STATE
MyEagleNews.com
Wednesday, July 15, 2020
A9
Psychedelic therapy initiative makes it on November ballot
By Gary A. Warner
For the Oregon Capital Bureau
After a delay to count the
final signatures, an initia-
tive to legalize the therapeu-
tic use of the psychedelic
properties of “magic mush-
rooms” has qualified for
Oregon’s November ballot.
“We did it!” announced
the website of supporters of
Initiative Petition 34, the Ore-
gon Psilocybin Services Act.
Secretary of State Bev
Clarno certified July 8 that
the backers of Initiative
Petition 34 had submitted
132,465 valid signatures —
a comfortable margin beyond
the required 112,020 required
to put the issue before voters.
The deadline for submit-
ting signatures was July 2. At
that time, the IP34 supporters
were about 6,000 signatures
short of the number needed to
make the ballot. They submit-
ted additional petitions before
the deadline, but it took until
July 8 for the signatures to be
validated.
The certification means
four ballot measures will go
before voters on Nov. 3. An
initiative to decriminalize
possession of small amounts
of many drugs — including
heroin and cocaine — qual-
ified earlier. The Legislature
submitted two referrals for
voter consideration: a cig-
arette tax and a campaign
finance reform measure.
If approved by voters,
IP 34 would create a legal,
licensed system of therapeu-
tic centers where adult cli-
ents could undergo ther-
apy involving the ingestion
of psilocybin, the psychoac-
tive substance extracted from
some fungi. Supporters say
psilocybin has been shown
Pandemic leads to
unusually short list
of ballot measures
By Gary A. Warner
For the Oregon Capital
Bureau
Drug decriminalization,
a cigarette tax increase and
limits on political cam-
paign financing are on a
historically short list of
ballot measures that will go
before voters in the Nov. 3
election.
The COVID-19 pan-
demic has made it diffi-
cult for traditional signa-
ture-gathering techniques
such as stations at shopping
centers and fairs, or going
door to door. With Thurs-
day’s deadline to submit
signatures, only one of the
72 ballot measures that
have at some point submit-
ted for review by the secre-
tary of state made it across
the finish line.
The drug decriminaliza-
tion initiative will join psi-
locybin treatment and two
referrals from the Legis-
lature — a cigarette tax
increase and campaign
finance reform — on the
ballot.
A group trying to change
political dis-
trict reap-
portionment
decisions
from
the
Legisla -
ture to an
indepen-
dent panel
has
taken
legal action against Sec-
retary of State Bev Clarno
to be allowed more time to
gather signatures because
of the pandemic.
Even if all five measures
make it onto the ballot, it
will be the lowest num-
ber this century. Proposed
measures dealing with sex-
ual assault, guns, forests,
water quality, air pollution,
taxes, transportation, ani-
mal rights and toll roads
were withdrawn, never got
off the ground or didn’t
gather enough signatures to
even try to submit petitions
to the state.
What’s on the ballot
The secretary of state
has certified that Initia-
tive Petition 44, a first-in-
the-nation law to decrimi-
nalize possession of small
amounts of drugs, includ-
ing heroin, cocaine and
methamphetamine, will go
to voters.
The initiative would
change simple possession
for personal use from a
felony to a misdemeanor,
with violators paying a
$100 fine. Those who agree
to take part in substance
abuse programs wouldn’t
have to pay the fine.
The initiative would
shift the money not spent
on possession prosecutions
to addiction treatment pro-
grams. It would also take
a portion of state taxes on
legalized marijuana sales
and apply it to the addic-
tion programs.
The initiative will join
two other measures on the
ballot, both referrals from
the Legislature that do not
need signature-gathering.
Initiative 401 would
allow for campaign con-
tribution limits. The state
has no limits on campaign
contributions, though they
must be recorded with
the secretary of state and
put on a website available
for public view. The state
Supreme Court has voided
earlier attempts to lower
the amount of money raised
and spent in campaigns,
citing the state’s expan-
sive definition of freedom
of speech.
Initiative 402 would
increase the cigarette tax by
two dollars and add a 65%
tax on vaping products.
