Latest / Crosstabs / Leg Days are Now "Straw Polls"

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Leg Days are Now "Straw Polls" · Crosstabs

0:00
it just it is i've started a timer brian 30 minutes only okay
0:06
mad dash well it's a
0:08
good it's a good day for because it's you know lc deadline day
0:12
so it's like a mad
0:13
dash to the finish gotta get back to work and there's no real
0:17
reason why the
0:18
SPEAKER_00: deadline has to be friday of january you know 16th it's very arbitrary
0:23
I think there's a couple – there's probably maybe the chief
0:26
clerk's office needs
0:27
SPEAKER_01: maybe a week to process all the bills because they happen all at once,
0:30
SPEAKER_01: right?
0:30
SPEAKER_01: But this isn't pre-session filing for long.
0:33
SPEAKER_01: This isn't 1,500 bills.
0:35
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's early.
0:37
SPEAKER_01: Over the weekend, they're not going to do anything at 4.58 today.
0:40
SPEAKER_01: No, that's true also.
0:42
SPEAKER_01: Monday at 5.
0:43
SPEAKER_01: Come on.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: I would just say over the weekend,
0:46
SPEAKER_00: Monday morning at 8 a.m.,
0:48
SPEAKER_00: our inbox is closed,
0:49
SPEAKER_00: right,
0:49
SPEAKER_00: or something like that.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
0:52
SPEAKER_01: Have you seen some of the stuff people are sending around now?
0:55
SPEAKER_01: They're like,
0:55
SPEAKER_01: well,
0:56
SPEAKER_01: you know,
0:56
we'd like to modify a hundred year old law that everybody's
1:00
argued about forever.
1:01
SPEAKER_01: We're just going to do that real quick in the short session.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: Sure.
1:03
SPEAKER_01: Well, fine.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: Might as well.
1:05
SPEAKER_00: Right.
1:05
SPEAKER_01: What else are we going to do?
1:08
you gotta lay foundation for this stuff i'm fine with a big
1:12
topic if it's we're
1:13
continuing the conversation from last long because sometimes
1:16
you can't let stuff
1:17
sit one long to another long there's just too much time and so
1:21
if you need to bring
1:21
it back in short and that's it but you have to show me the bill
1:24
number from 2025
1:26
SPEAKER_01: before i even think about touching that garbage let me tell you um
1:31
SPEAKER_01: But people have some big stuff they want to bring.
1:33
SPEAKER_01: Golden, I think this one's going to be interesting.
1:35
SPEAKER_01: Golden's got his lobby reform bill.
1:39
You know,
1:40
these poor lobbyists,
1:41
they can't do conflict checks on their own.
1:43
SPEAKER_01: So if they just register with the state system,
1:47
SPEAKER_01: what their client support and oppose,
1:48
SPEAKER_01: then they'll be able to check those conflicts.
1:51
SPEAKER_01: And as you know,
1:52
SPEAKER_01: I mean,
1:53
Jeff Golden is very concerned about what the lobbyists like and
1:56
don't like.
1:57
SPEAKER_01: And he wants to make sure they have all the tools they need.
2:00
SPEAKER_01: That's going to be fascinating.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: His other bill, he's doubling down on the wildfire stuff.
2:06
So now he's going to mandate that insurance agencies have to
2:09
give you breaks if you
2:10
SPEAKER_00: put in hardening requirements.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: So he's so trying to double down on the wildfire stuff.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: It's pretty funny.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: His bills are, if anything, they're entertaining.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: So it's kind of interesting.
2:24
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
2:24
SPEAKER_01: OK,
2:25
SPEAKER_01: I think also that for that one and specifically,
2:29
if you're going to go out there and just mandate people's
2:31
business practices,
2:33
SPEAKER_01: they're not going to do business here.
2:34
That's the biggest problem is if you're going to if major parts
2:37
of their business
2:37
SPEAKER_01: are just going to be subject to whatever the state says you have to do,
2:40
SPEAKER_01: like we're going to not have more insurance.
2:44
SPEAKER_01: But yeah.
2:45
SPEAKER_01: All right.
