Government Structure Passed General Election
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PEAPAC Recommends: NO

While annual sessions could provide a check on the administrative branch, the current legislature is dominated by tax-and-spend advocates; frequent meetings likely mean bigger government.

Summary

Changes the Oregon Legislature from meeting every two years to meeting annually.

Biblical Reasoning

Another reason for annual Legislative sessions is balance among the three branches of government – judicial, legislative, and administrative. [Note the resonance between our form of government and Isaiah 33:22 “For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.”] Of these, only the legislative branch is inactive roughly 75% of the time in Oregon.

Isaiah 33:22 — “For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.”

Election Results

68%
32%
YesNo

Voters approved annual legislative sessions (68% Yes).

Full PEAPAC Analysis

PEAPAC Commentary: The Oregon Legislature, composed of sixty state representatives and thirty state senators, currently meets for about six months every other year. This Measure would mandate that the Legislature meet every year. There are some good reasons to consider annual legislative sessions. For instance, it would be good for the full Legislature to make more of the monetary decisions that are currently made by the State Emergency Board. This E-Board is made up a small sub- set of Legislators. It meets frequently between legislative sessions to make important decisions about the State’s money.

Another reason for annual Legislative sessions is balance among the three branches of government – judicial, legislative, and administrative. [Note the resonance between our form of government and Isaiah 33:22 “For the LORD is our judge; the LORD is our lawgiver; the LORD is our king; he will save us.”] Of these, only the legislative branch is inactive roughly 75% of the time in Oregon. Additionally, the administrative branch of government, the bureaucracy, is dominated by big-government advocates, and is in “session” all the time. Through their rule-making authority, the power of the administrative branch is immense. The result is a continual lessening of freedom. And unlike elected representatives who can be replaced fairly easily, the bureaucracy becomes entrenched and difficult to change.

Eventually, then, we will need the people’s elected representatives to meet frequently to combat creeping administrative power, micro-management and interference with the free-market decisions that undergird our economy and way of life. But for now, the Legislature is not an effective counter-weight to the liberal administrative branch. The present Legislature is filled with tax and spend advocates who expand government seemingly without end. The more they meet, the bigger they get. Annual sessions would, we think, result in even bigger government and budgets, more mischief, and more government intrusion. We lean towards a No vote on Measure 71.

← PreviousMeasure 70 (2010)