Voters will also see a
second drug-related ballot
measure, to legalize the use
of the psilocybin in con-
trolled treatment centers.
What could be on the
ballot
An initiative campaign
to change the way Ore-
gon draws the boundar-
ies of congressional and
legislative districts filed
suit in U.S. District Court
on Tuesday, saying the
COVID-
19
crisis
had made
it “impossi-
ble” to get
the nearly
150,000
signatures
required to
get the con-
stitutional amendment on
the ballot.
Initiative 57 is sup-
ported by a group named
People Not Politicians. It
would amend the state’s
constitution to create an
independent citizens’ redis-
tricting commission to
draw boundaries for dis-
tricts of the U.S. Congress,
Oregon House and Oregon
Senate.
Under current law, the
Legislature would deter-
mine the maps next year
based on data from the
2020 census. The new dis-
tricts would go into effect
for the 2022 election. Dem-
ocrats have large majori-
ties in both the House and
Senate.
The Bloomberg Law
website reported the group
had filed for an injunction
to stop Clarno from closing
the door on getting on the
November ballot.
It argues that other states
have changed deadlines
and even election dates due
to the pandemic. In the fil-
ing, the group claims it
asked Clarno to lower the
number of required signa-
tures and give the group
until mid-August to submit
its petitions. Clarno did not
act on the request.
The lawsuit has been
joined by the Indepen-
dent Party of Oregon, the
League of Women Voters
of Oregon and the NAACP
of Eugene & Springfield,
Bloomberg Law reported.
The case has been
assigned to U.S. Dis-
trict Court Judge Michael
J. McShane. No date for
any action was available
Friday.
Bend Bulletin
Oregon ballot.
to aid in treatment of depres-
sion, anxiety and some other
mental disorders.
The initiative would
change Oregon state statutes
to allow the manufacture,
delivery and administration
of psilocybin at supervised,
licensed facilities. Under cur-
rent law, growing, manufac-
turing, delivering and pos-
sessing psilocybin is illegal
under state and federal law. It
is listed as a Schedule 1 drug
by the federal Drug Enforce-
ment Agency.
If approved, the initia-
tive would require the Ore-
gon Health Authority to cre-
ate an “Oregon Psilocybin
Services Program” to license
and regulate each step of the
process from cultivation to
administration.
Adult clients would visit
a clinic-like setting where a
licensed “facilitator” would
administer a regulated dose
of psilocybin and monitor
the client’s experience during
and after it is ingested. The
licensed facilitators would be
exempt from criminal penal-
ties that apply to unlicensed
sale, possession and use.
The COVID-19 pandemic
has made it difficult for tra-
ditional signature-gathering
techniques.
The psilocybin and drug
decriminalization initiatives
were the only two of 72 bal-
lot measure efforts that were
at some point submitted for
review to the Secretary of
State for the 2020 election.
Ballot measures that
would have dealt with sexual
assault, guns, forests, water
quality, air pollution, taxes,
transportation, animal rights,
and toll roads either stalled,
were withdrawn or did not
gather enough signatures to
qualify.
A group attempting to cre-
ate an independent panel for
reapportionment of state and
congressional districts next
year has filed suit against the
Secretary of State in federal
court, arguing that the pan-
demic’s impact had made it
impossible to gather the nearly
150,000 signatures needed for
a constitutional amendment.
Whether voters eventually
see four or five measures on
the November ballot, it will
be the lowest number since
at least the beginning of this
century.
Coronavirus kills off $273 million in statewide projects
By Gary A. Warner
For the Oregon Capital Bureau
A steep drop in lottery
funds due to the COVID-19
crisis has killed the sale of
$273 million in state bonds to
pay for major projects, state
officials said July 8.
“There’s not enough
money — there is no repair,”
said Sen. Betsy Johnson,
D-Scappoose, a chair on the
budget-writing Joint Ways
and Means Committee.
The 37 projects authorized
by the Legislature at the end
of the 2019 session include
water system overhauls in
Warm Springs and Salem,
rehabilitating the Wallowa
Lake Dam, a Deschutes Basin
piping project, two afford-
able housing projects, a new
YMCA for Eugene and deep-
ening the Coos Bay channel.
