The League of Women's Voters of Oregon has been running a TV ad in support of Measure 117, Ranked Choice Voting (RCV). The ad is misleading and may be mal-information. They state: "study after study, state after state confirms it’s effective” while displaying two articles that supposedly supports their statement. Those studies are articles written by NBC News,”New voting method that involves ranking candidates gains favor across the nation,” stating that 14 states will consider bills.

USA Today article, “Following a big year, more states push ranked-choice voting,“ simply cites who is using RCV, and not a study. USA Today cites California, Oregon counties and Florida cities.

The League’s ad seems to copy what FairVote Research says on their website. FairVote, a non-partisan organization, takes credit for getting Measure 117 on the ballot in Oregon. They do not identify one actual study done to come up with their ideology. They examined recounts and determined that there were not enough to be concerned about. The issue here is whether fraud can be proven or not, and they don’t seem to have an answer.

A study by the Report: Deficiencies in Recent Research on Ranked Choice Voting Ballot Error Rates (July 13, 2024) found that RCV causes an average of 17% more votes to directly affect the outcome between top candidates. This highlights the potential for inaccuracies in vote tallies.

Overall, studies that have been done highlight the ongoing debate and discussion surrounding ranked choice voting, with proponents arguing it can improve elections and opponents citing concerns about complexity and potential drawbacks of unintended results and transparency.

Some key findings and debates from these studies include:

• Inadequate testing and implemented incorrectly leading to errors.
• RCV’s complexity and difficult to understand leading to voter confusion.
• Lack of standardization leading to inconsistent application and potential errors.
• The impact of RCV on candidate quality and diversity.
• The effectiveness of RCV in reducing spoilers and vote splitting.
• The potential benefits of RCV in increasing voter satisfaction and participation.
• The need for further research and evaluation of RCV’s effects in different contexts.

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In areas that have actually used RCV:

1. Ballot Measure 2 in Alaska: The 2020 ballot initiative implemented RCV in Alaska, and opponents argue it is complicated and convoluted. It is on the ballot to repeal after the system provided a win to other than the most popular candidate.
2. Ranked-Choice Voting in Missouri: Amendment 7, a ballot measure in Missouri, aims to ban RCV in the state. Proponents argue that RCV is unnecessary and would lead to confusing elections, while opponents claim it would increase voter participation and reduce spoilers.
3. California’s 2023 Oakland Unified School District election, a court-ordered recount revealed errors that changed the outcome of the race.
4. Maine’s 2018 primary election, errors were discovered in the RCV count, leading to a re-count and a changed winner.

Portland City Council races will be using RCV to select City Council members. Architects of the system hoped for a more diverse set of policymakers, and political experts predicted candidates would identify with policy-aligned slates and encourage voters to rank multiple candidates.

While ranked choice voting aims to promote more representative outcomes, its counting process can produce faulty results due to errors, inaccuracies, and complexity. To ensure the integrity of election results, it is essential to prioritize thorough testing, due diligence, and transparency in the counting process.

Failing this, the choice is to vote No on Measure 117.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-11-03 23:43:50

Last Update: 2024-11-04 00:06:59

Clatsop County Circuit Court Judge Beau Peterson dismissed the Jewell School District’s case against the state over the Western Oregon State Forest Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP) limits on logging that will lead to reduced funding for the district. The Jewell School District with 124 students, funds its current $4.3 million budget entirely with state forest timber harvests. They rely on timber harvests along with 13 Forest Trust Land Counties.

The School District argued that the Oregon Department of Forestry will cause the school and the forestry department serious financial harm by allowing the HCP to move forward that will reduce logging more than 35% in the Clatsop State Forest. The HCP will scale back logging on 630,000 acres for the next 70 years claiming to protect 17 threatened or endangered species.

Judge Peterson’s decision stated there was not enough evidence that the forestry department couldn’t find other cost-saving or revenue-generating activities to make up for any lost revenue from the HCP. He must not be aware that ODF is asking taxpayers for $450 million in lost wildfire revenue, or that a 2010 administrative rule mandates that ODF harvest enough timber from state forests to fulfill its obligations to manage the forests. The judge also determined that ruling against the state on the HCP wouldn’t guarantee the school district would receive financial relief. The judge is making a political decision leaving Jewell’s fate to taxpayers because the Oregon Department of Education is obligated to provide adequate funding. Under the state education funding equalization formula, Jewell would take a 17% cut with the timber harvest reduction.

Recently, an Oregonian had the opportunity to ask President Trump his thoughts on removing dead trees and debree from forest floors instead of backburning. After he explained the need for the jobs wasted, Trump agreed that the jobs are important to rural communities and he will look into a more productive forest management plan.

