[Comm-Council] FW: A message from the Office of Governor Kulongoski

Thu May 10 16:43:38 PDT 2007

Lonn Hoklin

Public Affairs Manager

Oregon Department of Administrative Services

503.378.2627

503.428.2169 (cell)

________________________________

From: SHERWOOD Jodi L * Governor's Office 
Sent: Thursday, May 10, 2007 4:43 PM
To: EXEC Net List
Subject: A message from the Office of Governor Kulongoski

Please send to your agency employees.

Thank you,

Jodi 

Jodi Sherwood 
Office Administrator 
Office of Governor Kulongoski 
503-378-3109 

jodi.l.sherwood at state.or.us 

 Oregon Governor - Ted
Kulongoski<http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/images/e_letter_header.jpg> 

May 10, 2007

 <http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/images/e_letter_h_rule.jpg> 

Messages On-Line  

May 10, 2007 <http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/e_letter/current.shtml> 

April 27, 2007 <http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/e_letter/apr042707.shtml> 

April 3, 2007 <http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/e_letter/apr040307.shtml> 

March 10, 2007 <http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/e_letter/mar031007.shtml> 

In this message 

*	Approaching the Point of No Return on Timber Payments 
*	Improving the Integrity and Simplicity of Initiative Process 
*	Advancing the Governor's Search and Rescue Taskforce
Recommendations 
*	Governor Kulongoski in the News 

Did you know? 

 Oregon's 150 anniversary celebration coming in 2009.
<http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/e_letter/150.jpg> 

Oregon will celebrate our 150 anniversary in 2009.  Learn more about the
planned festivities <http://www.oregon150.org/index.html> .

Approaching the Point of No Return on Timber Payments 

Critical cuts to public services in Oregon are again making national
news in the New York Times
<http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/05/us/05timber.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin>
this week. But unlike budget crunches of the past, the federal
government is responsible for this shortfall.

The expiration of a federal program to compensate counties for lost
timber revenues is threatening counties across Oregon (you can see a
breakdown here
<http://www.aocweb.org/aoc/Portals/0/content/2006%20Short%20Version.pdf>
). And President Bush's veto of a supplemental funding bill that
included a one-year-extension for the program has again put the
assistance in limbo
<http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/05/02/a1.federalmoneylocal.0502.
p1.php?section=cityregion> .

Faced with the loss of funds, several
<http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070429/NEWS/704
290307>  counties
<http://www.theworldlink.com/articles/2007/05/03/breaking/tpn01050307.tx
t>  across
<http://www.currycountyreporter.com/news/results.cfm?story_no=2361>
Oregon
<http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/05/02/f1.cr.incometax.0502.p1.ph
p>   will be asking voters to approve additional local revenue to
maintain public services. Yet without an extension of the federal funds,
it will be a challenge for counties to avoid cuts.

Oregon's Congressional delegation has been hard at work to secure an
extension as part of the final supplemental bill, but its fate is still
uncertain. To have your voice heard in the debate, call House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi at (202) 225-4965 or email her at sf.nancy at mail.house.gov
or contact President Bush at (202) 456-1111 or comments at whitehouse.gov. 

Improving the Integrity and Simplicity of the Initiative Process 

Governor Kulongoski strongly supports efforts by progressives and
legislative Democrats to reform our state's initiative system this
session. The proposal, HB 2082
<http://www.leg.state.or.us/07reg/measures/hb2000.dir/hb2082.a.html> ,
takes a number of important steps to protect against fraud, while also
making the initiative process more accessible for citizens to
participate.

Specifically, it will create new accountability measures to address
questionable
<http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/2006/07/breaking_news_convicted_for
ger.php>  practices <http://www.wweek.com/story.php?story=7221>  by
for-profit signature gathering firms that have undermined the public's
confidence in the initiative process. In addition, it will increase
voter access to the initiative system by lowering the cost and
streamline the process for citizens trying to put a measure on the
ballot.

Reforms in the bill include:

*	Require paid signature gathers to register with the state, which
will provide them with photo ID badges;
*	Simplify petition verification through the statewide system,
making it easier to gather signatures and quicker for the state to
verify them;
*	Prohibit people convicted of forgery, fraud or identity theft in
the past five years from becoming petition circulators;
*	Establish an e-petition system so campaigns can post approved
petition sheets online where supporters can print them out, sign and
return them back to the campaign;
*	Make payroll records of paid signature gathering operations
subject to review by state agencies to ensure circulators are not
violating the voter-approved ban on paying workers per signature; and
*	Increase the number of signatures required to obtain a measure
summary or ballot title to 1,000, making it harder for groups to file
several petitions looking for the most advantageous summary. 

Last month the House approved the bill
<http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070420/LEG
ISLATURE/704200332/1042>  with unanimous Democratic support.  The Senate
Rules Committee is expected to take up the legislation in the next few
weeks.

Advancing the Governor's Search and Rescue Taskforce Recommendations 

Improvements to search and rescue efforts in Oregon proposed by a
governor's taskforce are working their way through the Legislature.

The Search and Rescue Taskforce was appointed in January, following
several high profile search and rescue incidents last winter. The
Taskforce reported
<http://governor.oregon.gov/Gov/P2007/press_040407.shtml>  back in early
April with several legislative recommendations for improving command and
control and communications across multi-jurisdictional lines in
emergency response efforts.

The improvements have been incorporated into Senate Bills 1002, which
was passed unanimously by the Joint Emergency Preparedness Committee
last week and is on its way to the Senate floor, and 1003, currently
under consideration by the Joint Ways and Means Committee. Changes
proposed include: 

*	Clarifying who should lead a multi-jurisdictional search and
rescue operation; 
*	Requiring county search and rescue plans to address an
integrated Incident Command System based on the National Incident
Management System; 
*	Creating a Missing Persons Civil Investigatory Subpoena to
obtain information or documents that can aid in finding a missing person
believed to be in danger; 
*	Providing certified search and rescue volunteers with a leave of
absence similar to that currently available to volunteer firefighters; 
*	Investing in regional search and rescue coordinators to help
build collaboration between county search and rescue groups. 

The Governor appreciates the hard work of the Taskforce and the
Legislature on the issue and believes that the recommendations offer a
solid framework for ensuring that state government is protecting the
safety of Oregonians and visitors to our state.

Governor Kulongoski in the News 

 Governor Roberts joins Governor Kulongoski as he signs gay rights bills
into law May 9, 2007. <http://www.oregon.gov/Gov/e_letter/050907.jpg> 

Governor signs gay rights bills into law
<http://blog.oregonlive.com/politics/2007/05/governor_signs_gay_rights_b
ill.html> 

Kulongoski puts hunger in the spotlight
<http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070429/COLUMN0701/704
290312/1064> 

Governor creates first statewide online building permit program
<http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/kgw_050607_news_building_permits.
420abe01.html> 

Oregon joins global warming 'registry'
<http://www.ktvz.com/story.cfm?nav=news&storyID=19526> 

Contact Information 

Governor Kulongoski
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, Oregon 97301-4047

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