In order to sell bonds, the
state has to show a 4-to-1
ratio between forecast Lottery
Fund revenue and the amount
of debt in the bonds. That has
not been a problem in previ-
ous budget cycles since the
lottery was established in
1984.
Lottery sales sharply
declined during the corona-
virus crisis that arrived in
Oregon at the end of Feb-
ruary. The subsequent clos-
ing of businesses and the
stay-home emergency order
for residents kept custom-
ers away from venues that
sell the state-sponsored
games of chance. The Lot-
tery said earlier this month
that sales for April were off
by 90% compared to the
year before.
The loss has left the state
with a Lottery Fund bonding
ratio of just over 3-to-1. That
is too low to proceed.
Gov. Kate Brown con-
firmed the bond sale was dead.
“The State Debt Policy
Advisory Commission has
notified legislative leader-
ship and the Governor there
are no longer sufficient funds
to issue lottery backed bonds
approved during the 2019 ses-
sion,” said Nikki Fisher, a
Brown spokeswoman.
Fisher said Brown and leg-
islative leaders are discussing
“next steps” on the projects.
But
legislative
bud-
get-writers said the nature of
the bond sales is “all-or-noth-
ing.” Unlike other discre-
tionary spending that can be
reduced to account for lower
revenues, the lottery bonds
are authorized to be sold as a
package.
“It’s all or none,” said
Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena,
a member of the Joint Ways
and Means Committee. “If
we don’t sell one, we don’t
sell any. The lottery revenue
has just cratered. We already
have debt service on projects
funded in earlier cycles.”
The projects do not auto-
matically roll over to the next
budget. Each will have to
compete again for a diminish-
ing pot of state dollars during
the 2021 session.
The bonds were scheduled
to be issued in spring 2021,
with debt service on the sale
beginning in the 2021-23 two-
year budget cycle, known as
the biennium.
Josh Lehner, an analyst
with the Oregon Office of
Economic Analysis, forecast
in May that the state faced a
$2.7 billion deficit in its cur-
rent budget and a likely $4.4
EO Media Group file photo
The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport features a “Passages of the Deep” exhibit that enables
visitors to walk through underwater ecosystems.
billion hole for the 2021-23
biennium.
Unlike the federal budget,
the state constitution does not
allow for deficit spending. The
state budget must be balanced.
Brown is expected to call
a special session of the Leg-
islature as early as later this
month to deal with budget
cuts, increases in taxes and
fees — or both — to fill the
gap.
Lehner said that, after los-
ing nearly all its revenue in
April and May, the Oregon
Lottery has rebounded with
the “reopening” of businesses
over the past few weeks. Lot-
tery revenue has recently
rebounded to about 90% of
normal.
Officials don’t yet know
if the uptick in lottery play
might be a short-term spurt
of pent-up demand or a long-
term return close to prior lev-
els of spending. The fragil-
ity of the reopening and the
possibility of future shut-
downs as COVID-19 infec-
tions rise again make forecast-
ing difficult.
Some of the major projects
affected include:
• Affordable housing pres-
ervation: $25 million
• Salem drinking water
improvements: $20 million
• Eugene YMCA: $15
million
• Affordable Market Rate
Housing Acquisition Program:
$15 million
• Levee Grant Program:
$15 million
• Port of Coos Bay channel
deepening project: $15 million
• Water supply develop-
ment: $15 million
• Wallowa Lake Dam reha-
bilitation: $14 million
• Southern Oregon Work-
force Center, Roseburg: $10
million.
• Deschutes Basin Board
of Control piping project: $10
million
• Warm Springs water
improvements: $7.8 million
• Blue Mountain Commu-
nity College Facility for Agri-
cultural Resource Manage-
ment: $6.5 million
• Oregon Coast Aquarium:
$5 million
According to the Oregon
Lottery website, more than
$2.6 billion in prizes were
awarded in 2018, with $725
million to state and local
programs.
S165199-1