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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (July 5, 2019)
A4 East Oregonian Friday, July 5, 2019 CHRISTOPHER RUSH Publisher KATHRYN B. BROWN Owner ANDREW CUTLER Editor WYATT HAUPT JR. News Editor JADE McDOWELL Hermiston Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OUR VIEW Congressional inaction made HB 2015 inevitable n the final day of the session, the Oregon Senate passed House Bill 2015, a measure that will allow illegal immigrants and other Orego- nians who can’t prove their legal resi- dence status to get an Oregon driver’s license. We can appreciate the argu- ments supporters make for the mea- sure, and don’t find them to be com- pletely without merit. While the new law will undoubtedly benefit illegal immigrant workers and their employ- ers, we regret the state has been forced to act where Congress has refused. Anyone now applying for an Ore- gon driver’s license must provide proof of legal presence in the United States, proof of full legal name and proof of current address. In July 2020, the state will begin offering, as an option, commercial and noncommercial driver’s licenses and identity cards that meet strict federal standards, the so-called Real ID. To obtain Real ID-compliant doc- uments, the applicant will have to provide proof of legal presence, date of birth, legal name, Social Security number and address. Beginning Oct. 1, 2020, anyone I DMV/Capital Press In the final day of the session, the Oregon Senate passed House Bill 2015, a measure that will allow illegal immigrants and other Oregonians who can’t prove their legal residence status to get an Oregon driver’s license. boarding a commercial aircraft or entering a secure federal facility must have a Real ID or a passport. HB 2015 provides that on Jan. 1, 2021, the Department of Transpor- tation will no longer require proof of legal presence to issue a standard, non-Real ID noncommercial Oregon driver’s license. Applicants for non- Real ID commercial licenses would still have to prove legal presence. It is essentially a recasting of Mea- sure 88, a ballot initiative supported by many ag groups that failed to win voter approval in 2014. Supporters say issuing licenses to illegal immigrants will make Oregon roads safer because they will have to pass the written and driving test. Having a license will make it more likely they will obtain the required insurance. That’s all good. The licenses will allow illegal immigrants to legally drive to their jobs — jobs that they cannot legally hold. Eighty percent or more of farm workers are in the country illegally and are ineligible for legal employ- ment. They present forged or appro- priated credentials — licenses, Social Security cards and immigration doc- uments — to employers, who in turn accept them in good faith. As long as an employer has no knowledge that a worker is ineligible the law holds the employer harmless. It is a wink-and-a-nod arrangement made necessary by a severe labor shortage and an immigration system hopelessly mired in politics. We hope HB 2015 doesn’t make it harder for employers to pull off the charade. We continue to believe that fed- eral reform should have been the first step in the normalization of the sta- tus of illegal immigrants. Action by Congress would have made HB 2015 unnecessary. But, congressional inaction made the Legislature’s action inevitable. Newspaper staff brings passion to their work S YOUR VIEWS Be part of the climate change solution House Bill 2020 may or may not have been the best way to limit the effects of climate change on Oregonians. Doing nothing is defi- nitely the wrong way to reduce the effects we all are feeling now and will feel in increas- ing severity in the near future. Democrat and Republican lawmakers share responsibility for the failure of our legislature to find a way that fairly distributes the pain of changing the way we live and conduct our business in order to avoid the worst consequences of climate change. My extended family is watching a 50-year- old pine forest on our small part of the Blue Mountains being ravaged by mountain pine beetle. The past decade of drought has left our trees unable to fight off the attack of the bugs that always live around us. We see increasing conflict over water allocation: not just between farmers, ranchers and fish but also between orchardists and wheat growers, alfalfa growers and cities. We now expect to suffer weeks of heavy smoke in our air with health effects for all of us and life-threatening effects for some. What will it take to convince us that we need to stop passing our pollution into our air and water while there is still hope of a livable future? We should not be encouraging our leg- islators to continue partisan in-fighting and instead should be collaborating with them to find ways to cut our pollution and to mitigate the worst economic consequences of those corrective measures. Fighting pollution pro- duces more economic winners than losers, but if you are one of the losers who is being priced out of an historic way of life, it still hurts badly. Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. How can Oregon help the truckers and log- gers and farmers whose livelihood is threat- ened make the changes to new technologies and practices that can reduce their carbon emissions and their water consumption? I hope my fellow East Oregonians who think House Bill 2020 was not a good solu- tion will contact their legislators with ideas for a better solution to the very real problem of climate change. If you are one of the people who still thinks there is no climate change or that it doesn’t urgently require action to slow it, I hope you will broaden the sources from which you get your news and learn just how big a threat we are facing. We can’t let another year go by doing nothing. Lindsay Winsor Milton-Freewater unique challenges in a rural, local area. ixty days. Yet our newsroom is occupied by indi- That’s how long I’ve been editor of viduals that have shown me in the past this great newspaper. While that isn’t 60 days that they truly care for our com- a terribly long time inside the big picture, munity. That kind of concern and atten- I have been able to determine few things tion from our reporters is essen- about this area in that time. tial if we are to be successful in the The first one probably reso- nates the most. This is a great future. area. I can’t say or write that I was Our newsroom has proven it is completely unfamiliar with Pend- flexible enough to take advantage leton or Umatilla County before I of shifting opportunities — and left my communications and pub- news stories — on a regular basis. lic relations job in La Grande. That is crucial for readers. What I wasn’t aware of was the Readers need to know that those A ndrew great people that make this area providing their news are ready to C utler such a fine place to live and work. tackle any subject — no matter COMMENT In the small amount of time I’ve how mundane — in an effort to been in Pendleton, I’ve met many keep them informed. good people who are enthusiastic about The newspaper industry has changed their home and the people who live here. — since the day I decided to step into the The other element to my first 60 days I profession. When I started out in this busi- ness, the online product wasn’t as import- find significant is the East Oregonian. I’ve ant as it is now. When I began as a journal- worked at many newspapers in my career ist, the world was a little different, a little and this is clearly one of the better places slower and slowly stumbling into a faster I’ve worked at. future. The staff of the newsroom and the peo- ple who work in our other departments are We present the news differently now as focused on providing a quality product for social media and the online product con- tinue to gain in relevance. Yet our funda- our readers. That means one of the biggest mental mission remains the same: Inform potential hurdles for a new editor — enthu- siasm — is already present. people and give them an unbiased review Our newsroom also symbolizes the kind of what is important in their community. of dedication and hard work that are nec- I am grateful I was chosen to be the essary for any newspaper to be success- editor of this great newspaper and I am ful. Work as a reporter isn’t an easy gig excited for what lays ahead. We are already off to a good start. anywhere and it can offer up its own set of Who decides which streets are repaired? As I sit here watching asphalt trucks go up my street, I start wondering what the res- idents of Byers, Despain, Third Street, and other needful streets would think if they knew that a street that was not as needy was seen to before aforementioned streets. But all they have to know is this work is being done on Bob Patterson’s street: a new water main and paving over past two budget cycles. I know our director of public works will have a good answer why his block should be a greater priority than Byers or other more needy streets. Just ask him what street is next: Northwest Eighth between Furnish and Gil- liam? Rob Corbett’s street. Just wondering. Our government at work. Larry Platek Pendleton The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to the editor to editor@eastoregonian.com, or via mail to Andrew Cutler, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801
