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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2019)
A3 THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2019 Ballot initiative on Timber suit against the state goes to trial County immigrant driver’s Clatsop opted out licenses rejected By ALEX PAUL Albany Democrat-Herald By CLAIRE WITHYCOMBE Oregon Capital Bureau SALEM — An attempt to repeal a new state law allow- ing undocumented immi- grants to get Oregon driver’s licenses has hit a snag. Oregon Secretary of State Bev Clarno on Tuesday halted a proposed ballot initiative to walk back House Bill 2015, saying it doesn’t comply with requirements stated in the state c onstitution. The law , passed earlier this year, allows Oregonians to present forms of identifi cation that don’t prove a person’s legal immigration status in order to get a driver’s license. The licenses will not be avail- able until Jan. 1, 2021. Undocumented immi- grants — or others without documents proving U.S. citi- zenship or that they are in the country legally — have been barred from getting driver’s licenses in Oregon since 2007. Supporters of the petition want to prevent people who are here illegally from getting state driver’s licenses. The campaign to repeal the law, which calls itself “Stop Illegal Drivers,” is led by Mark Callahan, a frequent candidate for political offi ce . Callahan said the campaign was “defi nitely going to fi ght” the ruling, and pointed to sev- eral previous cases he believes support his interpretation that the petition passes muster. The s ecretary of s tate’s o ffi ce believes the constitu- tion requires the petitioners to present the changes the peti- tion would make to state stat- utes. Instead, the ballot title just says that a “y es” vote on the petition “ d emands’ repeal” of the law . In a post on the “Stop Ille- gal Drivers” website, the cam- paign said the reason Elections Director Steve Trout gave — the constitutional requirement cited by Clarno — was “not valid.” The campaign also posted on the website a message from Callahan addressed to Trout. Callahan called the reason for the rejection “fl awed in logic and reasoning.” He main- tained that the petition was not trying to pass a new law. Oregon’s constitution includes several ways that Oregonians can have a direct say on a policy at the ballot box. Lawmakers can refer a measure to the ballot; citizens can ask for a referendum on a particular law; or citizens can fi le an initiative petition to change state laws. A referendum, which sim- ply asks voters to reject or keep a law state legislators pass, differs from an initiative petition. In the case of House Bill 2015, petitioners could not submit a referendum. That’s because of a few words in the bill that amount to an “emer- gency clause.” That clause says the bill takes effect as soon as law- makers pass it. The state con- stitution doesn’t allow bills that go into effect that soon to get referred. But citizens can fi le an initiative petition in that case. That’s what the back- ers of Initiative Petition 43 did. Since they fi led an ini- tiative petition, the s ecre- tary of s tate’s o ffi ce says, petitioners were supposed to present an amended form of the law for vot- ers’ consideration, showing exactly how the law would be changed if the provi- sions of House Bill 2015 were repealed. But the petition they submitted just “demanded” repeal of the law. House Bill 2015 affected many parts of state law, said Deputy Secretary of State Rich Vial. “We feel like you need to put the sections that were originally affected by the legislation in to the petition and show what you would propose to take back out of the law or change it back to what it was before,” Vial said. “The law, obviously, was complicated enough that there was a number of things in the statute that were added or changed.” Moving forward, the petitioners could rewrite the petition and re gather the sponsorship signatures in order to get another bal- lot title drafted, at which point the s ecretary of s tate’s o ffi ce would review both again for constitution- ality, Vial said. But in cases like this, if petitioners don’t want to rewrite the measure, some- times they will bring a lawsuit. Supporters of the peti- tion argue House Bill 2015 contradicted the will of Oregon voters, who in 2014 rejected a measure to create a separate type of license for people who can- not prove they are in the country legally. Proponents of House Bill 2015 said that bill would simply allow Ore- gonians to present forms of personal identifi cation that don’t prove legal status. It would also apply to people who didn’t have access to vital records, such as peo- ple who are experiencing homelessness. House Bill 2015 also says licenses granted to those who don’t present proof of citizenship do not meet federal “Real ID” standards. The new IDs, a post- 9/11 policy intended to strengthen security, will be required for Oregonians to enter certain federal build- ings and to board commer- cial fl ights starting Oct. 1, 2020. It’s been nearly four years since Linn County and 150 other counties and taxing districts fi led a $1.4 billion breach-of-contract lawsuit against Oregon and the state Department