By Oregonians for Food and Shelter,
Previously, we reported that the three anti-forestry measures, IP 35, 36 & 37, were thrown out by the Secretary of State for not meeting the constitutionally required single-subject rule. The single-subject rule exists to avoid voter confusion and to prevent proposals that are very popular with voters from being combined with other, unrelated proposals in the same ballot measure to garner voter approval of the less-popular proposal.
The petitioners refiled the measures with a few changes:
– IP 45 – becomes the broad encompassing measure, which includes harvest buffers along waterways, aerial application buffers and notification requirements, repurposing Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) fund and landslide assessments before harvest
– IP 46 – becomes the pesticide specific measure with buffers and notification
– IP 47 – becomes the clearcut measure with harvest buffers
The limited changes in the measures include:
– Conflict of interest language is removed from all three measures. This likely will help them meet the single subject requirement.
– The 500 foot aerial pesticide buffers around homes and schools is removed
– The logging, landslide, OFRI and exemptions basically remain the same
Process wise, the petitioners are back at the beginning. They must again collect 1,000 signatures to have ballot titles drafted. It will likely be in the first quarter of 2020 before they will have certified ballot titles to begin circulation. Over 112,000 signatures are needed by the first week of July to quality for the November 2020 ballot.
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