Article IX, Sections 6 to 10 of the Oregon State Constitution

Article IX of the Oregon State Constitution deals with "Finance".  There are 20 sections in this Article.  Some of the are long.  We will look at the next 5 sections in this post.

Section 6

This section requires that if the expenses exceed income, then the Legislature has to balance the budget the following year.  The language calls for levying a tax.  This should also suggest cutting expenditures.

Section 7

This section defines that spending bills can't contain other provisions such as amending laws on voting or other subjects.  This is a good thing and would prevent using a state government shutdown as a threat to pass other controversial legislation.

Section 8

This section has a no-nonsense requirement for transparent above board government procurement practices, but it also shows a bit of history.  As channeling of money or contracts for supplying paper to the government from local paper mills was such a potentially lucrative business opportunity, they inserted specific language at the level of the constitution to limit any back room dealing.

Section 9

This section prohibits imposing a tax on federally paid benefits.  This seems to be logical and straightforward.  It is just surprising to have the requirement spelled out at this level rather than as a regular law in the section on income tax.

Section 10

This section requires that government employees provide a contribution equal to 6% to the retirement program.

Article IX, Sections 3 to 5 of the Oregon State Constitution.

Article IX of the Oregon State Constitution deals with "Finance".  There are 20 sections in this Article.  Some of them are long.  We will look at the next 5 sections in this post.

Section 3

This section defines that taxes must be authorized by law.  For example, a regulation cannot require a tax that is not authorized by law.  Also, when writing tax laws, there needs to be a statement of purpose as to what the revenue can be spent on.  In this way, the legislature cannot fund things through some back-door accounting.  This also supports the line item veto that the governor wields under Article V.

Section 3a

This section discusses motor vehicle use and fuel taxes and directs it to be used for road-related expenditures.  With regards to motor fuels, it should be noted that gasoline appears to be on its way out and it is very difficult to track electricity used for cars vs. homes and as such this section will probably come under scrutiny in the future as electric cars become more prevalent.

Section 3b

This section restricts any additional taxes on oil and gas to 6%.  While this seems to provide for tax relief for citizens, it smells to me of special interest lobbying.  It may also have been considered as a method to stimulate oil and gas exploration in the state but I do not believe there are a lot of reserves in Oregon.

Section 4

This section defines that the authority to spend money lies with the Legislature.

Section 5

This section requires that financial statements for the state have to be published every other year.  This calls for every odd numbered year.  There is a risk that since elections happen at the end of the even numbered year, people will have forgotten the previous years financial statements published potentially some 22 months prior.  Clearly, citizens should be able to use more recent information to make voting decisions.

Article IX of the Oregon State Constitution

Article IX of the Oregon State Constitution deals with "Finance".  There are 20 sections in this Article.  Some of them are long.  We will look at the first 5 sections in this post.

Section 1

This section is important in that it defines that laws for assessment and taxation have to be general laws.  Either the people through ballot initiatives or the legislature may create a law that assesses and taxes the people.  Elsewhere, it does say that a ballot initiative cannot remove a law that assesses and taxes the people.

Section 1a

This section has two parts.  The first is that there can be no poll or head tax.  These are considered infringing on citizen's right to vote.  The second part indicates that no law respecting taxation can be issued as an emergency law.  This means that the taxation can only come into force 90 days after the conclusion of the legislative session.

Section 1b

This section has a sunset clause in it that has expired.  It is historically interesting, but irrelevant.

Section 1c

This section provides a mechanism for funding urban renewal and redevelopment projects based on the increased tax income due to the increase in value of the properties affected around the project.

Section 2

As shown above, there is clearly some document control issues apparent since for some reason it was decided to shove 3 sections in between 1 and 2.  Anyway, Section 2 basically says that the State is not to run deficits and is repeated in a later section.

Article VIII of the Oregon State Constitution

Having last time looked at the amended version of Article VII of the Oregon State Constitution, we are going to skip over the original version of Article VII.  We will move onto Article VIII which deals with Education and School Lands.

Section 1

This section establishes that there is a Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Section 2

This section defines the sources of income of the State of Oregon that are to be directed to be expended on Education.

Section 3

This section provides that the legislature must create a system of public schools by law.

Section 4

This defines the distribution of the monies received through sources in section 2 to be distributed in proportion to the school-age population in each county.

Section 5

This section defines that a State Land Board is created.  This board is responsible for the management of the lands in such a way that the State gets the greatest benefit from the land.  It is intended to have a long-term outlook.

Section 7

This section is a protectionist measure intended to bolster the sawmill industry in Oregon.  Note to self: see if there is available on-line studies that have determined if this in fact lead to jobs in Oregon or not.

Section 8

Part (a) establishes that every 2 years, a funding report has to be written and that funds have to be allocated to the schools where deemed necessary out of the general expenditure funds.  Here is a link to the latest such report.  Part (b) establishes a system of equalization grants.  These are somewhat controversial since they label districts as have's and have not's.