Meanwhile an investigation is brewing to carry on the work of the National Wildfire Institute (NWI) to continue research into the increasing wildfires that pose financial risks to communities in addition to the HCP. The need for USFS to better manage its wildfires and forestlands includes immediate snag salvage and site preparation followed by better reforestation planning and forest maintenance strategies for future generations.

In the past 10 years, 51 communities in western states were struck by wildfires started on National Forests, and most of those are in the legal range of spotted owls and subjected to the NWFP. These communities had at least 30 structures burned; or 50% of a community’s structures. A part of the project is to determine if the source of fires are related to parts of the forest management practices.

Bob Zybach, spearheading the project, said, ”We were pretty shocked at how recent most of the fires were, and also that they were almost entirely related to USFS lands. All indications are that the September 2020 fires were at least as destructive, if not as deadly, as the historic 1871 and 1910 Fires.”

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As reports come out on increasingly destructive wildfires in western states, regrowth is proving to be slow. It isn’t just that nursery can’t keep up with seed supply, training enough workers is difficult to prepare burnt sites and replant. The Forest Service says the biggest roadblock is the never-ending task of completing environmental and cultural assessments and preparing severely burnt land for replanting.

Now studies show a slowing of regrowth blamed on climate change producing extended drought. This makes young trees more vulnerable to repeat fires and often killing them. Research indicates hot fires also can harden the ground leaving barren slopes susceptible to washing away in rainstorms and polluting waterways that may never recover.

Forestry practices have been a hot topice for decades, starting with enviornmental and conservation clamp downs to forest management, which has steadly increased wildfire risks. For the first time, what once was a self-supported Oregon Department of Forestry, it is in the red asking for taxpayer bailout. While some call the HCP illegal, it will also have its toll on taxpayers to makeup for reduction in harvesting timber as many counties and school districts rely on those funds.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-11-01 15:18:46

Last Update: 2024-11-01 16:49:46

In July, Tom Fitton, President of Judicial Watch sent a notice letter to the Oregon secretary of state on behalf of the Constitution Party of Oregon and an Oregon registered voter, notifying them of violations of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993, based on the failure to remove inactive voters from the registration rolls. The notice letter to Oregon served as a “pre-suit” notice.

Judicial Watch announced this week it is making good on the notice and filing suit after discovering a statewide failure to clean up voter rolls. In its complaint, Judicial Watch argues that Oregon’s voter rolls contain large numbers of old, inactive registrations; and that 29 of Oregon’s 36 counties removed few or no registrations as required by federal election law. Their discovery contends that 35 of its counties had overall registration rates exceeding 100%; and that Oregon has the highest known inactive registration rate of any state in the nation.

The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oregon, Eugene Division, to compel the defendants to comply with their voter list maintenance obligations under Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).

The NVRA requires states to “conduct a general program that makes a reasonable effort to remove” from the official voter rolls “the names of ineligible voters” who have died or changed residence. Among other things, the NVRA requires registrations to be cancelled when voters fail to respond to address confirmation notices and then fail to vote in the next two general federal elections. In 2018, the Supreme Court confirmed that such removals are mandatory (Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Inst., 138 S. Ct. 1833, 1841-42 (2018))

Judicial Watch is a national leader in voting integrity and voting rights. As part of its work, Judicial Watch assembled a team of highly experienced voting rights attorneys, including Stephen Joncus of Joncus Law PC in Happy Valley, who stopped discriminatory elections, and cleaned up voter rolls across the country. Legal pressure from Judicial Watch ultimately led to the removal of up to four million ineligible voters from voter rolls in New York, California, Pennsylvania, Colorado, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, and elsewhere.

In September, Judicial Watch presented arguments regarding a lower court ruling on Mississippi’s election law that permits absentee ballots to be received as late as five business days after Election Day. Now, the 5th Circuit Court just ruled that ballots must be received by Election Day and any state laws that allow them to be received and counted after Election Day violates federal law. This case affects Oregon’s practice giving ballots seven days to arrive.

Oregon has also been shown to have over 100% of registered voters in 35 out of its 36 counties. Oregon’s legislature has also tried to limit public access to voter lists. In July 2023 Judicial Watch filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief, supporting the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, which struck down Maine’s policy restricting the use and distribution of the state’s voter registration list. According to a national study conducted by Judicial Watch in 2020, Maine’s statewide registration rate was 101% of eligible voters.

“Dirty voter rolls can mean dirty elections,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Oregon has among the dirtiest voting rolls in America and needs to clean them up ASAP!”

