Sunday, January 8, 2017
Article V Section 14 to 18 of the Oregon State Constitution
In this post we will look at Section 14 to 18 of Article V of the Oregon State Constitution. Article V is entitled Executive Branch and about the rights, powers and responsibilities of the Governor of Oregon.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Article V, Sections 9 to 13 of the Oregon State Constitution
We will look at Article V, Section 9 to 13 of the Oregon State Constitution. Article V is entitled the Executive Branch and mostly defines what the role and responsibility of the Governor is.
Section 9
This section defines that the Governor is commander in chief of the state's military. These should be commanded in case of insurrection or invasion. Do you think the military should be called out regarding the invasion of Californians?Section 10
This section is mostly motherhood and apple pie. Here is states that the governor must ensure that the laws passed by the legislature, even if they are unpopular, must be enforced and/or implemented. An example here would be Executive Order 16-12 which mentions that law enforcement is not keeping records as required by statute. The point here is that when you have a disagreement between the Governor and the Legislature, the Governor can't just not enforce a law that she does not agree with.Section 11
This section provides for the Executive Branch to write reports and suggest bills to be presented to the Legislature.Section 12
This section allows the Governor to, in case of emergency, convene both houses of the legislature to consider a specific piece of business. A quick search didn't come up with any emergency sessions recently, at least in Oregon.Section 13
This section directs the Governor to transact any required State business. Further, if there is a need for information from the Administrative (Article VI) or Military departments (Article X), a written request for this information must be acted on by the responsible officers in those departments.Friday, January 6, 2017
Article V, Section 7 to 8a of the Oregon State Constitution
In this post we look at Article V, Sections 7 to 8a of the Oregon State Constitution. Article V is entitled "Executive Branch" and defines the role of Governor.
Section 7 defines the term as 4 years long. This repeats what is stated in Section 1. The Oregon Revised Statutes section 176 give the exact timing.
Section 8a defines a succession in the case the Governor cannot fulfill her or his duties. The chain goes to:
This succession provision has been used, most recently with Brown taking over from Kitzhaber, but looking through the list of Governors and dates, it has occurred regularly that a the 4 year term has not been fulfilled. There is a list of Governors and their dates of office here.
Section 7 defines the term as 4 years long. This repeats what is stated in Section 1. The Oregon Revised Statutes section 176 give the exact timing.
Section 8a defines a succession in the case the Governor cannot fulfill her or his duties. The chain goes to:
- Secretary of State
- State Treasurer
- President of the Senate
- Speaker of the House of Representatives
This succession provision has been used, most recently with Brown taking over from Kitzhaber, but looking through the list of Governors and dates, it has occurred regularly that a the 4 year term has not been fulfilled. There is a list of Governors and their dates of office here.
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Artcile V of the Oregon State Constitution
In this post we start looking at Article V of the Oregon State Constitution. Article V is entitled "Executive Branch" and discusses the Governor of the state. The next article deals with the administrative side and looks at the Secretary of State and Treasurer which appear to be separate from the Governor.
Sections 2 and 3 define the qualifications of candidates for governor:
Section 4 deals with the election process for the Governor of Oregon. The election for governor is held as directed by the Legislature. Currently, it is held at the same time as the general elections, on an even numbered year. Once the resulted are tabulated by the Secretary of State, they are given to the Speaker of the House of Representatives who then announces the winner at a joint session.
Section 5 defines that the winner is determined by who gets the most votes and if there is a tie, then the two houses of congress get to vote and decide which of the tied candidates wins.
Section 6 appears to repeat section 4. There is some detail provided in the Oregon Revised Statutes section 176.
Sections 2 and 3 define the qualifications of candidates for governor:
- Citizenship: Must be a citizen of the USA
- Age: Must be 30 years old (unless she or he is appointed through the process of succession)
- Residency: Must have resided in Oregon for 3 years.
- The Governor cannot hold a different position such as Senator at the same time.
Section 4 deals with the election process for the Governor of Oregon. The election for governor is held as directed by the Legislature. Currently, it is held at the same time as the general elections, on an even numbered year. Once the resulted are tabulated by the Secretary of State, they are given to the Speaker of the House of Representatives who then announces the winner at a joint session.
Section 5 defines that the winner is determined by who gets the most votes and if there is a tie, then the two houses of congress get to vote and decide which of the tied candidates wins.
Section 6 appears to repeat section 4. There is some detail provided in the Oregon Revised Statutes section 176.
