A4
East Oregonian
Thursday, August 1, 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
Judge’s decision should be reconsidered
A
Clackamas County judge has
opened a gaping loophole in
Oregon’s Public Records Law,
and the state Court of Appeals needs to
slam it shut, posthaste.
That seems the likely result, fortu-
nately, because Judge Henry C. Breit-
haupt’s recent oral ruling — he hasn’t
submitted a written version — contra-
dicts not only the spirit of that 1973 law
but also decades of all-but-universal
interpretations of it, including by pub-
lic officials who are required to comply
with the law.
The gist of Breithaupt’s ruling is
that records created by local govern-
ment officials — city councilors, county
commissioners and school board
members, for instance — are not sub-
ject to public disclosure under the law
unless the records are “owned, used or
retained” by a public body such as a
city, county or school district.
If Breithaupt’s interpretation were
allowed to become legal precedent,
it could potentially allow public offi-
cials from cities, counties, school dis-
tricts and other entities across the state
to deprive citizens of access to all man-
ner of documents that the law clearly
intends for them to be able to see.
The Oregonian Photo/Therese Bottomly
Oregon’s public records law, first adopted in 1973, is supposed to allow Oregonians to find
out what their government officials at all levels are doing. But if a ruling by Judge Henry
Breithaupt of Clackamas County goes unchallenged, that might change.
For example, if a city councilor
writes something related to city busi-
ness but doesn’t make a copy available
to the city itself, under Breithaupt’s con-
cept that document would not be a pub-
lic record.
This is such an obvious perversion of
the Public Records Law’s purpose —
the law defines a public record as “any
writing that contains information relat-
ing to the conduct of the public’s busi-
ness” — that it seems unlikely a higher
court would agree with Breithaupt.
The problem, as it were, seems to
lie with a clause in the law that defines
public bodies, which are subject to the
law, as “every state officer” but then
lists “every county and city governing
body (and) school district” but does not,
as in the case of state government, spe-
cifically list every public officer at the
city, county and school district level.
This is the sort of minor oversight
that can be easily remedied by the Leg-
islature tweaking the language.
But it hardly justifies reversing
decades of precedent that makes it
abundantly clear that records created
by elected or appointed public officials,
whether they work for the state or a city,
county or school district, are indeed
public records wherever the records
happen to be kept.
Duane Bosworth, an attorney who
has represented media organizations
across the state on public records and
meetings issue and has advised other
EO Media Group papers in the past,
told The Oregonian that Breithaupt’s
ruling should be appealed “because it is
a bad precedent.”
Oregon’s public records advocate,
Ginger McCall, agrees. She told The
Oregonian that Breithaupt’s opinion
differs from how she interprets the law,
an interpretation she said she shares
with the state archivist, attorney gener-
al’s office and others. “Everybody,” in
fact, is how McCall put it.
Except, it seems, one judge.
OTHER VIEWS
Administration sets
sights on food stamps
Corvallis Gazette-Times
T
YOUR VIEWS
Sell the old fire station and
fund street repairs
My letter to the editor approximately six
weeks ago suggested using the proceeds from
the sale of the old fire station and other adjoin-
ing properties be used for city street repair.
The city is in the process of asking for
suggestions from “qualified and experi-
enced developers” for a project that would
“stimulate” the downtown corridor. I earlier
said the city should put it on the market and
not worry about the buyer or their plan for
development. Get the sale and go forward
with the street repairs.
Hey, how about the tribes? They could use
this property as an outlet store for their recent
purchase (Hamley’s). Seems like they have
the money. With the Hamley’s and country
club purchases, they have spent almost $4.5
million. I’m sure they still have a little more
left to spend.
Taxpayers: Call your council represen-
tative and offer my suggestion. I have had
several people who have said they support
my idea.
Dennis Moffit Sr.
Pendleton
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
U.S. PRESIDENT
GOVERNOR
Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
whitehouse.gov/contact/
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court Street
Salem, OR 97301-4047
503-378-4582
U.S. SENATORS
Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande office: 541-962-7691
Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
Pendleton office: 541-278-1129
U.S. REPRESENTATIVE
Greg Walden
185 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6730
La Grande office: 541-624-2400
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.
