This proposal will help grow our renewable energy industry and protect the future health of our environment and our economy. It will help reduce Oregon's reliance on fossil fuels, cut our carbon emissions and create new economic opportunities for clean energy producers. Our state is uniquely positioned to take advantage of emerging renewable energy technologies: wind energy from the Columbia Gorge, wave energy from the coast, geothermal energy from Central Oregon or solar power from all corners of our state.

"We are very happy to be able to increase funding for higher education," stated Representative Shields, "These are big steps in the right direction, but we must still work to ensure sustainable funding for higher education, community colleges, and workforce development. Without looking at issues such as the raising the $10 corporate minimum tax, Oregon will not be able to make all necessary educational investments as our economy moves into the 21st century."

This Story was Submitted by Shaun Sieren (Intern - Portland State University/Candidate for Master Degree in Social Work, June 2007)

"Although the budget will not provide 24-hour patrols, this 33% increase in funding is a giant step in the right direction," said Rep. Chip Shields, Chair of the Ways and Means Subcommittee On Public Safety. He added, "After 16 years of disinvestment in state troopers by House Republican Leadership, House Democrats have made good on our promise to reinvest in our state troopers. But we also need to find a long-term sustainable funding source for state police that can't be dithered away on a partisan whim and won't suffer under the next recession."

"When [Chamber President] Roy Jay approached me with the idea of implementing The Clean Slate project on a statewide level, I knew it was an idea whose time had come," says Representative Shields. "This bill will go a long way toward breaking the cycle for Oregon's former inmates." The Clean Slate bill was funded at $275,000 and is designed to help reformed offenders and the communities to which they return, because when a person successfully turns their life around, everyone benefits.

Oregon voters approved Measure 37 to ensure that small landowners are able to build a reasonable number of homes on their property. Unfortunately, the Measure has had many unintended consequences. It has created an insurmountable mountain of claims for Oregon's counties. It has left the surviving spouses of small landowners without any legal recourse, because Measure 37 claims are not transferable. And it has provided a big windfall for big out-of-state developers by opening up the floodgates to uncontrolled development and urban sprawl.

The referendum for a better Measure 37 that was recently referred to the voters by the Legislature is intended to:

• Give local governments time to process Measure 37 claims by creating an "Express lane" for small landowners.
• Help genuine small landowners gain approval for a limited number of home sites by creating a streamlined process for small claims, without opening up the floodgates to sprawling subdivisions or unreasonable commercial or industrial development.
• Ensure a reasonable formula to determine the amount of compensation due, and a fair documentation requirement to support claims.
• Make development rights transferable to new owners, giving them a reasonable amount of time to exercise their rights.
• Balance the often-competing property rights of claimants and their neighbors by restricting development on environmentally sensitive areas and prime farmland.