The legislature has spoken. Now its time for big business / developer / right wing / "Christian" groups to gear up for the ballot measure process. Like George Bush and Gordon Smith, these groups don't give a damn what the majority wants, or what the elected legislature wants. They know that with enough money, lies and ranting talk-show hosts on their side they can pretty much get what they want regardless of the legislature.

The work of the progressive community is not over.

I didn't see on your list any mention of the reforms to illegal immigration, ODL's specifically, that a lot of the D's campaigned on.

Wah happened? ;-)

Interesting how you superficially you view the world Kari. Particularly your apparent predilection for quantity over quality. A responsible and detailed examination of the list of actions on the whole, combined with analysis of what didn't get done and why, presents a much more ambiguous picture of the action of term.

BlueNote offers another measure by which we can judge the term: Did the legislative majority (which includes some Republicans for several of the actions you mention), including the governor, do the proper job of building consensus --- both inside the legislature and amongst the people of our state --- for their vision of Oregon in this session that any voter challenges to them will fail? You and BlueNote seem very concerned, which at least suggests that both of you feel the legislature may not have done very well on that very important score.

Why the vitriol in every comment?

It's not surprising. Many of the regular contributors here have their snide guns set on nuke. Hell, Kari is the Queen of Snark!

My original comment was intended to address what is for me the unfortunate fact that the ballot measure has become the 4th branch of Oregon government and from my perspective over the past 20 years the "ballot measure branch" has been at least as powerful as any of the other three branches (with the possible exception of the unpredictable Supreme Court). Whatever good things the legislature just accomplished, we will need to wait until November of 2009 to see how much of it remains the law of Oregon.

I can't tell if PO Dem is a quasi-troll or just angry that the Dems worked from the center of the political spectrum this session. To use a radio station analogy, some people in the "progressive" community (including me most of the time) would like to live in a far-left KBOO world, others (including most of the Dems in the legislature) seem to live in the mostly-moderate KPAM world, but either one is a heck of a lot better than living in a KXL world, which is where Oregon was until recently.

See, this list of achievements is EXACTLY why people like Jeff Merkley and Dr. Bates need to be SERIOUSLY considered as candidates to run against El Gordo. We need a candidate with a proven legislative record of success in order to be taken seriously by mainstream voters.

I applaud the Leg for its actions this session. Quantity over Quality? I guess that depends on one's point of view. Frankly, many of these newly enacted or soon to be enacted laws are Quality to me. Yes, there is still work to be done. A decade and a half of Conservative rule cannot be outdone in one session.

The ballot measure process is a 4th branch of government and one that is used highly be the Reich to get their voices enacted into law. This is unfortunate.

As to PO'd Dem and TJ and the like, Democrats, Liberals and Progressions LOVE... did I saw LOVE, to attack one another. We attack one another far more than we attack the Right sometimes, which is truly sad. While some call this diversity of views,but when it turns into personal attacks backed by no sense of consensus or collaborative action, it risks damaging everyone.

oops, I meant mostly moderate KPOJ, not KPAM! The day I start considering Dr. Pamplin's station moderate is the day they need to take me out and shoot me.

4th Branch of Gov't? So when the Citizens of Oregon say NO to Gay marriage and YES to Measure 37 and a handful of Democrats decide WE the Voters don't know any better and WE decide to Vote AGAIN to overturn the Kings & Queens, that is wrong?

Del Monte foods Illegal Aliens raid proves that there is Identity Theft going on here and Democrats did not (AZ. did, OK. did, GA. did, PA. did) force Employers to check whether Employees Social Security# matches? And that is good?

Your list of "accomplishments" includes HUGE spending increases, so YOU support Income Re-Distribution as does COMMUNISM!

My/Your/Our Children will have to pay for this gigantic financial burden.

Democrats also did NOT stop Failed Bi-Lingual Education as AZ. CA. & MA. are PROOF that Immersion is BESt for Students/Teachers/Taxpayers/Parents.

Your COMMUNIST preferences should be a Warning to all that love Independence from Government and Freedom.

I've said it before, and i'll say it again...

We're better at beating each other up than organizing in order to beat the Right. I've been as guilty as the next guy/gal, but Jeff's observation is well taken. I'll own the mean "queen" comment too. I apologize. What is it about chat rooms and message boards that makes us believe we can get away with virtual sex and violent speech?

"Your list of "accomplishments" includes HUGE spending increases, so YOU support Income Re-Distribution as does COMMUNISM!"

"Your COMMUNIST preferences should be a Warning to all that love Independence from Government and Freedom."

Now there's some astute political thinking. No wonder conservatives are often dismissed as a bunch of weak-brained ignoramuses.