Wednesday, January 4, 2017
Article IV, Sections 27 through 32 of the Oregon State Constitution
In this post we will look at Article IV, Section 27 through 32 of the Oregon State Constitution. Article IV deals with the Legislative branch of government.
Section 27 defines that by default, every law is a public law. Here is a link that discusses some types of law.
Section 28 defines that all laws passed shall take effect only 90 days after the session in which they were passed has ended. This can be circumvented and the law become effective sooner in the case of an "emergency". However the intent here is that this 90 period allows for the citizens to organize a referendum as per Article IV, Section 1(3)(a) if they object to the law. A lot of laws get written such that they take effect January 1st of the year following the one they were passed. As a result, you get new stories such as this.
Section 29 guarantees the legislators get paid. But not much, so don't get into it for the money.
Section 30 repeats what is in some other earlier section that representatives and senators cannot hold multiple government positions. Pretty clearly to prevent conflicts of interest.
Section 31 defines the oath of office that needs to be administered and that the Governor, Secretary of State or a judge of the Supreme Court shall administer it. Recently in the news was a story that they were not going to allow the oath to be taken via Skype.
Section 32 deals with income tax. This section specifically allows for the State of Oregon to piggy-back onto the federal income tax rules and concur with them.
There's not really a lot to say about these sections. And since we looked at 33 last post, that brings us to the end of Article IV. Next we'll look at Article V which deals with the Executive Branch.
Section 27 defines that by default, every law is a public law. Here is a link that discusses some types of law.
Section 28 defines that all laws passed shall take effect only 90 days after the session in which they were passed has ended. This can be circumvented and the law become effective sooner in the case of an "emergency". However the intent here is that this 90 period allows for the citizens to organize a referendum as per Article IV, Section 1(3)(a) if they object to the law. A lot of laws get written such that they take effect January 1st of the year following the one they were passed. As a result, you get new stories such as this.
Section 29 guarantees the legislators get paid. But not much, so don't get into it for the money.
Section 30 repeats what is in some other earlier section that representatives and senators cannot hold multiple government positions. Pretty clearly to prevent conflicts of interest.
Section 31 defines the oath of office that needs to be administered and that the Governor, Secretary of State or a judge of the Supreme Court shall administer it. Recently in the news was a story that they were not going to allow the oath to be taken via Skype.
Section 32 deals with income tax. This section specifically allows for the State of Oregon to piggy-back onto the federal income tax rules and concur with them.
There's not really a lot to say about these sections. And since we looked at 33 last post, that brings us to the end of Article IV. Next we'll look at Article V which deals with the Executive Branch.
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Article IV, Sections 22 through 26 plus 33 of the Oregon State Constitution
In this post we will look at Article IV, Sections 22 through 26 plus 33 of the Oregon State Constitution. Article IV deals with the Legislative branch of the state government.
Section 22 defines how previously enacted laws are amended. The specific wording has to be published for the amendment rather than just a reference. Additionally, if multiple bills are passed which amend the same section of the same law, the one signed by the governor last is considered official. I have a hard time believing how this can come to be, but at least it is defined in case it does.
Section 23 defines areas where the legislature cannot make "special or local laws". Special laws would apply to an individual, corporation or association. A local law would apply to only one or some few jurisdictions. This section is intended to keep the state legislature out of local politics in a similar way that the US constitution tries to keep the federal government out of local state affairs.
Section 24 states that you can take the State of Oregon to court, but the Legislature cannot write and pass a law that authorizes a suit against the State of Oregon.
Section 25 defines the proportion of the vote required to pass a bill. Bills for raising revenue (read taxes) have to be passed by a three fifths majority. Other bills only require a majority vote. However, note Section 33 which defines that an act to reduce a criminal sentence requires a two thirds majority (more than for taxes!!) when that sentence was included in an initiative or referendum passed by the people. I have not been able to figure out if this also means that the Legislature has the ability to commute death penalties under this section.
Section 26 defines that a member of the Legislature can have recorded their dissenting opinion in the journal of the branch in which they sit.
Section 22 defines how previously enacted laws are amended. The specific wording has to be published for the amendment rather than just a reference. Additionally, if multiple bills are passed which amend the same section of the same law, the one signed by the governor last is considered official. I have a hard time believing how this can come to be, but at least it is defined in case it does.
Section 23 defines areas where the legislature cannot make "special or local laws". Special laws would apply to an individual, corporation or association. A local law would apply to only one or some few jurisdictions. This section is intended to keep the state legislature out of local politics in a similar way that the US constitution tries to keep the federal government out of local state affairs.
