempt to reincarnate a terrible program. In a nutshell, it pays employers to hire people who are collecting unemployment checks for jobs paying over (I think) $10 an hour. This sounds like a great way to get people off unemployment, but like many Republican ideas, it has a nasty catch: JobsPlus only pays for a couple of months. Then employers have to foot the bill themselves. The last time this program was used, employers hired people, paid them with JobsPlus money, and then fired them as soon as the money ran out...and then hired the next unlucky recipient. And now Sen. Doug Whitsett and some others want to resurrect this program. Brilliant.
Eric J.: A couple of times, you've said something about a state soil and Senator Metsger. I was curious about it, so I looked up the bill. It looks like that bill had its last hearing sometime in March, and Senator Metsger doesn't appear to be a sponsor. Are you talking about another bill?
Jun 22, '07
HB 2592 would suspend any work license issued by the state if a person is late on their taxes by more than 30 days. It could be a contractors license, a nursing license, anything issued by a state agency.
Question: How would we expect them to pay their late taxes if we bar their ability to work and earn the money that is needed to pay back the debt?
It is a stupid bill and the worst part is that it is still moving through the process; just passed the House. Mostly a party line vote, but sorry folks. You don't want to know which side our party is on.
Jun 22, '07
Blueshfit:
It just seemed that in the session before this one, Rick was the one who announced a lot of new State Symbols to the public after they got signed (whether or not he introduced the bills). I was trying to make a point that the legislature needs to focus on much bigger and more important items and not waist time with symbols - not anything against Rick.
12:14 p.m.
Jun 22, '07
Senate Bill 965. No question about it. If this odious piece of crap passed, it would have decimated not just the entire mortgage broker business in Oregon, it would have made Oregon the first and only state in the nation to ever go directly against the fair-lending act (shredding civil rights anyone?) and the Democratic leadership in the Leg. and the party as a whole would have reaped the whirlwind.
That some well meaning traditional Dem groups (unions) were pushing this crap, and usually consciences members of the Leg. like Kate Brown and much of the Democratic caucus signed onto this without paying attention to detials and the multi-megaton neutron bomb of a poison pill within it, which the GOP was rubbing their hands with glee hoping the Dems would actually move this out of the leg and onto Ted's desk, is what is even more troubling.
I doubt there are many who realize the devastating effect this would have had economically and politically. The gavel cannot come down soon enough to finally kill this piece of crap bill. The dems have GOT to stop being sloppy and really pay attention to the details when they are in the role of governing and crafting law.
12:48 p.m.
Jun 22, '07
Political Staffer:
That definitely sucks. There are a lot of good people out there who get behind on their taxes. If they're behind on their state taxes, they're probably behind on their feds as well. The feds are real quick about taking it right out of your check. Either they take the maximum, or you go through and show them your average bills and they take everything else beyond that. That leaves nothing for state/local taxes.
And then they take away your license, so now you're screwed and can't work.
And of course that treats them differently than those who don't have work licenses, but are late on their taxes.
Jun 22, '07
Eric J.: Thanks for the clarification. I remember Rick Metsger being the voice behind the Pear as the State Fruit (which is kind of a cool idea, and make sense, since his district grows a ton of pears), but I don't remember anything else coming up in the realm of the state symbol.
I definitely agree that there are bigger issues than state symbols for the legislature to deal with...like consumer protection. Based on my research inspired by your comment this morning, I've discovered that Metsger has a pretty good track record there. Of course, he's not the only one. It's been a good session for consumer protection all over Oregon.
Jun 22, '07
Rick wasn't too bad as a sportscaster either.
4:24 p.m.
Jun 22, '07
Metsger is someone I would not trust as far as I could throw him. He was the main one behind the bill I mention up-thread. In short, I smell a rat and it seems to have a trail leading to his office.
Jun 30, '07
The thing about state symbols is that it's an easy, effective and exciting way to teach kids about the legislative process.
I believe 90% of state-symbol resolution are introduced at the request of classes of fourth-graders, and 90% of the rest come from fifth-graders.
(The remaining 1% are protest resolutions -- during the 1997 session I wrote one nominating water as the official state beverage at the request of a legislator (I never asked if he was lactose-intolerant) who was upset that a bunch of Tillamook County fourth-graders were going to get milk so honored, and helped write one nominating extreme fighting as the official state sport at the request of a legislator who was mad that a bill to ban extreme fighting was making progress.)
The cost to the state is fairly low -- a little more space in each year's Blue Book, so it's a fairly harmless practice.
Years ago, of course, classes of schoolkids lobbied to get local ponds cleaned up or bike paths funded. One of my mom's classes helped fight a proposed nuclear waste dump near a fault zone. Today a teacher would get fired for even suggesting that such issues exist and asking the pupils if they have opinions.
Jul 1, '07
"The thing about state symbols is that it's an easy, effective and exciting way to teach kids about the legislative process."
No, it's a lazy way to teach about the legislative process that is condescending to kids who are capable of so much more.
<h2>If we're serious about education (and legislation), more pet rocks is not the path. And that's a load of crap that a teacher would get fired today for taking on more challenging issues with students. They do it all the time- and thank goodness there are plenty left who don't just take the easy route.</h2>