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This suit comes on the heels of Oregon’s DMV caught registering more than a thousand noncitizens as eligible voters. The potential is that Oregon has 218,521 noncitizens that could have done business at DMV in the past two years that have a possibility of receiving a ballot in error. Add to that dirty voter rolls of people that have moved out-of-state or died, no wonder so many counties have more than 100% registered voters, and they all were sent ballots that can be fraudulently cast by unethical people.

Any ballot not legally voted, is an opportunity to be illegally cast. Please vote, and vote early to prevent your ballot from being stolen.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-11-01 11:59:48

Last Update: 2024-11-01 16:49:17

Ballots were mailed last week and Oregonians are pondering how to vote. Early voting nationally indicates the nation seems to be making a shift for change. Has Oregon’s one-party state had enough to follow? Oregon voters have more than enough to make their decision.

1. HB 4133, passed in 2022 by Democrats, created a fourth option for identifying as a valid voter in the registration process. This bill was advertised as “an effort to make voting more accessible to minority and underserved communities.” In Oregon there were three valid forms of ID: a drivers' license, a drivers' permit, or a State issued ID card. HB 4133 added a valid Social Security number, but then they negated its “validity” for the last four-digits, which can have duplicates. It became more complicated after allowing noncitizens a drivers' license.
   
   
2. Registering noncitizens at DMV has been in the news, and Governor Kotek and Secretary of State Lavonne Griffin-Valade are calling it “clerical errors.” It was a challenge for them to admit the number was over a thousand and call for an investigation. The potential is that Oregon has 218,521 noncitizens that could have done business at DMV in the past two years that have a possibility of receiving a ballot in error. Now, they are pushing ranked-choice-voting so these errors will be nearly impossible to discover.
   
   
3. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is holding its final public hearing on the leadership’s plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 90% from fossil fuels used in Oregon. This would essentially shut down the Oregon economy. DEQ’s Climate Protection Program was ordered by former Governor Kate Brown after she failed to get the program enacted by the state legislature. The Democrat controlled legislature has refused to address the devastation it will bring to the economy and raise costs on everything. It seems their answer is to move closer to socialism.
   
   
4. Governor Brown issued an Executive Oregon (EO 20-04) in 2020 which directed state agencies to reduce and regulate greenhouse gas emissions followed by the Democrat legislature passing HB 2021 into law creating a 100% “clean” energy mandate by 2040 and prohibited new fossil fuel plants. Ratepayers will bear the cost of this expensive mandate and will also be the ones left in the dark when the grid fails to operate without sufficient reliable power. The excess cost has already shown up in residential arrearages for energy utilities. They tripled throughout the pandemic, and increased $74 million on arrears over 91-days with nearly 300,000 Oregon residential customers collectively owing more than $94 million in arrears.
   
   
5. In 2019 a huge transportation package was enacted to solve Oregon’s infrastructure. Years later the infrastructure is as bad as it ever was, and now they want to install tolling, even on already built highways. One of the proposals is a $3 toll on Hwy 217 and I-5.
   
   
6. Oregon Department of Forestry was one of the few agencies in the nation that was self-funding and some of the forest harvest money went to 250 essential services. That all changed when leadership adopted an illegal unfunded HCP, which will reduce timber harvest 57% on 640,000 acres. This is about $4.5 billion in lost revenues. Now, they are asking taxpayers to pick up nearly $450 million, and counties are left bankrupt.
   
   
7. Speaker of the Oregon House Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis) and then-Majority Leader and now-Speaker of the Oregon House Julie Fahey (D-Eugene) and eight others listed on OrStar received LaMota money, a company based in Spain. The parent company is still under secret investigation. They are accused of a crime against public health, criminal organization, money laundering, and power theft. These candidates along with Rayfield took LaMota money and didn’t report it until they got caught up in the 2023 scandal. Is this money connected to why the legislature didn’t refund the 2021 grant to irradiate "illegal grows"?
   
   
   
   
8. Leadership’s experiment to decriminalize drugs was a disaster, which has lead to taxpayer funded treatment centers as they try and dig their way out of legalizing criminal activity. Even though more arrests for trafficking drugs have taken place, they have not provided more funds for the one enforcement program that shut down over eight slave camps in one county. Fentanyl deaths in Oregon increased 41% in 2023, and a 1,500% increase in overdose deaths since 2019, which is mostly the results of cartel activity.
   
   
9. Biden/Harris Administration has flown in 674,000 convicted criminals distributed nationwide. Now, Oregon is giving homes to non-citizens, including free abortions to non-residents, free medical care, free sex changes, free treatment centers, and free lodging for homeless all funded by taxpayers.