I too am impressed with the Legislature's accomplishments this session. I agree with Jeff that much of the work done could be considered laying a foundation for future endeavors. The Rs have been in charge for a long time -- the expectation that the Ds can fix everything overnight goes against what we know the legislative process to be (e.g. slow, methodical, and - uh - frustrating at times).

I've also voiced my concern in the past over what I see as infighting among Dems/progressives/whatever. I do think much of this behavior can be attributed to the cloak of anonymity that the internet provides, which seems to allow all kinds of false bravado to seep into what would probably be more civil conversations had they taken place in person. Sometimes it's amusing ("Kari is the queen of snark") but mostly it's just embarrassing and disappointing.

Would there be any interest in referring to voters a constitutional amendment that toughens the requirements for getting measures on the ballot?

A very impressive list of accomplishments. A very expensive impressive list of accomplishments.

Who is going to fund your socialist paradise when the only jobs left in Oregon are for unionized, public employees?

Just wondering.

I'd be in favor of raising the bar for ballot measures, James. I honestly have soured on the whole initiative process. It has been perverted by big money and so i no longer sign any petitions. Isn't it bizarre that it took a simple majority to amend the law such that it now requires a super-majority in order to raise taxes? I'd like to see a constitutional convention and get a basic bill of rights back.

How about a requirement that initiative campaigns must collect $5 from a certain number of citizens before qualifying?

m364k

m40k

What’s very cool is that every Democrat that I know and I know a lot of them are going to vote NO on the legislatures M37 fix in November. I met with an attorney and his legal assistant this week, both long time Dems and both are very upset with the Governor and how he has dealt with the M37 issue. People are very unhappy with the legislature and how it has dealt with the issue, all the people I talk to do not want the government telling them what they can or can’t do with there land. I look for the NO votes to come out in force on this one and send a message to the legislature, the people in Oregon are not stupid like you think they are.

First of all, there is a spelling mistake here:

all the people I talk to do not want the government telling them what they can or can’t do with there land.

Second, and most importantly, as someone who remembers Tom McCall and the origins of Oregon's land use system, anyone who says the above is saying they wouldn't mind a gravel pit, an all night drive through, or a moto-cross opening up next door to them.

Either everyone has the right to do what they want with their land, neighbors be damned, or else Oregon is a community where we care about neighbors, about maintaining farmland, and about not being just another state where developers run rampant.

No one has convinced me I shouldn't vote yes on the Measure 37 re-write. But then, it sounds reasonable to me.

I absolutely support initiative reform. I think it should be harder to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot, AND that masures to amend the constitution should require a 3/5ths majority vote to pass. (Constitutional revisions, which need to come from the legislature with 2/3rds majorities in both houses, should be passed with a simple majority of voters).

I'd also like to see more restrictions on paid signature gatherers; maybe require extensive training and licensing, and set up a rigorous code of conduct, and make sure that every person paid to collect signatures has a detailed knowledge of what they're asking people to put on the ballot. And statutory restrictions on terms of employment to make sure that they can't be fired for not reaching signature targets. If we have to allowed paid signature collectors, it should be really, REALLY expensive and difficult to use them. Given the danger of corruption and misrepresentation inherent in signature bounty-hunting, I think there's a strong public interest in tight regulation of the profession. (Who hasn't run into signature collectors who either (a) don't understand what they're collecting signatures for or (b) flat-out lie about the measure to get your signature? Personally, I've lost count.)

Volunteers, on the other hand, could work with no licensing or regulatory constraints at all. If they're volunteering their time, that's a pure free-speech issue. Yeah, they might still lie or be misinformed -- but they won't have a financial stake in doing so.

djk, sounds like you are a fan of House Bill 2082.

I should add that in some cases the only route is constitutional amendment. For instance, our neighborhood was a quiet neighborhood which was invaded by a strip club when a restaurant went out of business. City council sympathized but didn't have much power to change anything. Those who don't think strip clubs should fall under the "free speech" provision are running a ballot measure campaign and it needs to change the free speech provision so needs to be a constitutional amendment.

I was disappointed that the legislature turned aside from passing meaningful reform of our miserable health care system, but we're not giving up on that. And that they had to put the Healthy Kids matter in the Constitution, which is already junked up enough.

But other than than it was a pretty good session.

Oh yeah, as to the initiative system, Oregon was the first to use it - although I think it originated someplace like North or South Dakota. Anyway somewhere around 1910 it was known as the "Oregon Plan."

My big fault with it is when it deals with money matters, or more accurately, doesn't. Voters get to vote in pie in the sky, with no notion of how to pay for it.

Plus it can get clunky. I remember when California passed Prop. 13, and Oregon voters changed a few lines in it and got it on the Oregon ballot - I think it was Measure 6 back then. Parts of it amended articles which were not even on the same subject as California's rules. I suspect they have rules against this now.