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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (May 21, 2015)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, MAY 21, 2015 GUEST COLUMN Founded in 1873 STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager HEATHER RAMSDELL, Circulation Manager Mileage tax has promise W Gas tax is outmoded ith petroleum prices lower for the time being and more drivers buying hybrid and electric cars, Oregon is about to experiment with taxing vehicles based on the miles they are driven instead of on the fuel they consume. This is an interesting and valid exercise, but one that raises a vari- ety of issues that must be addressed. The basic scheme is to replace fuel taxes paid at the pump with a ÀDWFHQWSHUPLOHFKDUJHIRUXVH of public roads in Oregon. Up to YROXQWHHUVZLOOVWDUWWHVWLQJ WKHFRQFHSWRQ-XO\XVLQJVPDOO digital devices to track their mile- age. California, Washington and Indiana all are at earlier stages of considering the concept. U.S. drivers, especially those who don’t live in the Northeast where there are more toll highways, are pretty spoiled when it comes to transportation costs. Generally, our gasoline is taxed at far lower rates than is the case in the rest of the developed world. And we face far fewer toll roads. Drive through France, Mexico and scores of other places, and you will be reaching for your wallet every hour or so. It’s safe to say nobody relishes having to pay either taxes or tolls, but expensive public infrastructure like highways and bridges is one of the best examples of govern- ment providing something private citizens need but are unable to ac- complish on our own. Considering the systemic changes underway in oil markets and automobiles, fuel taxes simply can’t keep up. Only in recent years has technology come along that will allow accu- rate monitoring of actual miles driven, giving a new option for transportation funding. Civil liberties activists see the monitoring devises as a potential intrusion on privacy, in effect giv- ing government a real-time picture of where all vehicles are moving at any given time. Oregon has re- sponded by designing one option that uses global positioning satel- lite tracking and another option that relies on a simple odometer that counts passing miles. Any records that are collected are sup- posed to be carefully controlled and then destroyed after they have served their revenue purpose. In any event, such privacy worries may be pointless in a nation where smart phones can already be tracked anywhere and cameras watch over many streets and highways. Another concern is expressed by owners and dealers of hybrid and electric cars, who fear they will lose the tax advantage they gained from avoiding having to buy gasoline or diesel. But the fact is that they use the roads, too, and should be help- ing pay to maintain them. As this trial of charging for highway use moves forward, it will bear watching to make cer- tain that rural drivers — who are bound to have to travel greater dis- tances to jobs, schools, healthcare and other necessities — are no more burdened than they already are by fuel taxes. Anything that might worsen the state’s urban-ru- ral divide must be avoided. Oregonians are suspicious about any changes in the tax sys- tem. We do a better job than many states of keeping it fair. People will EHMXVWL¿DEO\ZDU\RIWKLVPLOHDJH tax. But if it works, it might be a equitable way to match our high- way use with what we pay. Not everything is an emergency for a reason. It serves as a will be deemed emergen- check on legislators who cy acts. It will become can become so focused on routine. Perhaps that’s the he Oregon Legislature is what happens inside the point. If citizens complain beginning to resemble a that a controversial bill has state Capitol building that FDOOFHQWHU$OPRVWHYHU\ been labeled an emergen- they forget there’s an en- tire state outside the door. cy to protect it from the thing is an emergency. We work in a grand, people’s veto power, leg- Increasingly these are the words majestic building. It’s islators can quell any sus- \RX ¿QG LQ WKH +RXVH DQG 6HQDWH open to the public. But picion by simply saying, bills coming out of the Legislature: “Most bills have an emer- once the legislature is in State Sen. “An emergency is declared to exist, gency clause.” session, a legislator’s time Betsy Johnson and this act takes effect on its pas- is often consumed talking Voters still have some constitutional protection. Tax bills, to other legislators and lobbyists. We sage.” for example, cannot be enacted as an don’t always notice things like emer- Any law with an emergency emergency. gency clauses and whether they are clause is protected from the people’s If you’re a citizen curious about really needed. Some of my bills have veto power. Voters cannot challenge the number of bills that were passed carried emergency clauses. Our state’s frequent use of the it through the referendum process. as emergencies in the last regular You might be surprised what con- session, the information may not emergency clause is not unique. Former Washington Gov. Chris stitutes an emergency. In this session be readily available. If you call the so far, it includes bills like “banning OHJLVODWLYHDVVHPEO\RI¿FHWKH\PD\ Gregoire, concerned about similar the box,” which makes it unlawful direct you to the state legislature’s abuse in her