Editorial: What the Legislature has planned for the November ballot

Published 5:00 am Thursday, August 15, 2024

There will be no shortage of decisions to make on the November ballot. It doesn’t hurt to cheat a bit and peak ahead.

A small group of legislators met this week to go over the arguments that will be included to help explain ballot measures referred by legislators.

One is about impeachment. Oregon is the only state that does not have an impeachment process for executive officials — governor, treasurer, secretary of state. Legislators on both sides of the aisle believe it should.

The second sets up a commission so lawmakers wouldn’t be able to set their own salaries. Salary ranges for legislators, statewide elected officials, judges and district attorneys would be set directly by an independent commission. Legislators would no longer be able to vote themselves a raise.

The third is ranked choice voting. It would give voters the option to rank their favorite candidates for federal and statewide offices.

The language that is used to explain the legislative argument for the first two is somewhat easier, because there was broad support for them in the Legislature. Ranked choice voting is more tricky.

The legislative committee didn’t make any final decisions on Monday but just gathered feedback on some proposals. You can see the language that was proposed here: tinyurl.com/ORballot.

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