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10. Are Oregon voters happy with 10-year-olds getting abortions without parent consent, and the legalization of pornography in schools? In 2023, the legislature passed HB 2002, which allows girls of any age to obtain an abortion without her parents’ knowledge. ODE teaches students how to redefine their gender as X giving them 58 options. Are Oregonians satisfied with a stagnant education system that focuses on identity and diversity and not education?
    
    
11. The current majority party repeatedly tries to exclude parents from school board meetings and from their children’s school records. The legislature, in 2024, introduced SB 1583 attempting to block parents and citizen-elected school boards from having input to determine and exclude age-inappropriate books and materials used in the curriculum. The Education Recovery Scorecard, 2024 study, shows Oregon’s elementary and middle school students remain an average of about two-thirds of a year behind in reading compared to pre-pandemic levels and three-fourths of a year behind in math. That’s roughly two to three times the deficit faced by students nationwide despite a $1.6 billion infusion of federal pandemic aid.
    
    
12. In 2023, the Oregon Legislature passed HB 2005 which makes it a crime to make or be in possession of any modern firearm or certain firearm’s parts unless those have been serialized in accordance with federal rules.Then there is Measure 114, still making it’s way through the courts, which legislature leadership should never have put an unconstitutional measure before the voters that ends the sale and possession of most modern firearms and magazines.

Oregonians "flies with her own wings", is she ready to break the old mold?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-11-01 11:58:20

Last Update: 2024-11-01 16:48:43

The Oregon Joint Committee on Transportation recently wrapped up its 12-stop tour to determine how to fix the many ways Oregonians need a safe, functional and efficient transportation system. Now the committee will convene three workgroups tasked with providing a starting point for the legislature in 2025.

From June through September, legislators visited 12 cities around Oregon where legislators and staff received more than 1,000 pieces of spoken and written testimony and engaged in detailed dialogue with 285 roundtable participants.

Election years give voters a preview of what legislation will look like if reelecting the same people. Developing consensus ideas, in most cases, is a show of cooperation to impress voters. The group expressed the need to address Oregon’s transportation system with a focus toward fundamental maintenance and safety, public transit options, and finishing major existing projects.

The Joint Committee on Transportation is made up of 12 members, seven Democrats and 5 Republicans. Three workgroups consisting of approximately 50 members consisting of committee members and stakeholder will determine the direction the legislation will take. Meetings will be livestreamed and posted on the Oregon Legislative Information System. The three workgroups will be:

• Back-to-Basics / Maintenance and Operations: Preservation of our systems and ADA requirements
• Public and Active Transit: Transit, Rail, Micromobility, Safe Routes to School
• Finishing 2017 Priority Commitments: Projects with statewide significance that are already in process with state and major federal funding secured (e.g., I-205-Abernethy Bridge, the I-5 Rose Quarter Safety Improvement Project).

“Whether we were in Ontario, Coos Bay, Bend, or Tillamook, we learned about the unique challenges that different communities face when it comes to transportation infrastructure," said Senator Chris Gorsek (D - Gresham), committee chair. "We also heard many common themes: Oregonians said they want well-maintained roads, stable bridges, multiple modes of transit, and for everyone to pay their fair share.”

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, “Inaction is not an option — based on what we learned during our statewide tour, the legislature must act in 2025 to provide stable and sufficient funding to our transportation systems,” said Rep. Susan McLain (D - Hillsboro). "Now that we’ve heard from the public, members of the committee will lead workgroup discussions in three key areas so the legislature can consider the best package for all Oregonians using our roadways."

"Over the past several months, this committee engaged in robust discussions with members of the public and community leaders about their needs and their suggestions for how we fund those needs. Those conversations were a vital step in crafting a path forward," said House Speaker Julie Fahey (D-West Eugene & Veneta) and Senate President Rob Wagner (D-Lake Oswego). "Now, the work groups will incorporate those perspectives into discussions about how we maintain a safe, functional, and efficient transportation system.”

This is the slow easing towards developing the need to support a tolling package that can’t be refuted by voters regardless of prior outcries. The only option is to vote.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-10-16 22:49:51

Last Update: 2024-10-16 23:11:23

It is nearly a year since Oregon Governor Tina Kotek issued Executive Order 23-26 establishing a state government artificial intelligence advisory council. She stated it was a fundamental priority of her office to be well-prepared for the rapid evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI).

The council’s primary recommendations aim to ensure the responsible and beneficial use of artificial intelligence in Oregon state government, while promoting transparency, equity, and fairness. The council will be meeting October 30 to finalize their action plan. Even though the public comment period closed last week, public comment can be made at the October 30 meeting.

The council is recommending 35 actions in three principle areas. All actions seem to point to an agency for oversight and governance, and establishes a methodology of equity, diversity and inclusion in all areas. Standards of transparency, accountability, testing, auditing and guidelines for use ensure compliance with relevant privacy laws with exceptions.

