Addendum!

There’s More to the Story of the 2021 Legislative Session Additional Details Your faithful newsletter editor failed to include the full report from the Legislative Action Team on what went down in Salem this legislative session (was it the heat?). Here are more details. Apologies for the oversight! All five Walk-out bills failed, though it is probable that they deterred GOP legislators from walking out once more. It was certainly important for us to play our part by demonstrating widespread support for these bills and letting the GOP know that their threats are unpopular with the majority of Oregonians. And it’s not over yet. We’ll be alerting you about upcoming ballot initiatives to address the quorum rule that has bedeviled us for so long. HB-2379, the Revenue bill which would have imposed a timber severance tax to bring Oregon in line with our neighboring states of California and Washington, also failed. We’re sure to see that bill again in the future. Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the 2021 session was the failure of both parties to enact any meaningful Campaign Finance Reform bills. A4D pushed hard to get the Legislature to pass bills setting limits on campaign contributions, creating a small donor matching program, and requiring transparency in the campaign finance process. But we’re not about to give up! Read here about likely future ballot measures. Thanks to all of the hardworking volunteers on the Legislative Action Team who monitored the 57 measures we tracked and made recommendations on. And thanks to everyone who contacted your legislators and pushed them to vote in accordance with our recommendations. It made a difference!