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State Government 101

– Gabby Dover –

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Presenter

Gabby Dover

Former OSV Empower Director

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Oregon Student Voice

Our vision is for all students to be authentic partners with other education stakeholders in making decisions that affect their K-12 learning experience and opportunities.

Our mission is to reframe Oregon’s understanding of the student’s role in their learning by empowering all students to be active agents in shaping their education.

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Oregon Government

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The Governor’s Powers

Provide leadership, planning and coordination for the executive branch of Oregon’s state government
Acts as the superintendent of public instruction
Recommending 2-year budgets to the Legislative Assembly every other year
Call legislative special sessions
Veto single items or emergency clauses on legislative bills
The governor may also grant reprieves, commutations and pardons
Fill vacancies in the legislature and judicial branch through appointments

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The Legislature’s Powers

The Legislature enacts new laws and revises existing ones, makes decisions that keep the state in good economic and environmental condition and provides a forum for discussion of public issues.
The Legislature reviews and revises the governor’s proposed budget and passes tax laws to provide needed revenue.
The Legislature also influences executive and judicial branch decisions. Enacting laws and adopting the budget establish state policy that directs all state agency activity and impacts the courts.

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Key People in the Legislative Branch

Dan Rayfield

Speaker of the House

Peter Courtney

President of the Senate

Rob Wagner

Senate Majority Leader

Tim Knopp

Senate Republican Leader

Julie Fahey

House Majority Leader

Vikki Breese-Iverson

House Republican Leader

speaker/president of the house/senate preside over their respective chambers. They are also in charge of committee assignments.

If not passed by committee, it will not continue (education committee is very competitive, many that go on to have positions come from education)

Courtney will be stepping down this coming year, dan rayfield had his first year. Two new people will be in charge lack the breadth of experience that was held by former.

Majority is equivalent to democratic in this case, varies by state

Speaker and president make sure procedures are followed, the other four communicate information with their respective parties

Caucus offices provide many services to their members during session and interim periods. Each office is directed by a leader chosen by the respective political party. The operations of the four offices are not identical, but typical services include conducting research, writing speeches and press releases, providing public information services, serving as liaison to state and federal agencies to help solve constituent problems, organizing caucus activities and circulating information about legislative business among caucus members during both session and interim periods.

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Legislative Sessions

Oregon’s Legislature convenes in February at the State Capitol in Salem, but sessions may not exceed 160 days in odd-numbered years and 35 days in even-numbered years.
Even-numbered sessions are called ‘short session’ and odd-numbered sessions are called ‘long session’. Both are called regular session.
Long session is when budgetary and most bills are passed. Short sessions are often used to make small revisions to the budget or bills passed in previous sessions. Sometimes bills in the short session also address

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Legislative Timeline

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September 2022

December 2022

Spring - Summer 2022

AGENCIES DEVELOP POLICY OPTION PACKAGES

December 2022

Late January, 2023

SEPTEMBER LEGISLATIVE DAYS

GOVERNOR’S FINAL BUDGET PROPOSAL

2023 LONG

SESSION BEGINS

September 2022

AGENCY LEGISLATIVE CONCEPTS DUE

�

LC DRAFT

REQUEST DEADLINE

BILL FILING DEADLINE

November 2022

*From Foundations for a Better Oregon’s slideshow at OPEJ convening

Bill filing deadline is the date that all bills need to be filled with their respective chambers and are hence assigned a bill number

Agencies refer to the department of education, department of justice, secretary of state, and every other state agency.

Top line governor and bottom line legislator

First section almost completed now, advocacy organizations try to fit in their agenda/bill within governor’s policy package and budget

Policy package equals policy and budget needs, each state agency makes their 2 yr package at the spring and summer of even numbered years to introduce in odd numbered years

Governor and agencies go back and forth until policies, dollar amounts, and budgetary items are decided

Spring and summer consist of rough numbers and refining, fall consists of moving around money to support concepts and budgets

Kate brown has run for twice and is term limited January 2023, she will make the next budget and propose it, but it could be scrapped by next governor (same party=not much change, republican/independent=possibly rewrite budget but not very possible as there is only a month so usually only small revisions, governor would need to call special session to pass a new budget bill but if not done timely agencies and schools shut down)

What ideas are on the table for bills, november is for draft bills, lack experience in law or leg writing so they ask lawyers to draft bills, finding the common ground between legislator asks and legislative law

Very difficult to file all bills if put in the deadline, early action is necessary

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*Download this how to guide on our website at: https://www.oregonstudentvoice.org/empower

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Step One: Starting with an idea

A person or group of people suggest an idea for legislation.
Analyze what you would like to see changed in your community and look for effective ways to combat this issue.
Examine the landscape: You will also need to analyze the political climate surrounding your issues as legislators may not want to address polarizing issues.�

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Step Two: Finding a champion

Gain the support of a legislator to sponsor a bill for that idea.

This is your legislative champion.

If they agree to champion the bill, they will give you “a note from mother” to send the idea to be drafted by legislative counsel (lawyers).
Be sure to be talking to community members about your idea at the same time to ensure that you are including their input and gaining their support.

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Step Three: Introduced in one chamber

The bill is introduced in the first legislative chamber (either the House or Senate).
The Speaker or President of one of the chambers will assign the bill to a policy or budget committee.

Committees is where most bills fail.

It is imperative that you build relationships with legislators serving on the committee to which your bill is assigned, particularly the committee’s chair, as most bills don’t get enough votes to pass in committee.

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Step Four: Getting out of a committee

The assigned committee holds a public hearing.

You as well as supporters should testify in favor of legislators supporting your bill.
It is important to meet with the committee’s legislators before the hearing.

The committee can vote three ways:

To pass the bill
To pass the bill with amendments
To not pass the bill

If the bill is passed, it will go back to the 1st chamber.
If the bill passes with amendments, it will be sent to the 1st chamber with amendments.
If the bill does not pass, it dies.

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Step Five: Passing into law

When the bill is sent back to the first chamber, it will be voted on by the full chamber where they can either, pass, amend, or reject the bill.
If passed, the bill goes to the second chamber (either the House or Senate) and follows the same process.
If it passes both chambers, the bill is sent to the Governor to be signed into law.

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A look at local governments

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Portland, OR

An elected mayor and 4 commissioners make up Portland’s City Council.
City Council is responsible for legislative policy.
Each individual commissioner is responsible for the day-to-day operations of various agencies and bureaus.
For example, Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty oversees Portland Fire & Rescue, Portland Bureau of Transportation, and the Office of Community & Civic Life.
While Commissioner Mingus Mapps is in charge of the Water Bureau, Bureau of Environmental Services, and the Bureau of Emergency Communications.
There have been efforts to reform our city government because it is inefficient, but have thus far been unsuccessful

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Local School Boards

Local School Boards are composed of 5 or 7 elected members who serve as the board of directors
They must follow state laws but have much freedom in terms of implementation and also going beyond what the letter of the law states.
This body has a policy making function and also determines how to spend their allocated budget.
A lot of education advocacy can be achieved through advocating to your local school board

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Any Questions?

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Thank you for attending!

If you would like to follow up, please email:

info@oregonstudentvoice.org