In all the recommendations, there seems to be convenient carve outs that will allow the Secretary of State and any other government agency to continue spying on free speech for what they determine to be mis- mal- or dis-information.

Big tech AI is an energy guzzler and the council has ignored standards for energy use. Big tech AI companies Google, Oracle and Microsoft have turned from renewable energy giving up on reaching ‘net zero’ with wind and solar power. Instead they are buying buildings next to nuclear power and employing nuclear engineers. If Oregon wants to be a player in AI, the council needs an energy action plan that will secure energy for Oregonians.

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OSU has been at the forefront of AI research and education. As a result, AI development companies are the 13th most popular industry and market group, including such companies as AI Chatbots, Generative AI, AI Virtual Assistants, AI Deployment and Darwoft, which is a custom software development company with expertise in UX design and development for web and mobile applications.

Possibly the only thing standing in the way of AI success in Oregon is leadership's policy on energy.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-10-13 16:29:57

Last Update: 2024-10-14 01:10:21

The Oregon Department of Education (ODE) released results from the Oregon Statewide Assessment System’s spring 2024 summative tests, which highlights the need for more work to reach pre-pandemic academic performance levels. The results included key areas of progress statewide, with six out of seven grade levels showing improved math scores, while recovery in literacy scores has been slower and more uneven across the state.

While ODE is patting themselves on the back claiming gains were made in math scores, overall the gain was 0.4 percent for 31% achievement rate compared to pre-pandemic of 45.8%. That’s barely noticeable to base progress on and still leaves a gap of 14.8. It doesn't show real gains when the national average is approximately 70.9%.

Districts who have shown improvement are pointing to several factors that have contributed to this progress, including teacher collaboration time, an emphasis on connecting the math lesson to other school subjects such as science and social science, and a focus on conceptual understanding.

ODE says English Language Arts (ELA) data reveals it as a critical area of concern as students are not consistently demonstrating grade-level knowledge and skills. The ELA scores dropped -0.5% showing eighth grade with the biggest loss at -1.3. The overall achievement rate is 42.5 compared to the pre-pandemic rate of 62.6 leaving a 20.1 rate gap. In the last three school years, the level of achievement in ELA has steadily declined -1.1, clearly showing the current programs are not working. Then compare that to the national average of 65.1%.

Science also took a 0.1% loss which puts it back at 2021-22 levels at 29.3 achievement rates.

Along with the data release, ODE has identified key areas for targeted action to support improved student performance, including continued and increased investment in K-12 literacy, support for summer and afterschool learning, refining data and policy practices and developing an accountability framework. The key areas they want to target are:

• ODE was recently awarded $11.5 million from the U.S. Department of Education to deepen and expand literacy efforts across the K-12 continuum. This grant is the initial installment of a potential total of $57 million, with funds flowing as soon as the 2025-26 school year to high need districts through competitive subgrants. This new grant builds on the momentum generated by the Early Literacy Success Initiative, the 2023 legislation (HB 3198) that invested more than $90 million in state funding to close opportunity gaps for historically underserved students, including multilingual learners and those experiencing disabilities from birth to 12th grade.
  
  
• The state legislature has tasked a workgroup to address critical areas such as equitable access to summer and afterschool programs, sustainable funding, streamlined grant administration, program quality and oversight, and incentivizing partnerships.
  
  
• Ongoing examination of achievement data to guide decision making in order to direct resources where they are most needed. ODE is elevating a system of assessments by combining the state summative test results with other data, such as the Student Educational Equity Development (SEED) Survey. The intent is to highlight those students who had more frequent opportunities to learn (e.g. write about what they read, use different ways to show math thinking, etc.) were also more likely to be proficient on the state summative tests.
  
  
• ODE is developing an accountability framework in partnership with education and community partners that represents the diversity of our state in terms of race/ethnicity, region, gender, and role. This workgroup is synthesizing the guiding principles and student success categories that will drive the identification of indicators that can be used to shine a light on Oregon’s K-12 education system in places that might need additional attention.

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ODE Director Dr. Charlene Williams said, “Several targeted efforts are underway to support students including the statewide investment and commitment to early literacy best practices. As funding and supports from the Early Literacy Success Initiative become embedded in schools, we will begin to see a significant payoff for Oregon’s scholars.”

Governor Tina Kotek expressed her dissatisfaction, “We must double down on our commitment and collaboration to fix the gaps in our system that are failing students. I am focused on working with education partners across the whole system to identify evidence-based solutions, increase high-quality learning opportunities, and strengthen student wellbeing.”