REPRESENTATIVES
Greg Barreto, District 58
900 Court St. NE, H-38
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1458
Rep.GregBarreto@state.or.us
Greg Smith, District 57
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Rep.GregSmith@state.or.us
SENATOR
Bill Hansell, District 29
900 Court St. NE, S-423
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1729
Sen.BillHansell@state.or.us
he Trump administration has been
consistent in its desire to make
cuts in the nation’s food stamp
program, and so its most recent pro-
posal along these lines doesn’t come as a
surprise.
Most recently, the administration has
proposed a rule that potentially could
eliminate food stamp benefits for about
3.1 million Americans. It’s not clear yet
how many people that would affect in
Oregon, but nationwide, the proposal
would affect 9% of households. If that
percentage holds true in Oregon, some
60,000 people here could lose access to
food stamps.
The U.S. Agriculture Department
said last week that the rule would close
a loophole that allows people receiving
only minimal benefits from the Tempo-
rary Assistance for Needy Families pro-
gram to be eligible automatically for food
stamps without undergoing additional
checks on their income or assets.
“For too long, this loophole has been
used to effectively bypass important eli-
gibility guidelines. Too often, states have
misused this flexibility without restraint,”
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said
in a statement. The proposed savings
would amount to about $9.4 billion over
five years, the administration said.
The loophole in question allows states
to automatically make people eligible for
food stamps (the official name of the pro-
gram now is SNAP, which stands for the
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro-
gram), if they meet income and other
requirements for the Temporary Assis-
tance for Needy Families program, bet-
ter known by the acronym TANF. The
Agriculture Department says 43 states
have taken advantage of that so-called
“expanded categorical eligibility.” The
result, the department said, is that peo-
ple receive food stamps who don’t need it
and wouldn’t qualify under regular pro-
gram rules.
Remember that TANF is meant to give
low-income families with children money
they need to cover child care and other
expenses. Most states, including Oregon,
automatically enroll families in SNAP
once they obtain TANF benefits. The new
rule, if it goes into effect, would prevent
states from doing this.
It’s also worth remembering that even
though 85% of TANF families also get
SNAP benefits, the vast majority of them
still live in poverty, according to an anal-
ysis by two professors at the University
of Michigan. So the idea that some recipi-
ents are unduly cashing in on both TANF
and SNAP rings hollow.
Finally, keep this in mind: These pro-
grams are meant to give help to strug-
gling families. By extension, that means
children benefit from these programs; in
fact, nearly half (44%) of SNAP recipi-
ents are children.
There’s a long-term investment that
comes from these SNAP dollars: The
University of Michigan professors cited
a study showing that people who had
access to SNAP benefits as children
earned higher incomes and were less
likely to develop chronic diseases as
adults.
There’s a short-term economic benefit
as well: The Agriculture Department has
estimated that every dollar invested in
SNAP generates $1.79 in economic activ-
ity, and that pays a dividend for agricul-
tural producers.
The proposal isn’t the first salvo the
administration has fired against SNAP:
You might recall, for example, the pro-
posal in its 2019 budget blueprint to
replace half of SNAP benefits with what
it called “harvest boxes,” containing
nonperishable food items such as cere-
als, beans and canned goods. Congress
rejected the proposal, but it has returned
in the administration’s 2020 budget draft.
If the administration’s goal with its
most recent proposal is to rein in an out-
of-control federal program, the numbers
don’t bear that out: As the economy has
improved, the number of SNAP benefits
has dropped, from 47.6 million in 2013
to 39.7 million in 2018. The amount of
money spent on the program has dropped
as well, from $79.9 billion in 2013 to
$64.9 billion in 2018.
If the administration is serious about
cutting the amount the nation spends
on feeding hungry families, a bet-
ter approach might be to do whatever it
can to keep the economy humming. Or
it could continue its efforts to squeeze
a few bucks from the neediest in our
country.
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