Editors note: This is the third in a three-part series on legislative referendums scheduled for the November 2024 election

The 2023 Oregon Legislative Session was considered by many Oregonians to be a controversial session, involving a walkout by Republican legislators over highly partisan politics. The resulting laws from the session were amended after walkout negotiations upon the Republican Senate return, but still largely catered to the majority Democrat agenda.

To many observers, HJR 16 seems to be some of the more reasonable, bi-partisan legislation resulting from the session, a bill that many political insiders in Oregon say was long overdue, with Oregon being the only state in the nation without the legislative power to impeach a state official.

This proposed amendment has been referred to the voters of Oregon through Referral 401. If approved by the Oregon voters, it will amend the Oregon Constitution to vest power of impeachment of statewide elected Executive Branch officials in House of Representatives and power to try impeachments in Senate. Requires three-fifths] two-thirds majority vote of House of Representatives to deliver impeachment resolution to Senate and two-thirds majority vote of Senate for conviction.

Currently, Oregon only allows the removal of an undesirable state official through the recall process, which is known to be difficult, and time consuming. It is possible that Oregon never bothered to implement the impeachment process due it having a smaller population in it's earlier days.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The corruption and resignation of former Democrat Governor John Kitzhaber brought the subject to the forefront, as well as the recently disgraced former Secretary of State Shemia Fagan, who resigned after being caught moonlighting for a Cannabis company.

House Representative Shelly Boshart Davis (R-Albany) and others have pressed throughout the last several years for this ability in the legislature.

"Recent events illustrate, yet again, the importance of having an impeachment procedure on the books as a check against negligence and abuse of power by public officials," said Representative Boshart Davis. "The Legislature must have the ability to remove a statewide elected official when necessary"

The 2024 Oregon General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 5th next year.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2023-09-17 06:58:01

Last Update: 2023-09-16 21:59:04