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From Yes Magazine: The ballot initiative process, which provides an injection of direct democracy in twenty-four states, often ends up helping the right wing. For years, deep-pocketed funders have backed ballot measures to ban same-sex marriage, restrict reproductive rights, or make it nearly impossible for elected state legislatures to raise taxes—hurting families and helping to tank […]

From The Baker City Herald: Gail Duman strives to be involved in her community. The retired businesswoman sits on Baker City’s Budget Board and its Historic District Design Review Commission. She’s a former City Council member. Duman took on a new civic endeavor after she received a letter in the mail inviting her to serve on

From The Statesman Journal: I was a panel participant in the Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) that studied Ballot Measure 85, which would amend Oregon’s constitution to redirect the corporate kicker into the general fund for K-12 education. I, along with 23 other Oregonians from across the state, met in Salem and committed a full week to

From NR Today: A Roseburg man who sat on a panel that debated two measures on the November ballot said he found compelling arguments to allow Oregon’s first private casino to open at the old Multnomah Kennel Club complex east of Portland. Larry Hassett, 69, a retired civil engineer technician with the U.S. Forest Service and

From The Portland Tribune: Despite misleading statements to the contrary, a fledgling effort to make sure voters are well informed about statewide ballot measures in Oregon is worth continuing. The Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review process is, in fact, already having a positive influence on an initiative system that’s become overly corrupted by big money over the

From Fox and Hounds: Dateline Portland where I’m here to observe Oregon’s Citizens’ Initiative Review (CIR) process. As Joe Mathews noted in these pages a couple weeks ago after seeing this election cycle’s first review in Salem, the CIR offers an intriguing glimpse of what it’s like to hit an ostensibly democratic practice (the ballot initiative) with more

From The Register-Guard: An Oregon Citizens’ Initiative panel voted 19-5 earlier this month to endorse Measure 85, which would eliminate the corporate “kicker” tax refund, on the November ballot. A Saturday City/Region story incorrectly said the panel voted to oppose the measure. Private casinos could hurt the gaming revenues of existing tribal casinos. The Oregon Lottery,

From The Statesman Journal: By Peter Wong A ballot measure authorizing Oregon’s first private casino got a thumbs-down recommendation from 17 of 24 citizen panelists assigned to study it. The findings were released Friday afternoon, after the panelists took a week in Portland to hear from sponsors and opponents of Measure 82 on the Nov. 6

From The Oregonian: A citizen panel charged with reviewing ballot measures has come out against one that would allow Oregon’s first non-tribal casino to be built near Portland. Supporters of the casino aren’t wasting time trying to drum up voter support however. They launched the first TV ad of the campaign Friday, becoming the first ballot

From Oregon Public Broadcasting: The Citizens’ Initiative Review has come up with six findings on the potential impact of Measures 82 and 83. Panelists split with 7 in support of the measure, and 17 opposing. The Citizens’ Initiative Review is a non-profit that aims to provide independent assessments of controversial ballot measures. Its subject, Measure 82, would

From Willamette Week:  The backers of a Wood Village casino on the November ballot revealed yesterday the project’s scope—and a name: The Grange.  The site of the proposed venture is the old Multnomah Kennel Club greyhound track, a once-vibrant Oregon attraction that is now a decrepit mess overgrown with weeds and blackberry bushes. The Canadian investment group Clairvest

From The Central Oregonian: This November, Oregon voters will decide whether businesses continue to collect corporate tax kickers or public education gets the money. Before each biennium, the governor must prepare an estimate of revenues expected to be received by the general fund. Current law requires and automatic kicker refund of corporate income and excise tax

From Fox and Hounds: I showed up to the Oregon capital of Salem to observe the most significant attempt at initiative reform in the United States. A public employee union-backed political committee that’s sponsoring an initiative here didn’t show. Therein lies an interesting story that Californians should know. Since the reform in question could be coming

In an article on voter identity and the potential for attitude change in political views, The New York Times Magazine author Maggie Koerth-Baker cites the Citizens’ Initiative Review as a noteworthy case study in how ordinary citizens form opinions based on hard evidence. From The New York Times: Forget for a minute everything you know about

From KATU2: A panel of citizens has recommended that Oregon voters eliminate “corporate kicker” tax rebates with a ballot measure this fall, even after the initiative’s supporters declined to participate in the process. The 24-member Citizens’ Initiative Review Commission, a new board approved last year by the state Legislature, released its suggestion Friday after spending

From The Cultural Cognition Project Blog: On a weeklong visit to Salem, Oregon, I find myself reflecting on the recent postings about ideology, motivation cognition, and the ability to process information in an unbiased and reflective way. I’m not here to enjoy the Pacific Northwest but to observe an anomalous public deliberation process, the Oregon

From The Register-Guard: By: Saul Hubbard A panel of 24 randomly selected Oregon voters has come out in favor of a ballot measure that would eliminate the corporate “kicker” tax refund, after reviewing the proposal this week in Salem. On a 19-5 split, the panelists recommended that voters approve Measure 85 in the November election. A

From The Statesman Journal: By: Peter Wong A big majority of a citizen review panel backs voter approval of Measure 85. “We believe Measure 85 would be an improvement to the current policy,” said David McCarty of Oregon City, who spoke Friday for the 19 citizen members favoring it. Cheryl Bunner of Springfield read a statement

From The Oregonian: An independent, citizen panel has suggested that Oregon voters support a November ballot measure that would amend the Oregon Constitution and redirect the corporate income tax kicker refunds to K-12 public education. The Oregon Citizens’ Initiative Review Commissionannounced Friday that a panel of 24 Oregonians had voted 19 to 5 in favor of supporting

From NBC: This week, statewide ballot initiatives in both Oregon and California are coming up for formal public review. But those reviews are very different — and the differences demonstrate how Oregon is taking initiatives more seriously than California. On Wednesday morning in Sacramento, a state legislative committee devoted a total of three hours on hearings

From The Statesman Journal: Oregon’s public-employee unions are trying to sabotage voters’ understanding of the initiative process. That’s the one conclusion we can draw from Our Oregon’s unwillingness to participate in a weeklong citizen review of the group’s initiative on the November ballot. Our Oregon, which is financed by public-employee unions, is sponsoring Measure 85. It

From The Statesman Journal: By: Peter Wong Supporters and opponents agreed on one point Tuesday when they pitched their arguments about Measure 85: Oregon’s “kicker” law, which dates back to 1979, leaves a lot to be desired. Two dozen citizen panelists heard the arguments at the Salem Conference Center. They will have their say Friday, when

From The Oregonian: Our Oregon has claimed that the Citizens’ Initiative Review has “zero impact” on voters’ opinions. The basis for this claim is a National Science Foundation-funded report on which I was lead author. As such, I hope to bring some clarity to this matter and respond to The Oregonian editorial on the topic, “A

From The Oregonian: We appreciate the attention that The Oregonian’s editorial board recently gave to Oregon’s new Citizens’ Initiative Review, an innovative program that empowers members of the public to deliberate and offer recommendations on state ballot initiatives (“A bad omen for review panels,” Aug. 2). The Citizens’ Initiative Review is based upon the very simple principle

From The Oregonian: Four dozen ordinary people just wrapped up the best temp job in Oregon. For $150 a day, plus room and board at a nice Salem hotel, they studied politically charged ballot measures for a solid week and gave them a thumbs up or down. It’s not yet clear whether their efforts will help