Filling the gap to regain pre-pandemic levels that are below national levels, is to continue to be below achievement levels the state should be providing students. After three years of no viable gains, it’s a high indicator that the state’s answer to throw more money in the system is failing students. It has encouraged a growing movement towards school choice with funding that follows the student as an attractive education option.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-10-03 18:46:36

Last Update: 2024-10-03 19:47:46

Oregon Governor Tina Kotek issued Executive Order 24-28 directing state agencies to take all actions necessary and work cooperatively to fulfill the State of Oregon’s commitments to the Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative (CBRI).

Governor Kotek said, “The Columbia Basin Restoration Initiative is the result of a historic, unified partnership with sovereign Tribal nations and the states of Oregon and Washington – and I am committed to full implementation of our agreement over the next decade. My directives to state agencies will uphold our state’s commitment and complement other efforts by the state to build a resilient and adaptive future to climate change, while also positioning our communities for a prosperous economic future.”

The “Six Sovereigns,” made up of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs, the Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation, the Nez Perce Tribe, and the states of Oregon and Washington, joined together to develop the CBRI.

In December 2023, the United States government agreed to a suite of actions memorialized in the federal commitments made by the Biden-Harris Administration in response to the CBRI, in conjunction with a Presidential Memorandum, and the federal commitments together comprise the Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement (RCBA).

In collaboration with the Biden-Harris Administration, an agreement was developed to work in partnership with the Six Sovereigns to restore wild salmon populations, expand Tribally sponsored clean energy production, and provide stability for communities that depend on the Columbia River System for agriculture, energy, recreation, and transportation.

A key to the stability of the region is the development of clean, reliable, and affordable replacement power for the region prior to considering removal of existing dams on the Snake River as a priority in the agreement.

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To achieve these outcomes, Governor Kotek is directing relevant Oregon state agencies to:

• By February 2025, develop a report that outlines program commitments and existing statutory or administrative needs and capacity.
• Twice annually, meet with the Governor’s Office to review coordination among the State of Oregon, the federal government, and the other Six Sovereigns for the purpose of assessing their work to achieve and accelerate full implementation of the CBRI and RBCA.
• By June 2025, and annually thereafter, report to their respective boards or commissions on their implementation of the CBRI and RBCA, including identifying opportunities to enhance their agency’s role in CBRI and RBCA implementation.
• By November 2025, and annually thereafter, convene with the Governor’s Office a meeting with the Six Sovereigns to discuss ongoing implementation efforts and opportunities for collaboration to optimize implementation by Oregon.

The Governor’s Executive Order also directs the Northwest Power and Conservation Council (NWPCC) to identify opportunities for the NWPCC to advance the goals of the CBRI and RBCA and, by April 2025, deliver a report to the Governor of the opportunities that have been identified and the actions that are needed to implement those opportunities.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-10-01 20:14:35

Last Update: 2024-10-01 22:54:21

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is increasing its camping, parking and reservation fees to keep pace with the rising cost of utilities, operations and maintenance. Any changes in rate ranges would not be effective until the agency budget is approved by the Oregon legislature and signed by the Governor in 2025.

Most of the increases range from $2 to $5 depending on the fee.

The park system has experienced record visitation as well as the impacts of rising costs and inflation. Utility costs for example have increased by 28% over the last 4 years, but most fees have remained the same. Depending on the fee, the last increase was anywhere from seven to 15 years ago for base fees.

“We know that raising fees by any amount can be challenging for visitors, and we don’t make this decision lightly. We try to keep costs and fees as low as possible to minimize the impact while still fulfilling our commitment to stewardship and recreation,” said OPRD Director Lisa Sumption.

Oct. 15, 2024:

OPRD will increase its base camping fees for the first time since 2017. The increase applies to all camping reservations for 2025. Starting on October 15, 2024, all reservations made for 2025 stays will include the fee increase.

Increases in base rate by site type:

• $2 increase for misc. sites (includes teepees, meeting halls and other facilities)
• $3 increase for tent sites (includes horse tent sites, horse group sites, group tent) and primitive sites (includes overflow, fly-in and walk-to-sites)
• $4 increase for RV sites (includes full hookup, electrical, horse RV and group RV sites)
• $5 increase for cabins and yurts (includes rustic, mini, totem, and deluxe sites)
• (Seasonal rate increases were adopted in 2020. The seasonal adjustments will be added to the new base rates. As in previous years, summer rates are $2 more for tent sites, $3 more for RV sites and $5 more for cabins/yurts.)

Jan. 1, 2025:

OPRD will increase its reservation fee from $8 to $10 per site starting Jan. 1, 2025. This fee has not been increased since 2010. Daily parking permit fees will increase from $5 to $10 at the 25 parks that charge a fee for day-use parking. Parking permit fees were last increased in 2009. The annual parking permit and the two-year permit fees remain the same at $30 for the annual permit and $50 for the two-year permit.

