The BulleTin • Thursday, June 17, 2021 A3
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
Sen. Findley faces potential recall Brown vetoes $200M
in education funding
BY STEVEN MITCHELL
Blue Mountain Eagle
State Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale,
faces a potential recall effort.
Chief petitioner Patrick A. Kop-
ke-Hales of Mount Vernon filed a
prospective recall petition with the
Oregon Secretary of State’s Office on
Monday.
Kopke-Hales wrote in his justifica-
tion that Findley had acted “against
the values and principles of the
constituents he represents” for sup-
porting Senate Bill 865, and for not
walking out to prevent the passage of
Senate Bill 554 on gun control legis-
lation.
Findley — who represents Sen-
ate District 30 covering all of Baker,
Grant, Harney, Jefferson, Malheur
and Wheeler counties and parts of
Deschutes, Lake and Wasco coun-
ties — said he was in the final days of
the legislative session and that there
is too much going on right now to
be “distracted” by “something else.”
Kopke-Hales declined to comment.
Kopke-Hales wrote in the prospec-
tive petition that Findley betrayed
the “will of the people” by introduc-
ing Senate Bill 865. The proposed
legislation would have prevented
elected officials at the state level —
including governor, secretary of state,
state treasurer, labor commissioner,
Blue Mountain Eagle file photo
Sen. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, represents Jef-
ferson County and parts of Deschutes.
state lawmaker, supreme court judge
or appeals court judge — from serv-
ing as an elected officer on the state
central committee of a political party.
Senate Republicans have since
pulled back on the bill.
Senate Bill 554 sets storage re-
quirements for firearms and bans
holders of concealed handgun li-
censes from bringing them into the
Oregon Capitol and Portland Inter-
national Airport passenger terminal.
Kopke-Hales wrote that Findley
“facilitated the passing” of SB 554
by not walking out of the session to
prevent Democrats from having the
required quorum to approve the bill
in the Senate, where it passed 16-7.
Findley voted against it. It was signed
two weeks ago by Gov. Kate Brown.
Findley said SB 865 was a bill con-
stituents requested he introduce that
has since been withdrawn.
Findley said he had been ques-
tioned on SB 554 and that he chose
to stay in session and fight the bill’s
passage.
“I chose to stand and fight and put
stuff on the record,” he said, “and by
staying in the session, I was able to
work hard for the constituents. And
that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
Aaron Fiedler, press secretary with
the Oregon Secretary of State’s Of-
fice, said Kopke-Hales must collect
and submit at least 8,289 valid signa-
tures from active electors in Senate
District 30 no later than 5 p.m. Sept.
13. He said the recall becomes void if
there are not enough signatures sub-
mitted by the deadline.
If at least 8,289 signatures are sub-
mitted, the Elections Division will
have 10 days to complete the signa-
ture verification process.
Fiedler said the petition is not ap-
proved to circulate yet. The Elections
Division is waiting on Kopke-Hales
to submit printed examples of cover
and signature sheets and create a pe-
tition committee.
TODAY
Today is Thursday, June 17, the
168th day of 2021. There are 197
days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On June 17, 1994, after leading
police on a slow-speed chase on
Southern California freeways, O.J.
Simpson was arrested and charged
with murder in the slayings of his
ex-wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ron-
ald Goldman. (Simpson was later
acquitted in a criminal trial but held
liable in a civil trial.)
In 1775, the Revolutionary War Bat-
tle of Bunker Hill resulted in a costly
victory for the British, who suffered
heavy losses.
In 1885, the Statue of Liberty ar-
rived in New York Harbor.
In 1972, President Richard Nixon’s
eventual downfall began with the
arrest of five burglars inside the
Democratic headquarters in Wash-
ington, D.C.‘s Watergate complex.
In 2015, nine people were shot to
death in a historic African American
church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Ten years ago: A Saudi woman de-
fiantly drove through Riyadh in the
first forays of a challenge to Saudi
Arabia’s male-only driving rules.
Five years ago: Thousands of fans
said farewell to “The Voice” singer
Christina Grimmie at services in New
Jersey, a week after the 22-year-old
was shot to death in Florida.
One year ago: City commissioners
in Portland voted to cut $16 million
from the police budget
Today’s Birthdays: Singer Barry
Manilow is 78. Former House
Speaker Newt Gingrich is 78. Come-
dian Joe Piscopo is 70. Actor Mark
Linn-Baker is 67. Actor Thomas Ha-
den Church is 61. Actor Greg Kinnear
is 58. Actor-comedian Will Forte is
51. Latin pop singer Paulina Rubio is
50. Tennis player Venus Williams is
41. Rapper Kendrick Lamar is 34.
— Associated Press
GARAGE SALE
FUNDRAISER
Benefi ting the Women and Children’s Center
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Ways you can help:
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Items for donation can be dropped off
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For more information please call 541 388-2096 ext 4
shministries.org
BY HILLARY BORRUD
The Oregonian
Oregon lawmakers who want to
spend $9.3 billion on schools over
the next two years will have to find a
big chunk of funding in the remain-
ing days of the legislative session, af-
ter Gov. Kate Brown used a line-item
veto to cut their appropriation from a
savings account created to serve as a
buffer against economic downturns.
With huge revenue windfalls pre-
dicted in the current and next bien-
nium, plus $2.6 billion from the latest
round of federal COVID aid, finding
the money won’t be difficult.
Brown notified Democratic leaders
in the House and Senate of her line-
item veto Tuesday. It was the governor’s
second veto this session, after she ve-
toed a motorcycle lane splitting bill.
The governor’s latest veto was not
surprising. In mid-May, Brown raised
concerns about lawmakers’ plan in
a fiery letter in which she also ques-
tioned why they were boosting unre-
stricted school funding by hundreds
of millions of dollars without making
changes to reduce the opportunity gap
for students historically inequitably
served by schools, including low-in-
come children and students of color.
In her letter Tuesday, Brown said
that taking $200 million from the ed-
ucation stability fund would likely
violate the Oregon Constitution be-
cause the state is doing well finan-
cially. She encouraged lawmakers
to use other money to raise the state
school fund for 2021-2023 from $9.1
billion to $9.3 billion.
The reserve account lawmakers
wanted to tap is known as the educa-
tion stability fund, and the governor
noted in her letter that “the Oregon
Constitution sets forth the limited cir-
cumstances in which the Legislature
can access the principal in the (fund)
— namely when the state is experi-
encing an economic downturn or fac-
ing some other emergency affecting
school budgets.”
The Legislature already withdrew
$400 million from the education fund
during a special session last summer
and as of mid-May the balance stood at
$415 million, according to state econ-
omist Josh Lehner. Lawmakers did
not use the withdrawal to increase the
current $9 billion state school fund but
rather to backfill anticipated declines in
revenue including from income taxes.