state, began vetoing for employers to ask job applicants to website and a section called “Citizen emergency clauses on bills, leaving intact the rest of the legislation. One check a box if they’ve been convict- Engagement.” ed of a felony. Why would ex-felons’ 7KHUH\RX¶OO¿QGDSDJHGRF RIKHU¿UVWVXFKYHWRHVZDVDQHPHU job hunts constitute an emergency? XPHQW FDOOHG WKH ³ 6XPPDU\ gency clause on a bill adding por- There are many non-felons who en- of Legislation.” One caller I know phyria to the list of disabilities for dure extended job searches. prowled through that, read the brief special parking privileges. The Olympian newspaper praised Or how about the “mo- descriptions and effec- WRU YRWHU´ ODZ +% tive dates of each bill that her in an editorial: “The Legisla- The which automatically reg- passed, and found that ture’s overuse of the emergency isters licensed drivers about half of the roughly clause should incense the public be- to vote. What kind of an people’s ELOOVOLVWHGWKHUHZHUH cause it takes away their right to re- ject laws adopted by the Legislature. emergency exists that re- emergencies. veto quires drivers to be au- One bill that slipped Where’s the outrage?” tomatically registered to power through without an emer- Oregon’s constitution also allows vote? JHQF\FODXVHZDV6% the governor to veto an emergency exists and its fate is a lesson in provision in new bills without affect- Then there’s the re- cently approved gun law, why referendum power is ing the rest of the bill. for a Gov. Kate Brown should use 6%ZKLFKUHTXLUHVOL important. censed gun dealers to con- 6% DOORZHG LOOH this power. As Secretary of State, reason. duct background checks gal immigrants to obtain she pushed for the “motor voter” for private sales of legal driver cards. Since it bill, ostensibly to make it easier for ¿UHDUPV ,I \RX EX\ RU VHOO RQ WKH wasn’t an emergency, opponents had more voters to exercise their right black market, you’re exempt from GD\VDIWHUWKHHQGRIWKHOHJLVOD to vote. The emergency clause does ex- this emergency.) tive session to exercise the power of Soon to come is SB 822, an emer- referendum. They collected enough actly the opposite. It takes away the people’s right to gency bill requested by criminal de- VLJQDWXUHVIURPTXDOL¿HGYRWHUVDQG fense attorneys, who want grand jury IRUFHG 6% RQWR WKH 1RYHPEHU vote. Betsy Johnson, D-Scappoose, proceedings tape-recorded. Criminal EDOORW$V %DOORW 0HDVXUH defense attorneys, apparently, can’t voters rejected driver cards for ille- represents District 16, covering ZDLWWR¿QGRXWWKHLGHQWLWLHVRIYLF JDO LPPLJUDQWV E\ DOPRVW D WR Clatsop and Columbia counties and parts of Multnomah, Tillamook and tims and witnesses. margin. At the rate we’re going, all bills The people’s veto power exists Washington. By STATE SEN. BETSY JOHNSON T Hillary, Jeb, Facebook and disorder major shift on the question Press now uses computers, of what’s worth owning. not reporters, to generate PRUH WKDQ ¿QDQFLDO What all of the above com- reports per quarter. This can or a presidential campaign panies have in common is free up workers to do more that they have either created that has started so early, it’s creative work, but they trust platforms that match striking how little most of the supply and demand for have to be trained for it. candidates want to engage with things people never thought On geopolitics, we still have great power rivalries, major issues of the day, let alone of supplying: a spare bed- but the most relevant divide room in their home or a seat the future. in the world will no lon- in their car or a commercial Thomas L. Hillary Clinton won’t take a clear link between a small retail- ger be East-West, capital- Friedman stand on two big issues she helped er in North Dakota and a ist-communist. It will be the to negotiate as secretary of state: the small manufacturer in Chi- World of Order versus the World of Disorder, as environmental, na. Or they are behavioral platforms IUHHWUDGH GHDO ZLWK 3DFL¿F QDWLRQV sectarian and economic pressures are that spin off extremely valuable data and the nuclear deal with Iran. for retailers and advertisers or they are pulverizing weak and failed states. Jeb Bush’s campaign seems stuck behavioral platforms on which ordi- Every day now you read about on whether he is or is not his brother’s nary people can generate reputations SHRSOH ÀHHLQJ WKH:RUOG RI 'LVRUGHU keeper. Marco Rubio was for compre- — for driving, hosting or any skill you for the World of Order. Rohingyas, a hensive immigration reform before he can imagine — and then market them- mostly Muslim group, from Myanmar and Bangladesh are trying to get into was against it. While Sens. Rand Paul selves globally. and Bernie Sanders are motivated by This is a result of the exponential Thailand and Malaysia; Africans and clear ideologies, the others, so far, growth in computing power, storage, Arabs are trying to cross the Mediter- evince much more compelling ambi- networking, sensors and software ranean to Europe; Central American tions to be president than compelling generation and interoperability, which parents have sent thousands of their reasons for why they should be. is allowing us to both gather massive kids to the United States. Israel’s gov- That can’t last. Just amounts of data and ernment has started sending letters to follow the headlines. apply software to that (ULWUHDQ DQG 6XGDQHVH UHIX We’re at We’re in