Issue Position: Governor Brown, please read the State Constitution

Issue Position

Watching the interim governor come out with two wage increase proposals, then support a third this week was troubling. The self-appointed champion of disenfranchised and poverty-stricken voters was starting class warfare on a level never witnessed in Oregon.

With the passage of HB2177 in 2015, Interim Governor, Kate Brown pushed through her signature "motor voter" law, stating she wanted 300,000 new voters to engage in the political process. But what she didn't say was they could only vote on things she saw fit for them to vote on.

This week she watched SB1532 whisk through a legislative short session with an emergency clause attached to it. She made no secret; she was giddy with anticipation at her desk, ready to sign SB1532. All the while Republican opponents asked for more time and scrutiny on such an important issue. Not only did the short session not allow for solid collaboration and policy by lawmakers, by attaching an emergency clause to the bill, the constitutional right of voters to take this issue to the ballot has been denied with the stroke of a pen. Integrity and transparency is what she promised; she is delivering the opposite.

Oregon is known as appreciating equality for all regardless of status. SB1532 states that some are more valuable than others. I have to tell my daughter she is worth more than a woman in Roseburg but less than a man in Portland because of her regional classification. A hospitality worker at a highly ranked hotel on Oregon's beautiful coast could make less than a comparable worker at an economy hotel near a truck stop on I-5.

Oregon's Constitution speaks to this disparity:
Article I, section 20 of the Oregon Constitution currently states:
"No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens."
The regional minimum wage is a direct violation of Oregon's Constitution. Had interim-Governor Kate Brown not been so intent on raising wages through a 35 day session, the constitutionality of such an overreach might have been considered. Not only did she not consider the state constitution when signing this bill, she also denied the constitutional right of citizens to vote on the matter. .

I ask that the Attorney General investigate the constitutionality of SB1532. No class of citizens should be placed above or below others simply based on geographical characteristics.

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