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On May 1st, the Senate passed SB 719, with a 17-11 vote.
SB 719 would allow a law enforcement officer, a family member or household member of an individual to file a petition requesting the court to issue an "Extreme Risk Protection Order" (ERPO).
The order would restrict the individual from having a deadly weapon in their custody or control.
Additionally, the person would be restricted from owning, purchasing, possessing or receiving, or attempting to purchase or receive, a deadly weapon as well. The intent of the bill is to reduce suicides and prevent injury to others. Although I appreciate the intent of this bill, I
have several concerns:
- The individual (respondent) who is being served is not aware of who the petitioner is and does not have any knowledge of the events leading up to the petition.
- Upon receiving the order, the respondent has 24 hours to surrender their firearm(s) to either the court, a law enforcement agency or a gun dealership.
- The bill is not consistent with Oregon law as it applies to due process. The respondent can ask for a hearing before the court within 30 days of the service, but remember...the respondent has already surrendered their deadly weapon(s). The court is required to schedule a hearing within 21-days of the request.
The intent behind this bill is pure, but how do we legislate behavior? Instead, why not provide incentives to promote gun safety. For example, I proposed HB 2592 which would establish a tax credit when purchasing a qualifying gun safe. The bill has not been given a hearing and sits in the House Committee on Revenue.
SB 719 has yet to be referred to a committee on the House side, but I imagine the bill will be assigned to the House Committee on Judiciary, where I serve as a Vice-Chair.
As of yesterday, I've already received over 1,500 emails opposing the bill.
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On April 26th, the Senate President, Peter Courtney, and the Speaker of the House, Tina Kotek, created the Joint Committee on Tax Reform. The committee is comprised of five Senators and nine Representatives. The committee met Tuesday and Thursday of this week, and are scheduled to meet next week as well. I imagine this committee will have several more meetings before the session is over...after all, Oregon is facing a $1.6 billion budget deficit. The number one job of the legislature is to balance the budget. The obvious question at hand being, how do we balance a $1.6 billion gap without raising taxes or cutting programs?
In addition to the Governor's recent
Executive Order, directing the state government to temporarily freeze hiring for three months, Governor Brown released her Cost Containment Package on April 27th. One of the main recommendations relates to debt collection. Governor Brown wants to collect $3.3 billion owed to the state, but it's questionable as to how much of the debt owed is
actually collectible. For more information on the Governor's ideas,
click here.
On May 2nd, the committee proposed a gross receipts tax, which would tax companies based on the amount of their annual sales in Oregon. This proposal is similar to Measure 97, which was clearly defeated on the ballot less than six months ago.
Click here to read the full proposal.
The most recent proposal in the committee is from Speaker Kotek, called the Oregon Education Investment Initiative. The presentation indicated that even with Governor Brown's Cost Containment Package, the next three biennia's will still require additional funding. The Speaker suggested a levy on 0.95 percent tax on Oregon businesses' sales over $5 million. The problem being this plan taxes the
sales rather than the
profits. Frankly, this proposal is a massive tax increase that mimics Measure 97.
For more information, click here.
Constitutionally, the Legislative Session must end by July 10th. Seeing that no middle ground regarding the budget deficit has yet to be established, I don't see how we will have the budget balanced by the deadline. Rumors of a Special Session in September are starting to appear more and more realistic. Only time will tell....
Until next time,
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| In honor of the Fallen Law Enforcement Officer Memorial Ceremony on May 2nd, Chaplain Jim Crowley of the Central Oregon Public Safety Chaplaincy gave a fantastic invocation on the House Floor this week. |
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| Director of the Dept. of Corrections, Colette Peters stopped by my office on Bring Your Kid to Work Day! I had a blast meeting her twin girls. |
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| Pictured above are students from Riverside High School, which is operated through the Oak Creek Correctional Facility. This was first time the group has visited the Capitol, and it was a pleasure to meet them. |
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These young ladies did a great job testifying about their experience with the OYA Young Womens' Transition Program, which is located in Albany.
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