July 1, 2025:

OPRD will expand the 25% out-of-state surcharge for RV campsites (required by state law) to all site types for out-of-state campers. New camping rate ranges replace the existing ones. These ranges set the lowest and highest fees that OPRD can charge over time. It gives OPRD’s director the ability to change fees in the future as needed. The last rate range update was adopted in 2018. OPRD has three main sources of funding: a little less than half comes from constitutionally dedicated lottery funds, about 15% comes from recreational vehicle license plate fees and roughly 35% comes from park fees from visitors. OPRD is not funded by taxes.

OPRD does offer a few resources and programs to help increase access to Oregon State Parks.

OPRD will continue to explore options in the future that reduce cost as a barrier while earning needed revenue to maintain our parks and manage congestion.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2024-09-30 10:56:52

The Oregon Department of Administrative Services published the annual maximum rent increase allowed by statute for calendar year 2025. The DAS Office of Economic Analysis has calculated the maximum percentage as 10.0%.

Passed in 2019 as SB 608, Oregon law requires DAS to calculate and post to its website by Sept. 30, the maximum allowable annual rent increase percentage for the following calendar year. Per statute, the Office of Economic Analysis calculates this amount as seven percent plus the annual 12-month average change in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers, West Region (All Items), as most recently published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, or 10%, whichever is lower. Only one rent increase may be issued in any 12-month period.

At the time, was introduced by Senators Ginny Burdick, Laurie Monnes Anderson, Peter Courtney and Shemia Fagan with then-House Speaker Tina Kotek.

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The allowable rent increase percentage for the 2025 calendar year is 10.0%. This applies to residential rental units 15 years and older. DAS will calculate and post the percentage for the 2026 calendar year by Sept. 30, 2025.

Since implementation in 2019, the rate has held around nine or 10%, with the exception of 2023 prior to July 6. The mid-year change was due to a change in the law that capped the rent increase at 10%.

Information about the maximum annual rent increase percentage, as well as the provisions of ORS 90.323 and 90.600 (statutes governing rent increases), can be found on the OEA website.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2024-09-29 10:43:03

Oregon Department of Environmental Quality recently asked for public comments on rules for the Climate Protection Program (CPP). In December 2023, the Oregon Court of Appeals invalidated CPP for not complying with notice requirements. The new rules will:

• Reestablish a program to set limits on greenhouse gas emissions from significant sources in Oregon including large stationary sources, transportation fuels, and other liquid and gaseous fuels.
• Set an enforceable and declining limit, or cap, on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuels used in Oregon, including diesel, gasoline, natural gas, and propane beginning in 2025.
• Prioritize equity by promoting benefits and alleviating burdens for environmental justice communities.
• Reestablish a climate program with comparable scope and emissions reduction ambitions as the previously adopted Climate Protection Program.

Oregon’s intense policy mandates based on human caused climate change has caused energy bills to sky rocket, and the elimination of fossil fuels is impacting transportation and costs of produce. Now, an inconvenient truth, a new study vindicates the human desire to be effective, efficient and economically minimal that challenges the theory that human emissions are the primary driver of increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration.

It turns out that fossil fuel emissions have a negligible impact on atmospheric CO2 levels, especially when compared to natural phenomenon like natural fluctuations in sea surface temperatures according to research, published in the Science of Climate Change. The research shows that sea surface temperatures (SST) dictate atmospheric CO2 levels. This research calls into question every climate change agenda proposed by global governments and institutions.

Dao Ato, an independent researcher, Osaka, Japan, released his study comparing the impacts of sea surface temperature and human emissions on atmospheric CO2 concentrations derived from NASA and the UK-HADLEY Centre datasets, which has the most accurate predictors of CO2. The analysis spanned from 1959 to 2022 and employed multiple linear regression techniques to evaluate the influence of sea surface temperature and human CO2 emissions on the annual increase in atmospheric CO2. He built his research upon three other studies that established fossil fuel emissions had no impact on CO2 levels so much so that a 2009 study produced such a negligible impact on atmospheric CO2 that it was excluded having no impact on the planet.

The study conclusion reads:

The global SST has been the main determinant of annual increases in atmospheric CO? concentrations since 1959. No human impact was observed. This result indicates that human efforts to curb CO? emissions have been, at least in the past, meaningless. Moreover, the theory that modern global warming and climate change are caused by human-emitted CO? is also wrong, irrelevantly to the credibility of the story that modern warming and climate change are occurring more dramatically than those in the past.

