Article XI of Oregon State Constitution

In this post we are going to start looking at Article XI of the Oregon State Constitution.  This Article is entitled "Corporations and Internal Improvements".  This section has a lot of different administrative items in it, for example, property tax rules, government debts at the State and lower levels and other things.  There will be quite a number of posts on Article XI since some of the sections are quite long.

Section 1

This section prohibits the establishment of a State Bank, that is a bank that is a part of the government.  Also this section prohibits that any currency is issued by any bank or banking company that is established in Oregon.  The idea here is to ensure that only the Federally issued currency is used and to ensure that there is no involvement of State Government in questions of currency.  And if you think that local/special currency or script or notes are a historical artifact, have a look at Canadian Tire Money.

Section 2

This section first defines that the Legislature can issue general laws regarding corporations and municipalities, and not special laws.  This repeats Article IV, section 23.  Next, provided a charter complies with the constitution and all laws currently in force, the Legislature cannot change it, it can only be changed by the people.  I ran across this news story which claims that in the 2016 session, the Legislature has overstepped their bounds and violated this clause of the constitution.  I personally, don't know.  Also with regards to municipal charters, I have created this page which has links to some charters.

Section 2a, subsection (1)

This subsection provides for two towns to merge and become a single entity.  However, the Legislature, or the people need to write a law defining the specifics for the merger and mechanisms.

Section 2a, subsection (2)

This subsection provides for the possibility that the city and county governments can become a single government if a county has a city with more than 300,000 inhabitants.  This would only apply to Portland.  It is a general law that is crafted in a way as to become a special law.  I don't know if Portland and Multnomah county have in fact merged, I do not believe this to be the case.  One of the issues is that the city of Portland extends outside the boundaries of the county.  I will say at this point, that I have often wondered why do we need to have county government in the first place.  Clearly, there is history here and never really having lived in a rural area, maybe I am missing something fundamental, but for those people who complain about government waste, do we need 4 levels of government (federal, state, county, city)?

Section 3

This section probably belongs in some other section or only as a law, but we do see that everywhere in this document.  Anyway, it first states that stockholders are only liable up to the amount invested in a company.  However, stockholders in a bank or banking company are liable for double the amount invested, unless the bank has been FDIC insured, in which case the stockholder liability reverts back to the first case.

Article X-A, section 6 of the Oregon State Constitution

In this post, we look at Article X-A, Section 6 of the Oregon State Constitution.  Article X-A deals with catastrophic disasters and Section 6 defines how to end the emergency powers granted by the declaration of an emergency.

Section 6, Subsection (1)

This subsection defines that the default length of catastrophic disasters is 30 days.  The Governor can declare a catastrophic disaster ended earlier, if necessary.

Section 6, Subsection (2)

As had been described in a different section, the Governor had to call the legislature to an emergency session upon declaring a catastrophic disaster and that they had to meet within 30 days.  So long as three fifths of the people who show up vote to do so, the catastrophic disaster can be extended.

Section 6, Subsection (3)

This subsection says that the Legislature's extension or ending of the catastrophic disaster has to be passed the same as any bill and that it can be vetoed by the Governor.

Section 6, Subsection (4)

This subsection seems to say that the Legislature can pass temporary measures that violate the constitution so long as they are justified actions in face of the declared catastrophic disaster.

Section 6, Subsection (5)

This subsection has the restriction that some event cannot be a catastrophic disaster twice.  Kind of like the double jeopardy clause.

Article X-A, section 4 and 5 of the Oregon State Constitution

In this post, we look at Section 4 and 5 of Article X-A of the Oregon State Constitution.  Article X-A is entitled "Catastrophic Disasters".  Section 4 deals with emergency powers of the Legislature during an emergency. Section 5 provides for virtual house and senate assemblies.

Section 4, Subsection (1)

This subsection defines 6 additional powers that the Legislature can exercise during an emergency.  Each of these powers is an exception to a constitutional requirement.  In reading this section, you get the feeling that those who proposed the amendment wanted to throw out the constitution and say, look, the Legislature will do what is necessary and reasonable in an emergency, we can trust them.  Oh! Look, these sections were proposed by the Legislature!  This kind of thing is what causes people to go cynical about politics and politicians.
If you are interested in the details, you have to track back all the references, but the net effect is that if there is an emergency called, the legislature can do anything with the money it has "to address the catastrophe" unshackled from the all of the usual spending rules and quorum requirements.

Section 4, Subsection (2)

This subsection states that the Governor can still veto any legislation per the usual method described in the constitution during an emergency.  For legislation that uses any of the provided exceptions in subsection 1, the Governor is the only check and balance against misuse of these powers.

Section 5

This section provides for the possibility that if a member is not able to attend in person due to a catastrophe, since we have technology, they could attend in some virtual fashion.  The in-person requirement is really to address the authentication of the person's identity when voting.  Using different technology should really be addressed ahead of time in terms of determining what will be acceptable vs. not.