Section 24 states that you can take the State of Oregon to court, but the Legislature cannot write and pass a law that authorizes a suit against the State of Oregon.
Section 25 defines the proportion of the vote required to pass a bill. Bills for raising revenue (read taxes) have to be passed by a three fifths majority. Other bills only require a majority vote. However, note Section 33 which defines that an act to reduce a criminal sentence requires a two thirds majority (more than for taxes!!) when that sentence was included in an initiative or referendum passed by the people. I have not been able to figure out if this also means that the Legislature has the ability to commute death penalties under this section.
Section 26 defines that a member of the Legislature can have recorded their dissenting opinion in the journal of the branch in which they sit.
Monday, January 2, 2017
Article IV, § 15 thru 21 of the Oregon State Constitution
In this post, I will look at Sections 15 thru 21 of the Oregon State Constitution.
Section 15 allows that by a two thirds vote, a member can be expelled. I can't find any info on members being expelled from the state legislature, but here is an article from the Atlantic about members of Congress being expelled.
Section 16 allows that the legislature can have someone jailed for a maximum of 24 hours for disrupting the assembly.
Section 17 seems to be just a motherhood and apple pie statement.
Section 18 starts a series of sections on how the legislature is to function. Bills, except for bills which raise revenue can be introduced in either branch. However, if you are going to raise revenue (that is taxes) the bill has to be introduced in the House and then it proceeds to the Senate.
Section 19 defines that bills have to be read in each house 3 times. If there is a high level of agreement about the bill, a two thirds vote will allow it to be voted on without reading.
Section 20 seems to require that each bill be fairly specifically about one subject. Ideally, this should prevent such negotiation as slipping in a rule change on property right over a bill regarding criminal prosecutions. I haven't really looked at the bills on the legislature's website to see how closely this is followed, but I will do so at some future date.
Section 21 is a guideline. Ideally, the laws of the land are written in a way such that most citizens could read through something and grasp what is going on with it. However, this section is probably deemed to try and eliminate pedantic styles of writing as well as an overly reliance on technical language. Unfortunately, since most of the laws are written by lawyers, they end up being written in a lawyerly fashion and often words have deeper and richer meanings than that used in ordinary language. As such, "plain language" is not the result. Further, I want to say that in my experience in Quality Assurance and in developing and improving manufacturing processes, I have found that you start by putting down a simple rule. Then you start asking the people who do the work questions (auditing, if you like) and you very quickly find that the "simple rule" actually has all kinds of exceptions, special cases and ambiguities that once you write it into a procedure, it either fails to work as intended or you have to abandon "plain language" and add the technical details that end up being the real value add in a process.
Section 15 allows that by a two thirds vote, a member can be expelled. I can't find any info on members being expelled from the state legislature, but here is an article from the Atlantic about members of Congress being expelled.
Section 16 allows that the legislature can have someone jailed for a maximum of 24 hours for disrupting the assembly.
Section 17 seems to be just a motherhood and apple pie statement.
Section 18 starts a series of sections on how the legislature is to function. Bills, except for bills which raise revenue can be introduced in either branch. However, if you are going to raise revenue (that is taxes) the bill has to be introduced in the House and then it proceeds to the Senate.
Section 19 defines that bills have to be read in each house 3 times. If there is a high level of agreement about the bill, a two thirds vote will allow it to be voted on without reading.
Section 20 seems to require that each bill be fairly specifically about one subject. Ideally, this should prevent such negotiation as slipping in a rule change on property right over a bill regarding criminal prosecutions. I haven't really looked at the bills on the legislature's website to see how closely this is followed, but I will do so at some future date.
Section 21 is a guideline. Ideally, the laws of the land are written in a way such that most citizens could read through something and grasp what is going on with it. However, this section is probably deemed to try and eliminate pedantic styles of writing as well as an overly reliance on technical language. Unfortunately, since most of the laws are written by lawyers, they end up being written in a lawyerly fashion and often words have deeper and richer meanings than that used in ordinary language. As such, "plain language" is not the result. Further, I want to say that in my experience in Quality Assurance and in developing and improving manufacturing processes, I have found that you start by putting down a simple rule. Then you start asking the people who do the work questions (auditing, if you like) and you very quickly find that the "simple rule" actually has all kinds of exceptions, special cases and ambiguities that once you write it into a procedure, it either fails to work as intended or you have to abandon "plain language" and add the technical details that end up being the real value add in a process.
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