Page 10A
East Oregonian
BILLS: Sex trafficking
measure on the table
Continued from 1A
an unfunded mandate and
passed a bill prohibiting the
Driver and Motor Vehicle
Services Division from
spending state money to meet
the federal requirements.
Oregon’s extension ends June
6 for Real ID enforcement,
only days after the Legislature
adjourns, and Hansell said
state transportation staff
reported no more extensions
are coming. Oregon by 2020
will join the ranks of the
non-compliant.
“That’s where we are,”
Hansell said. “I guess it’s a
kind of game of chicken.”
Hansell’s bill could end
that game, but the bill does not
force Oregonians to get a Real
ID.
“If they want the Real ID,
they have the opportunity to
get it,” Hansell said, “... and
because it’s not mandatory,
those who want it will pay the
state to get the Real ID and
help cut down the cost to the
state.”
Passing the bill could
be tough, though. Plenty of
lawmakers from that 2009
session remain in office. The
Senate could also enact a rule
to allow a Real ID process
without a new law, Hansell
said, but he did not know how
likely that would be. He said
coming from local govern-
ment he understands the resis-
tance to unfunded mandates,
but Oregon’s lack of a Real ID
law imposes hardships on its
citizens.
Barreto said even if the
bill becomes law, the DMV
lacks the ability to issue the
Real IDs. He said he learned
the division upgraded its
computer system but did not
anticipate having to meet this
federal requirement. The situ-
ation, he said, is frustrating,
and the vehicle division
should have planned better.
“So here we are with a new
program and we’ve got no way
to get this thing on it,” he said.
Without the Real ID,
Oregonians could use pass-
ports to get on planes, for
example, but a new passport
book costs $110, not including
the cost of the photo. Barreto
said he has a passport, but
perhaps not all Oregonians
could afford one.
A couple of other proposals
to remove the spending prohi-
bition are on the table, but
Hansell said SB 374 would
not only overturn the old
legislation but also direct the
transportation department to
set up the Real ID program.
Hansell said he worked with
ODOT staff to craft the bill’s
language, and making the
Real ID voluntary is the bill’s
central component.
Hansell’s second trans-
portation bill seeks to help
victims of sex trafficking.
He said a pair of constit-
uents who visited the East
Coast noticed signs in
highway restrooms providing
help-line numbers for sex
trafficking, and they asked
him why Oregon’s restrooms
don’t have those signs.
“My staff began to
research it, and we found out
it’s against the law to put them
up,” Hansell said.
Senate Bill 375 would
direct the state’s transportation
and parks departments to allow
informational signs about sex
trafficking at roadside rest
areas primarily along inter-
states 5 and 84. The bill also
would establish funds for each
department that could accept
public and private money to
fulfill the bill’s mission.
“We’ve got to do every-
thing we can to stop the insid-
ious advance of the sex trade,”
Hansell said, and restrooms
are one place victims can find
information for help without
pimps watching.
And Hansell submitted SB
556, which creates a $250 fine
for driving with a dog on your
lap.
“We have some pretty
stringent laws about driving
distracted and impaired,”
he said. “... it just seems to
make sense to me that a dog
on your lap while you’re
driving, which I’ve seen
people do, could potentially
be very distracting and cause
an accident just as seriously as
someone on their cellphone.”
Thursday, January 19, 2017
OFF PAGE ONE
Trump picks former Georgia gov to lead USDA
WASHINGTON (AP)
— President-elect Donald
Trump intends to nominate
former Georgia Gov. Sonny
Perdue to serve as agricul-
ture secretary, according to
a person familiar with the
decision but not authorized
to speak publicly before it is
announced.
Perdue, 70, would be the
first Southerner to lead the
Agriculture Department in
more than two decades. He
comes from the small city
of Bonaire in rural central
Georgia, where he built
businesses in grain trading
and trucking.
The agriculture secretary
job is the last Cabinet posi-
tion for which Trump hasn’t
named a candidate.
Perdue is not related to
or affiliated with the food
company Perdue or Perdue
Farms, the well-known
poultry producer.
Agriculture secretaries are
often from the Midwest, where
corn and soybeans dominate
the markets. U.S. farm policy
has long been favorable to
those crops, and congressional
battles over massive farm
bills every five years often
divide along regional lines.
Southerners have pushed for
subsidy programs that are
more favorable to rice and
cotton, which can be more
expensive to grow.
The last three agriculture
secretaries were from Iowa,
North Dakota and Nebraska.
Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse
AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File
In this Nov. 30 file photo, former Georgia Gov. Sonny
Perdue smiles as he waits for an elevator in the lobby
of Trump Tower in New York.
said Thursday in a statement
that he wants to talk to Perdue
about “the unique interests
of Midwest agriculture,”
including trade and regula-
tory burdens.
“Nebraskans feed the
world and our agriculture
secretary needs to under-
stand what we bring to the
table,” Sasse said.
Many
farm-state
lawmakers and agriculture
groups grew concerned
as
Trump
approached
his inauguration without
having named an agriculture
secretary candidate. Earlier
Thursday, Iowa Sen. Charles
Grassley tweeted that he was
frustrated with the process.
“NEED Ag leader w dirt
under finger nails 4farmers,”
he wrote.
Perdue began his political
career as a Democrat in
Georgia’s state Legislature
in the 1990s. But it was after
switching his allegiance to
the Republican Party that
Perdue made history.
