| SENATE MAJORITY OFFICE State Capitol
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News Release
June 1, 2011
CONTACT: Molly Woon (503) 986-1074
Citizens’ Initiative Review Commission clears final vote
Senate completes full agenda of bills, including “greenways,” doulas, Government Efficiency Task Force
SALEM –The Oregon Senate took action of a full agenda of bills this morning, including legislation that will officially establish the Citizens’ Initiative Review Commission. House Bill 2634 will create the agency inspired by a successful pilot project charged with gathering citizens across the state to write non-partisan statements on initiative proposals for Oregon’s voter guide.
“The last few election cycles have shown that this democratic experiment with citizen initiative statements is a success,” said Senate Majority Leader Diane Rosenabum (D-Portland), sponsor of the bill. “Oregon has the unique reputation for being the birthplace of direct democracy, including the initiative. In a time when elections are accompanied by millions of dollars of advertising, this is a simple, innovative way to make sure citizens’ voices are represented in the electoral discourse.”
In September 2008, the first Citizen Initiative Review (CIR) was conducted as a pilot project focusing on one initiative. In 2010, the pilot project was expanded to review all proposed statewide initiatives.
The CIR process involves a panel of twenty-three registered voters from across the state, chosen using a stratified random sampling procedure to ensure that the resulting panel is a fair representation of Oregon’s voting population in terms of age, gender, race, educational attainment, place of residence and political affiliation. Over a period of several days, panelists hear from initiative proponents, opponents, and background witnesses. With the assistance of trained moderators, the panelists debate the merits of the initiatives that will appear on the ballot. The panel then develops a Citizens' Statement containing their conclusions and analysis of the ballot measure for the voters’ guide, which is distributed statewide.
The new state agency established by HB 2634 will be funded by private donations. To the extent needed, the Department of Administrative Services will provide reimbursable funding to get the commission up and running. HB 2634 now goes to the Governor for his approval.
In other business, the Senate also approved:
- HB 3150, commonly known as the “Greenways” bill. This legislation allows cities to reduce neighborhood speed limits by 5 miles per hour, reducing the chance of accidents between pedestrians or cyclists and automobiles.
- HB 3311, requesting that the Oregon Health Authority explore options for providing doulas to improve birth outcomes for low-income women.
- HB 2855, creating the State and Local Government Efficiency Task Force.
- HB 2879, extending the sunset of the Task Force on Stage Two Business Development and Economic Gardening to January 2, 2016, and changing the Task Force name to the Grow Oregon Council.
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