of Forestry. But a recent hearing in Linn County Circuit Court demonstrated that time and numerous court conferences have not narrowed the divide between the two sides. “Your h onor, the state still believes this case is about state statute, but it’s not,” plaintiff’s attorney John DiLorenzo of the Portland law fi rm Davis Wright Tremaine told Judge Thomas McHill. “It has always been about a breach of contract, pure and simple.” But state’s attorney Scott Kaplan has said numerous times that the state has not only the right, but an obliga- tion, to residents to amend management of the state’s for- ests, especially when those changes affect the environ- ment and wildlife. Beginning Thursday, a 12-person jury will be asked to determine the issue in what is scheduled to be a three- week trial. The verdict, what- ever it may be, likely will be appealed. The lawsuit poten- tially could have a big impact in how the state manages its timberlands, and could add a new chapter in the sometimes strained relationship between the state and counties. Linn County and its fel- low plaintiffs will be repre- sented by a legal team headed up by DiLorenzo. T he state’s legal team is led by Kaplan, assistant attorney-in-charge at the Oregon Department of Justice. Clatsop County commis- sioners voted to opt out of the lawsuit. The breach-of-contract lawsuit has its origins in the Great Depression, when thou- sands of acres of timberlands were harvested by privately owned companies. After the trees were harvested, many of the landowners determined it would be more cost-effec- tive to let the lands go back to the counties for unpaid taxes, rather than replant millions of trees and wait 40 to 60 years to harvest them. Because the nation was in the grips of the Depres- sion, counties did not want the properties, nor could they afford to reforest them. Working with the state, the counties turned the tim- berlands over to the Board of Forestry through the For- est Acquisition Act, with the understanding that the state would replant them and upon harvest, share the income with the counties based on a tenet of “greatest permanent value.” And it is upon those three words — “greatest perma- nent value” — that the law- WANTED Alder and Maple Saw Logs & Standing Timber Northwest Hardwoods • Longview, WA Contact: John Anderson • 360-269-2500 suit rests. Members of the class-ac- tion lawsuit say the term means timber management that provides the most annual income on a sustainable basis over the long term. The decisions that led to the lawsuit date back some two decades. In 1998, after several pub- lic hearings, the Oregon Board of Forestry approved a new management plan based on a defi nition of “greatest perma- nent value” that was expanded to include factors such as rec- reation, riparian zones, wild- life enhancement, water qual- ity and more. The new rules went into effect in 2001. Since then, the plain- tiffs argue, the 15 counties in which the state’s six state for- ests totaling more 700,000 acres — known as the forest trust counties — have seen their annual share of revenues decrease by $35 million per year. The lawsuit is seeking more than $500 million in lost revenues, plus $800 million in future losses. Clatsop is the only forest trust county to opt out. Linn County is joined by Benton, Clackamas, Columbia, Coos, Douglas, Josephine, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Marion, Polk, Tillamook and Washington counties. “This lawsuit is all about economic development and jobs,” said David Yamamoto, a Tillamook County commis- sioner and chair of the Coun- cil of Forest Trust Land Coun- ties. “This deal, this contract, was made many years ago, in the ‘30s and ‘40s, but unfor- tunately production from our forestlands is not what it could be.” Yamamoto said that over the last 15 years, Tillamook County — which is home to more than half of all state forest lands — has received about $15 million per year in Consult a PROFESSIONAL Q: Since my computer did not come with Windows disks, how do I reinstall Windows if needed? LEO FINZI in a blank 16 GB or larger A: Plug USB drive. Click the Windows icon in the bottom left of your screen, Fast, Friendly then type “Create a Recovery Drive” & Affordable! and click on “Yes” . 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A Clatsop County Historical Society Event Sponsored by Vancouver Granite Works TalkIng vi x s e n o Tombst ones” of “Game th Seaside American Legion Post 99 • 100 Birthday of the American Legion Semi formal Celebration November 10th No host Cocktail hour 5:30 Dinner served 6:00pm $30.00 per ticket Prime Rib or Salmon All Dinner Guests MUST RSVP before November 2 nd so do it now! 503-738-6222 • 1315 Broadway Seaside Oregon Public event Proceeds go toward helping our Veterans B -4pm 1 7 2 t c O Sunday cemetery ew Ocean vi ion of Delaura Beach rrenton tersect @ the in iskey Road • Wa h t this Lane & W ion abou ty t a m r o f in un For more other Clatsop Co s, r it o t iv t ie even ociety ac 2203 S l a ic r o 25- Hist all 503-3 please c s@cumtux.org h email: cc fr e e E ve n t Donations Welcome Visitors should plan to arrive no later than 3PM, as the deceased begin to fade from view as th e darkness of night draws near.
