Hello, Oregon Progressive Party members and supporters. Welcome to the latest of our monthly newsletters on what we are up to and other items of interest to the Oregon Progressive community.
Progressive Party War and Peace Report

House Dems provide most votes for new 2023 war budget

HR7900, the bill authorizing the "Defense" budget was approved last month by a vote of 329 yes v. 101 no. The bill authorizes spending $840 billion, which includes $37 billion on top of Biden's budget request. The House bill allocates $808.4 billion for the Pentagon, $30.5 billion to the Department of Energy and another $400 million in defense-related activities elsewhere in the federal government.
Oregon "Nay" Votes:

Oregon "Yes" Votes:
YES! Rep. Schrader voted Nay. Very odd.

And here is the vote nationwide divided by Democrats and Republicans. More Democrats voted for it than Republicans. 82% of the Democrats voted for it. 71% of Republicans voted for it.  Once again a clear bi-partisan approval. So who is the war party? The duopoly: Dem/Rep Party. 
The vote in the Senate is expected in September. Their Senate Armed Services Committee approved the Biden budget plus an additional $45 billion.  

After the Senate approves the budget, the House and Senate will form a conference committee to iron out the differences. A new vote will be held on this joint bill and, if approved, it will be sent to the President for his signature. The President, whomever he is, always signs.  
Be a Oregon Progressive Party candidate - any level of government
If you are progressive and have thought of running for office (local, state or national level), the OR Progressive Party wants you on our team, either as an endorsed candidate or a nominated candidate.

We need progressive people on the ballot at all levels of government: city council, county commission, People's Utility District board, water district board, school board, state representative or senator, statewide office, or seat in U.S. Congress.

Learn what is required and what the benefits are for you here.
More Oregon Progressive Party candidates for Nov. 2024 nominated

At the OR Progressive Party monthly meeting on June 27, we interviewed three possible candidates to receive the Party nomination to be on the November 2022 OR ballot and decided to nominate them:

  • Logan Laity, candidate for OR House of Representatives, District 32 (North Coast - counties of Tillamook, Clatsop and a bit of Columbia County. His website is here.

  • Nathalee Paravicini for OR Governor (with nomination also by the Pacific Green Party). She doesn't have a website yet for her run for Governor but she has run for Sec. of State before and this was her website then.

  • Mike Beilstein for US Representative from OR-04 (formerly held by Peter DeFazio). He is also the candidate for the Pacific Green Party. This website link is to his page on their website.

The above three people join those that we have already nominated for the November 2022 election:

David Delk for US Representative, 3rd District, running against Rep. Blumenauer. View his voter pamphlet statement here.

Chris Henry for US Senate running against Sen. Ron Wyden. His future website will be active soon.

Mark Gamba for OR State Representative District 41.

OPP has also nominated Jeff Golden for OR State Senator District 3. He is also the candidate of the Democratic Party. He is the champion for campaign finance reform in the Oregon Senate.

Note that the three endorsed candidates running for US Representative and US Senator will be running on strong peace/no war/cut the funding of the American war complex platforms.
Peoples' Action to Enact
Campaign Finance Limits
update

Oregon voters clearly want effective limits on political campaign contributions and spending in Oregon elections.

Oregon Honest Elections and the OR Progressive Party WILL NEED YOUR HELP getting a initiative petition of limits on the November 2024 ballot. Sign up here to help the OR Progressive Party help with the campaign gathering signatures when the time comes.

Two new initiatives have been filed

So we have filed two new petition and will work to get them qualified for the November 2024 ballot. The two initiatives will have different language - one constitutional amendment and one statutory measure.

One will have contribution limits and disclosure requirements (IP 9, Honest Elections: Fight Political Corruption and Require Disclosure and Transparency).

A second will be a protective constitutional amendment (IP 8, Honest Elections: Stop Politicians from Impairing Campaign Finance Reform Laws) designed to prevent the OR legislature or other legislative bodies from making changes in limits enacted via the initiative process by requiring that any changes they make to be approved by the voters or be adopted by a 3/4 vote among the legislators and then subject to referendum.

A third initiative will be filed soon and will add to IP 9's contribution limits and disclosure requirements a system of public funding of election campaigns.

All that we have filed are based on our principles: No loopholes. No special interest money in the election process. Transparency as to who is giving what to whom and is paying for political advertising.

We need to now build a base of signature gatherers for this new effort. We also need to know who might help contribute funds for this new effort. So if you can do either, please sign up as a supporter of the initiatives. Due to Oregon's extremely cumbersome ballot title process, it is likely that we cannot begin collecting the bulk of the required signatures before November 2022.

Each initiative has three Chief Petitioners. Two (David Delk and Jason Kafoury) are members of the OR Progressive Party.
Medicare for All Rally
Shemanski Park, Portland, OR
Saturday, July 30th, 12 noon

Join us in celebrating Medicare’s 57th birthday!

Get ready for speakers, music, tabling, and organizing. Our hope for this day is to inspire and help you form connections as you learn and take action in the name of healthcare justice and Medicare for All. ASL interpreting provided. Masking is encouraged.
This is an important political moment. Reproductive rights and gender-affirming care are under attack, and the COVID-19 crisis has further exposed the broken state of healthcare in our country. Medicare for All is the first and necessary step toward solidifying care for all of those currently lacking access. People all over the country experience health inequities on the basis of race, language, income, immigration status, disability, and gender identity. The time has come for universal, comprehensive, publicly funded healthcare that is free at the point of service. No premiums, no co-pays, no deductibles. Everybody in, nobody out.

Only a grassroots, people–powered movement can win the change we need. Will you join us in our fight for health justice?
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Connect with the OPP

OPP has a monthly public party meeting on the fourth Monday each month at 7 PM. Currently we are meeting via Zoom; we might be moving to in-person again soon in Portland, but we will continue to have the Zoom option. To receive notification of future meetings, please join our Google Group. To receive occasional emails about important issues (one or two per month), join our Email List.

Visit our website at www.progparty.org, We are on Facebook here.


As an Oregon registered voter, you can give a tax refundable donation of up to $50 once a year and then get it all back as a credit on your Oregon income taxes. There is no reason to wait to the end of the year. Do it now.
Don't be fooled by the phony "Oregon Progressive Party" site on Facebook. That is not us.