Ato’s study also found that human methane emissions, despite rising dramatically in recent decades, have not contributed to rising methane concentrations in the atmosphere through the 21st century.

The study’s findings suggest that natural variations in sea surface temperature, rather than human activities, are the dominant factor influencing fluctuations in atmospheric CO2. This study challenges the prevailing narrative that human emissions are the primary driver of climate change, and should call into question all global government narratives surrounding the climate change agenda.

Oregon has been on its own planet for more than a decade, not stopping to do due diligence or research best practices. As early as 2009 a whistleblower leaked thousands of emails between scientists in high-ranking positions in the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). These emails document their “unethical attempts to suppress contrary opinions and publications from climate skeptics.” He submits that climate change is a political hoax with no true basis in real science/data.

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There are many Al Gore types that are calling these studies a hoax, but cannot disprove them. They have gone to great effort to tie CO2 levels to temperature changes and human activity and those ties are becoming weak. Now that fossil fuels aren’t increasing in the atmosphere as predicted, government is doing other activities to keep the pretense going. Most notably is adding to wildfires by increasing prescribed burns, and building windmill farms at sea to disrupt surface temperatures to increase CO2 levels inland.

Historically, climate changes in cycles, always has and always will. When government lacks due diligence with an independent scientific study, how much suppression and tyrannical control can a democratic republic tolerate?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-09-29 02:51:39

Last Update: 2024-09-29 10:56:52

Oregon measure 118 is far from being transparent and simple as they claim. The eye catcher is the $1,600 yearly income, which would be $6,400 for a family of four. There are very few restrictions on who would receive this windfall and will go to prisoner, drug addicts, undocumented residents, cartel traffickers, and anyone else living in Oregon. Under Measure 118, the current minimum corporation tax is replaced with a 3 percent gross receipts tax. It is being sold as a classic tax on big business, but it functions like an aggressive sales tax on consumers.

So where does all this money come from? They say big corporations need to spread their wealth back to residents of Oregon. And where do big corporations get their profits – from us, you and me. That family of four will pay approximately 12 percent more for purchases like groceries, clothes, entertainment devices, utilities, and general goods. They will also pay income tax on the added funds if they make over $40,000. Redistribution of wealth is the backbone of a socialist government, which has a history of failing. Is that where Oregon is headed?

The Tax Foundation says this scheme is a hidden sales tax, which voters have rejected 10 times. They calculate that a modest corporation of $50 million in Oregon sales would generally owe taxes of $294,000 on average profit margins of 6.6 to 7.6 percent. Under measure 118, paying 3 percent on gross receipt, they would pay $1.5 million, which is 37.5 percent on profits. You might say they can afford it, but that isn’t the whole picture. Unfortunately, this sales tax isn’t just imposed at the retail level. It’s also imposed on the same product at the wholesale level, and at each stage of the manufacturing process. The tax is embedded at every level of production. That creates what is called tax pyramiding, where the final price to consumers has embedded added tax costs so that each level of production is taxed on the higher added taxed price, effectively the consumer is taxed multiple times on the same item amounting to an approximate 10.9 percent sales tax.

The proposed tax is also regressive, since the highest effective rates are on consumer goods (where profit margins are often slim) and the lowest effective rates are in areas like information services, where profit margins are often larger. Typically, there are far more stages of production for retail goods than for services. Groceries, which have notoriously low margins, would be hit particularly hard. The Tax Foundation charted effective rates at a single stage of production for several different industry sectors, not even taking into account how many times the tax would pyramid for the goods and services provided by these industries.

If Oregon were to see the same levels of pyramiding as Washington State has documented, consumers could expect to see about a 12 percent price increase. It may not show up on the receipt, but a 12 percent sales tax would impact Oregon’s livability negatively. According to “Rich States, Poor States” (2024 edition), Oregon is currently ranked 42nd out of 50 states in terms of its economic outlook. This forward-looking forecast is based on the state’s standing in 15 important policy variables. A WalletHub report (August 2024) ranked Oregon among the top 10 worst states to live in, citing factors such as high cost of living, housing affordability, restaurants per capita, and job opportunities, which would all be hit harder by measure 118.

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The pyramiding of taxes creates incentives for businesses to do as much of their production as possible outside Oregon borders, which is bad for Oregon’s economy. In 2023, Portland was fifth highest for large cities and Grants Pass was ranked 13th highest in the nation for unemployment. Increasing unemployment would put pressure on the legislature to increase the 3 percent tax, which could be done by a simple majority once the funding source (tax) is passed as law.

Will outside influencers be successful in deceiving Oregon voters that are so aversive to a sales tax?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-09-24 12:19:42

Last Update: 2024-09-23 23:40:31