Section 3 to 9 of Article VII (Amended) of the Oregon State Constitution

In this post we will look at Sections 3 thru 9 of Article VII (Amended) of the Oregon State Constitution.  This Article deals with the Judicial Branch.

Section 3 (Amended)

This section deals with numerous things.  First, it defines that for civil cases, they can be tried by Jury if the value exceeds $750.  This seems to be in conflict with Article I, Section 17 as well as Amendment VII of the US constitution.  The next part deals with appeals and the basis for making appeals.  There is the provision, that upon appeal, conviction of someone of a crime cannot be made into a conviction for a greater crime.  In the original Article VII, there is a hint of the appeals process in Section 6 (original).

Section 4 (Amended)

This section defines that the supreme court shall sit at least once annually and at the end of the term, provide a summary of the decisions made to the Secretary of State.  It is the same as Section 7 of the Original.

Section 5 (Amended)

This section provides administrative detail on how juries work.  It directs the legislature to write laws on jury selection.  Also it does provide rights to the accused that, when charged with a felony, they have to be indicted by a grand jury.  It appears that in the original Section VII, some of this was covered in Section 18, but this was repealed in 1958 for some reason.

Section 6 (Amended)

This section deals with the removal of public officials.  For most positions included in the constitution, one of the qualifications is that they have not committed a felony.  This section provides that in case of conviction, especially for a felony, the judgment can include removal from office.  It is the same as the original Article VII, section 19.

Section 7 (Amended)

This is the oath of office for Supreme Court judges.  It is the same as Section 21 of the original.

Section 8 (Amended)

This provides a mechanism for removal of judges from the bench.  The original Section 20 also did likewise.  In the original, it specified the mechanism, but did not provide restriction on the reason for it.  In the amended, it does not provide a mechanism (just say "by law"), but it does provide restrictions on reasons for removal.

Section 9 (Amended)

This allows for juries between 6 and 12 members.

Article VII (Amended) of the Oregon State Constitution

We will now start looking at Article VII of the Oregon State Constitution.  This Article comes as two versions.  There is the "Amended" version and the "Original" version.  Here is a link that describes the motivations for the "Amended" version.  However as stated in a note to the original section, the original version still can be used as the basis for law and judicial decisions where it has not been superseded by the amended section or by laws.  This review will follow the Amended Article and cross-reference to the original where required.

Section 1 (Amended)

This section discusses the Supreme Court and that judges will be elected to a six year term.  In the original, we need to look at Section 1, 2 and 3 to get to the same effect.  The original Section 1 defined a structure of courts.  In the Amended version, these are now defined by statute.

Section 1a (Amended)

This section discusses the mandatory retirement of judges and that judges can be removed by the Legislature if deemed not to be able to perform his or her duties.  Section 20 of the original also includes a provision for removal of judges but there is no mandatory retirement requirement.  Included in the Amended section is that retired judges can be called back for service if it is needed and duly approved by people or the Legislature.

Section 2 (Amended)

This section discusses how the effect is to be implemented.  It says nothing changes until the legislature passes laws to change things.

Section 2a (Amended)

This section provides for passing out work and patching vacancies on the bench by the Supreme Court if so directed by law or by the people.

Section 2b (Amended)

This section is an exception to Article IV, Section 23 which prohibits the legislature from making special laws.  It allows that the legislature can make laws defining the courts, how they function and in fact, local requirements.  In the original version of the Article, and in the mind of the framers, the basic requirements of the structure would be in the constitution and thus never need the legislature to make laws about it, hence the prohibition in Article IV, section 23.

Article VI of the Oregon State Constitution

We now start to look at Article VI of the Oregon State Constitution.  This Article deals with the functions of the Secretary of State and entitled "Administrative Department".

Section 1

This section defines the roles of the Secretary of State and Treasurer of State (links go to their respective websites).  These posts are elected by the people for a term of four years.  As with the Governor, no one can hold these positions for more that two consecutive terms.

Section 2

This section defines the role of the Secretary of State.  Further definition is in the Oregon Revised Statutes.

Section 3

There is a seal of the state of Oregon and it is kept by the Secretary of State to be applies to official documents such as commissions and executive orders.

Section 4

No specific duties are defined for the Treasurer in the Constitution, but are defined by the Legislature.

Section 5

This section defines retention of records in a broad sense.  All three offices, Governor, Secretary of State and Treasurer are responsible for keeping records of the business of the state.

Section 6

This defines some requirements for local government at the county level.  Each county shall have an elected County Clerk, Sheriff and Treasurer.  The term of office for each is four years.

Section 7

This sections allows for other elected officials as defined in law.

Section 8

This section defines that local officials need to be residents in their jurisdiction.  Further, where a specific background or qualification is required, the person running for such office must have that qualification.  Specifically mentioned are the county assessor, county sheriff, county coroner and county surveyor.

Section 9

Vacancies can be filled in accordance with the laws defined by the legislature.

Section 10

This defines that the people in a county can adopt a home rule charter.  I have made a page that lists which counties have a home rule charter and provides links to those documents.