Why would anyone care about HB 3390? It has been stashed out of sight in the House Rules Committee since January, with all the other bills expected to die there. Then, suddenly on June 18, Speaker Julie Fahey (D-W Eugene), who isn't a member of the committee, used her majority power to resurrect the bill with a 'gut-and-stuff' changing it from a study bill to giving the legislature power to write their own ballot title. It surfaced in a public hearing that produced just 12 written testimonies on the amended bill.

Currently, the Attorney General determines ballot titles for state measures. The Attorney General is responsible for ensuring that the ballot title accurately reflects the measure's purpose and is clear to voters. HB 3390-2 allows the Legislature to write the ballot title, the explanatory statement, and the legislative statement in support for every referral and every referendum stemming from the 2025 session. Further, HB 3390-2 requires that any committee of legislators writing ballot titles and/or explanatory statements must be comprised of 2/3rds members from the majority party in each chamber, minimizing the voice of the minority party overriding any objection.  

  Stacey Holeman writes, "... from where I sit the system already in place seems more impartial and makes more sense than handing the tasks to the legislature. That makes this bill feel like a power grab to me ..."  

  Even INDIVISIBLE, a far left political organization said, "... Replacing these processes with the Legislature writing its own ballot titles and explanatory statements would remove impartiality and thus place accuracy into question."  

Others wrote: "The Legislature would have a very strong incentive to favorably portray the measures it places on the ballot and to criticize any referendum that challenges a statute it has enacted. This can only erode the confidence of voters in the accuracy and impartiality of these statements in the Voters’ Pamphlet–-and on the ballot itself ..."  

So, what's at risk for the current supermajority to try to push through this unfair foundation for controlling what the citizens know about a bill?  Every poor piece of legislation passed in 2025 that will be referred to the ballot, like HB 2025, the draconian transportation tax bill, will have a biased title, explanation and legislative statement to get the outcome they desire. According to the Secretary of State, passed in 2021, this is "mal-information" subject to $10,000 fine for spreading false election information. Voters will be lied to again, and again and again.

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

To make sure there is no opposition from Oregonians, Speaker Fahey added an emergency clause.  Voters used to be able to challenge poor legislation that passed the legislature by a veto referendum.  However, an emergency clause can be added at the option of the sponsor, even if there is no emergency declared by the governor. It restricts voters from filing a veto referendum on bills that have an emergency clause, which leaves us ... powerless.

HB 3390 was left in committee upon adjournment.


--Virginia Hall

Post Date: 2025-07-01 13:00:25

Last Update: 2025-07-01 17:59:35