In 2002, Perdue was
elected the state’s first Repub-
lican governor since the end
of Reconstruction more than
130 years earlier. Perdue’s
victory over an incumbent
Democrat
completed
Georgia’s shift to a solidly
Republican state, ending
generations of Democratic
control of state government.
Despite the seismic polit-
ical change, Perdue showed
little interest in pushing big
programs or signature legis-
lation during his two terms.
Instead he focused on finding
ways to save money while
improving customer service
by state agencies — such
as reducing wait times for
renewing driver’s licenses.
He often referred to himself
as Georgia’s CEO.
“If I could choose my
legacy it would be the epithet
that he made government
work,” Perdue told The Asso-
ciated Press in 2010 before he
left office. “That’s really what
I’ve focused on. It’s not some
big monument.”
Critics accused Perdue
of failing to tackle some of
Georgia’s biggest problems,
such as struggling public
schools.
Perdue didn’t rely only
on his business acumen as
governor. A devout Southern
Baptist, he also found a
place for faith in his admin-
istration. In 2007, when a
withering drought gripped
Georgia and neighboring
states, Perdue held a prayer
rally in front of the state
Capitol in Atlanta to pray
publicly for rain.
It was also Perdue who
brought an end to Georgia’s
longstanding conflicts over
a state flag that featured the
Confederate battle emblem.
The controversial flag was
replaced by lawmakers
under Perdue’s Democratic
predecessor, but the new
design proved unpopular.
Perdue insisted Georgia
voters should pick the flag. A
referendum was held in 2004,
though Southern heritage
groups were outraged that the
options did not include the
old flag with the Confederate
symbol.
FREEZE: Winter storm advisory stays in effect until noon
Continued from 1A
it was impossible for crews
to keep the highways open
with the equipment they had
available. He said if people
do try to drive, they risk
being stranded with no one
able to reach them for help.
“We don’t want people
to be involved in a crash,
or stuck in blinding condi-
tions,” he said.
Interstate
82
was
also closed for much
of Wednesday morning
between I-84 and the
Oregon-Washington border.
The freeway reopened
in the afternoon to allow
commuters to get home.
Highway
395
was
closed between Pendleton
and John Day, as well as
Highway 11 from Pendleton
to Milton-Freewater and
Highway 204 between
Weston and Elgin. All three
roads were reopened later in
the day.
Umatilla County closed
all non-emergency offices
for the day, including state
courts.
State
agencies
also closed their offices in
Umatilla, Morrow, Gilliam,
Sherman, Union, Wallowa,
Baker, Wasco and Hood
River counties. The Oregon
Department
of
Motor
Vehicles shut down offices
in Enterprise, Heppner,
Hermiston, Hood River, La
Grande, Milton-Freewater,
Pendleton and The Dalles.
The Morrow County
Board of Commissioners
postponed its Wednesday
meeting from 9 a.m. to 10
a.m., meeting in Boardman
with a phone bridge into
Heppner for residents who
were unable to make the
drive.
A winter storm advisory
is in effect until noon
Thursday for parts of the
Blue Mountains, including
Meacham, Ukiah, Tollgate
and North Powder. An
additional 3 inches of snow
may fall across the region,
along with another tenth-
inch of ice and 35 mph
wind gusts.
For the latest travel
conditions, visit www.trip-
check.com.
———
Contact George Plaven
at gplaven@eastoregonian.
com or 5641-966-0825.
MARCH: Event concludes at Prodigal
Son with recap of AAUW activism
Continued from 1A
suffrage movement marched
the day before President
Woodrow Wilson’s inaugu-
ration in 1913.
The Pendleton march will
go forth with the same spirit
as the Washington, D.C.,
demonstration, said Andrea
Mann, one of the organizers.
“We believe that women’s
rights are human rights, and
human rights are women’s
rights,” said Mann.
Mann and thousands of
other women (and men)
hope to deliver a clear
message
to
President
Donald Trump that human
rights must be respected,
regardless of race, ethnicity,
religion,
immigration
status, gender expression,
economic status, age or
disability.
Organizers
espouse nonviolence and
the need to attack forces
of evil though not the evil-
doers.
Mann and about a dozen
“We believe that women’s rights
are human rights, and human
rights are women’s rights.”
— Andrea Mann, march organizer
others, including two men,
gathered at Great Pacific
Wine & Coffee Co. on
Monday to hone event
details and make signs to
carry on Saturday. The signs
ran the gamut. “Equality
for all.” “A Better America
for America’s Children and
Grandchildren.” “Climate
Change is Real.” “We Are
All in This Together.”
At the Prodigal Son,
members of the local
American Association of
University Women will
offer a recap of what issues
the organization has tackled
over the past 100 years and
talk about the importance of
activism. At Sister’s Café,
Mann said, the subject will
be the history of civil rights.
At the final stop at Great
Pacific, local musician
J.D. Kindle will lead the
marchers in patriotic songs
such as “This Land is Your
Land” and “America the
Beautiful.” Mann said
leaders of both Republican
and Democratic parties
were invited to speak at the
last stop.
Mann said she will have
sign-making materials at
the Sister’s Café on Friday
from 3-6 p.m. for those who
wish to make placards for the
march.
———
Contact Kathy Aney at
kaney@eastoregonian.com
or call 541-966-0810.
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