Article X-A of the Oregon State Constitution, section 3

This post looks at Section 3 of Article X-A of the Oregon State Constitution.  This Article deals with catastrophic disasters.  The section deals with procedural requirements for the legislature during catastrophic disasters.

Section 3, subsection (1)

This subsection allows that the legislature can meet during an emergency at a different place other than the Capitol.

Section 3, subsection (2)

This subsection waives quorum requirements.  This section actually has a real wording issue.  Background: so let's say we have a big catastrophe and this happens at a time when the legislature is not in session and the Representatives and Senators are all back at their districts.  The catastrophe creates problems for communication and travel.  So in order to be able to conduct business, not enough of the members of the House or Senate can make it to the place where they are going to hold the meetings to achieve quorum per Article IV, section 12.  This section allows that if two thirds of the members who can make it show up, you have quorum and can proceed.  The problem is how do you determine what is the whole number of the people who "can show up".  One would think that 100% of the people who can show up show up every time.  So any meeting called will have quorum.  Thankfully, we have never had a bad enough catastrophe to invoke this section and hopefully we never do, because the section will get challenged in court if ever invoked.

Section 3, subsection (3)

This subsection modifies the rules to pass a bill into law such that as per the above, two thirds of the members who can show up is enough to pass the bill in each chamber.

Section 3, subsection (4)

This subsection modifies the rules to pass an appropriations or taxation bill into law such that in line with the subsections above, three fifths of the members who can show up is enough to pass the bill in each chamber.

Section 3, subsection (5)

This subsection provides an exemption to the requirement in section 1a of Article IX that taxation bills cannot be emergency bills.  We imagine one of these superhero movies where the villain creates chaos so that an emergency is invokes so that special provisions and powers can be used to further the plans to take over the world.

Article X-A of the Oregon State Constitution

In this post we look at Article X-A of the Oregon State Constitution.  This Article is entitled "Catastrophic disasters" and deals with emergency powers granted to the Governor (mostly) and others to deal with an emergency.

Section 1, subsection (1)

This subsection defines what a catastrophic disaster is.

Section 1, subsection (2)

This subsection gives some examples of catastrophic disasters.

Section 1, subsection (3)

This subsection states that the Governor has to issue a finding that a catastrophic disaster has occurred.

Section 1, subsection (4)

This subsection states that the Governor has to convene the Legislature unless they are already in session or are about to hold a session.

Section 1, subsection (5)

This subsection defines that the response taken to the disaster should not include other things.  For example, if the legislature is convened in an emergency session, regular kinds of laws should not be passed, just any emergency appropriations bills or other rules regarding the needed response to the disaster.

Section 2, subsection (1)

This subsection gives the authority to the Governor to use money to immediately react even if that money was allocated to something else.

Section 2, subsection (2)

This subsection limits the authority of the Governor granted in the previous subsection up to the time that the legislature meets and then makes the appropriate laws to allocate the money needed for the disaster.

Article X of the Oregon State Constitution

In this post we will look at Article X of the Oregon State Constitution.  This article deals with the Militia.  The Militia is the Oregon National Guard and there is an Oregon Military Department which is under the executive branch.

Section 1

This section directs the Legislature to write laws regarding the militia for the defense and protection of the state.  Since times have changed, there does not seem to be a need for the defense and protection of the state.  However, having a force which can respond in emergencies is definitely a social good for public security.

Section 2

This section provides for conscientious objectors.

Section 3

This section defines that the top military officer is the Adjutant General and that this person will recommend to the Governor who are to be officers and that these officers are commissioned and appointed by the Governor.

Article IX, sections 11 to 15 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 last 5 sections in this post.

Section 11

This section prohibits that the state or any political subdivision can guarantee a rate of return on retirement investments.

Section 12

This section prohibits considering unused sick leave in calculations of retirement benefits.

Section 13

This section references the fact that section 10, 11, 12 and 13 were all passed at the same time.  If one of the sections was found to be unconstitutional, that does not affect the other sections, again, just because they were passed all at the same time.

Section 14

This section has some specific rules, probably should be in the laws rather than in the constitution. This defines what is know as "the kicker".  These rules deal with surplus taxes.  An estimate is prepared per subsection (1), and then the actual amount is calculated per subsection (2).  Per subsection (3), the excess gets allocated to education purposes or per subsection (4), it is returned to the taxpayers.  Subsection (5) defines how the money is to be returned to the taxpayers.  Subsection (6) defines that the estimate prepared in subsection (1) can be amended by an emergency law passed by two thirds of the legislature.  Finally in subsection (7) it states what is exempted by this section of the constitution.

Section 15

This section prohibits any taxes on the transfer of real property.  However it does grandfather existing taxes.