Saturday, April 17, 2010
Voters will welcome lack of initiative(s)
Mail Tribune: Ten years ago, Oregonians voted on 18 initiatives in the November general election — proposed laws or constitutional amendments that reached the ballot after sponsors gathered the required number of initiatives. This year, according to a survey by The (Portland) Oregonian, there may be only three. Voters will welcome a break. Three initiatives would be the lowest number since 1980. The average number of measures to reach the ballot by petition in the 15 general elections over the past three decades has been nine. It's possible that more than three will qualify this year, but the clock is ticking — the deadline for submitting petition signatures to the secretary of state is July 2, and sponsors must go through a series of reviews and approvals beforehand. One reason for the low number is exhaustion. Oregon has already had a big, expensive political fight this year — the battle over Measures 66 and 67, the legislatively approved tax increases that were referred to the ballot by petition. Voters approved the measures in January. Supporters and opponents spent $12.5 million on their campaigns, draining the treasuries of business and labor organizations that provide much of the funding for political activities in Oregon. Another reason is that Bill Sizemore, Oregon's most prolific sponsor of initiatives, has been sidelined by a civil racketeering lawsuit filed by public employee unions. The lawsuit resulted in a $2.5 million judgment against Sizemore, which was upheld in 2008 by the Oregon Supreme Court. Sizemore is also distracted by his campaign for this year's Republican gubernatorial nomination. The man whose anti-tax measures have long been a fixture in Oregon elections is out of the game.
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