the middle of data to see patterns at gees — who walked, rode and sailed some huge disruptive the start a speed and scope un- to Israel in search of order and work LQÀHFWLRQV LQ WHFKQRO known before. And it ²WHOOLQJWKHPWKH\KDYHGD\VWR of a major is taking friction out DFFHSWLQFDVKDQGDRQHZD\ ogy, the labor market of so many things at ticket home or to an unnamed third KHKRUUL¿F$PWUDNWUDLQFUDVK OLNHO\EHQHDUWKHWRSRIWKH and geopolitics that shift on the will raise fundamental once: from hailing country in Africa or face prison, The near Philadelphia last week presidential discussion, the topic questions about the fu- cab to reserving a Washington Post reported last week. question a room exposed a technology gap, spur- goes to the heart of the essential ture of work and the so- Last year, the U.N.’s refugee agen- in someone’s ring considerable discussion. But question — do Republicans want cial contracts between of what’s home in Timbuktu to cy said there are more displaced peo- buying groceries to SOHZRUOGZLGH²VRPHPLOOLRQ² will it cause the political leader- to govern America or allow the governments and their worth people and employers learning from anyone than at any time since World War II. ship of this governing generation nation’s infrastructure to atrophy? But here’s the rub: We don’t know and employees. These anywhere to designing to take action? It is not far-fetched to say that will all erupt in the next owning. an airplane part on a what to do. We used to rely on em- House Speaker John Boehner’s the only reliable appropriation the presidency. ' SULQWHU LQ D ZHHN pires, colonizers and dictators to con- What are the signs of that? Well, instead of six months. Complexity is trol a lot of these places, but we’re response to a reporter’s inquiry governing congressional party will now in a post-imperial, post-colonial my candidate for best lead paragraph becoming free. about the accident tells us some- make is in weapons systems and on a news article so far this year goes A recent study by the Oxford Mar- and, in many places, post-autocratic thing. Asked whether the circum- military funding. to Tom Goodwin, an executive at Ha- WLQ 6FKRRO FRQFOXGHG WKDW SHUFHQW age. No one wants to touch these dis- stances were evidence of the need “The Plot Against Trains” by YDV 0HGLD ZKRVH HVVD\ 0DUFK RQ of U.S. jobs are at high risk of being orderly zones because all you win is a for investment in rail, Boehner Adam Gopnik in The New Yorker Techcrunch.com began: “Uber, the taken by smart machines and software bill. And most are incapable of demo- world’s largest taxi company, owns no in the next two decades. And what is cratic self-governance. Who will con- said that was a “stupid question.” discusses what he calls American vehicles. Facebook, the world’s most interesting, notes James Manyika, trol these areas? What if the answer is The inadequacy of our rail declinism. “What we have, popular media owner, creates no con- a director of the McKinsey Global nobody? It will be one of the big lead- network is an example of how uniquely in America, is a political tent. Alibaba, the most valuable retail- Institute and co-author of “No Ordi- ership challenges of the next decade. So, to paraphrase Trotsky once America resembles a Third World class, and an entire political party, er, has no inventory. And Airbnb, the nary Disruption,” is that, contrary to world’s largest accommodation pro- expectations, “knowledge workers at more: Our presidential candidates may country. In some parts of America devoted to the idea that any mon- vider, owns no real estate. Something the middle and the top” may be more not be interested in talking seriously the condition of highways and ey spent on public goods is money interesting is happening.” threatened than those doing physical about the future yet, but the future will There sure is. We’re at the start of a work. For example, The Associated be interested in talking to them. bridges evokes the same compar- misplaced, not because the state By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN New York Times News Service F No money for trains T Does the GOP want to governor or allow infrastructure atrophy? ison. The New York Times on Wednesday described the differen- tial between U.S. investment in rail and rail investment in European and Asian countries. The Times noted that even emerging econ- omies such as India are investing more in rail transit than the U.S. While the rail network will not goods might not be good but be- cause they would distract us from the larger principle that no ultimate good can be found in the state.” Sooner or later in this centu- ry — unless we are resigned to a permanent state of decline — our leaders will have to reckon with a decaying transportation network, which includes trains. Where to write • U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D)5D\EXUQ+2%:DVKLQJ WRQ '& 3KRQH )D[ 'LVWULFW RI¿FH 6: 0LOOLNDQ :D\ 6XLWH %HDYHUWRQ 25 3KRQH)D[ :HEERQDPLFLKRXVHJRY • U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley (D): +DUW 6HQDWH 2I¿FH %XLOGLQJ :DVKLQJWRQ '& 3KRQH :HE ZZZPHUNOH\ senate.gov • State Rep. Brad Witt (D): 6WDWH&DSLWRO&RXUW6WUHHW1( + 6DOHP 25 3KRQH :HE ZZZOHJVWDWH RUXVZLWW (PDLO UHSEUDGZLWW# state.or.us • State Rep. Deborah Boone (D)&RXUW6W1(+6D OHP 25 3KRQH (PDLO UHSGHERUDK ERRQH# VWDWHRUXV'LVWULFWRI¿FH32%R[ &DQQRQ %HDFK 25 3KRQH :HE ZZZ OHJVWDWHRUXVERRQH