2:46
SPEAKER_01: So we've got a we've got a we've got a quick agenda, a short agenda.
2:49
SPEAKER_01: Can I rant for I'll take two minutes?
2:52
SPEAKER_01: to rant about ledge days.
2:55
SPEAKER_01: I figured out what the problem is with ledge days.
2:56
SPEAKER_01: One, they shouldn't exist.
2:57
But barring that,
2:59
two,
3:00
we crammed five days worth of work into three days of
3:03
committees.
3:04
SPEAKER_01: I was like, what is wrong with it?
3:06
And then what they do,
3:07
because ways and means,
3:08
you try to prep for ways and means,
3:10
forget it.
3:11
SPEAKER_01: Because they schedule out the subs.
3:14
SPEAKER_01: Not all the subs meet on Monday.
3:15
SPEAKER_01: Some of them are Tuesday.
3:17
SPEAKER_01: Some of them are Wednesday.
3:18
SPEAKER_01: So they can't even post all the materials for full on Thursday morning.
3:24
SPEAKER_01: Until they get done with all of the subs on Tuesday and Wednesday,
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SPEAKER_01: I'm a thrown off because they,
3:29
SPEAKER_01: they put ledge days in the middle of the week.
3:32
SPEAKER_01: It's not the best version of Wednesdays is Monday, Tuesday.
3:35
SPEAKER_01: You have time to prep Wednesday,
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SPEAKER_01: Thursday,
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SPEAKER_01: Friday,
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SPEAKER_01: ledge days,
3:38
SPEAKER_01: Monday,
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SPEAKER_01: ledge days is a nightmare.
3:41
SPEAKER_01: And, but in the middle, everybody's just confused.
3:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
3:44
SPEAKER_01: So you're trying to cram three days worth of work.
3:46
SPEAKER_01: You scheduled it so that your subs meet both of the days.
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So you can't prep for full until the subs are done to see the
3:53
conversation,
3:54
SPEAKER_01: everything that happened.
3:55
SPEAKER_01: So it's just like, it's like, what's the point of prepping?
3:57
SPEAKER_01: And then that was the most enormous agenda I have ever seen.
4:01
for a ledge days ways and means so the whole thing is is messed
4:06
up we need to
4:08
streamline or reduce what we're doing in ledge days if it's
4:11
gonna be three days or
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it just needs to be a whole week it just just take the regular
4:15
schedule and have it
4:16
SPEAKER_01: show up in the ledge days week it seems easy
4:20
SPEAKER_00: Or just call it, you know, prep week or something.
4:23
SPEAKER_00: I'm with you.
4:24
SPEAKER_00: I think that the ways and means thing was that was a one.
4:28
SPEAKER_00: The room was pretty cool.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: I like the new room.
4:30
SPEAKER_00: I'll say that was kind of cool.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: Very cool.
4:33
SPEAKER_00: No more no more small table.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: So that part's,
4:36
SPEAKER_00: you know,
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kind of a bummer because it's always fun to look at the people
4:39
that have to sit at
4:39
SPEAKER_00: the small table,
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SPEAKER_00: the kids table.
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SPEAKER_01: No more ways and means kids table.
4:44
SPEAKER_01: We are now full on Galactic Senate.
4:47
SPEAKER_01: Star Trek hearing rooms have been activated.
4:50
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that part's kind of cool.
4:52
I like the seal in the background and all that sort of stuff
4:56
was kind of fun.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: So the microphone's still got a little bit of an issue there.
5:00
SPEAKER_00: I think they got to work on some of the microphone stuff,
5:02
SPEAKER_00: kind of pauses if you move your head away a little bit,
5:05
SPEAKER_00: like it doesn't catch it right away.
5:07
And then,
5:08
of course,
5:08
the overflow room is a two-minute delay in the overflow room.
5:12
SPEAKER_00: Like, we got to get that fixed.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: Like, you can't have a...
5:14
SPEAKER_00: There's a three-second delay, but a two-minute delay?
5:17
SPEAKER_00: That's just – that's not – that's unacceptable.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: So they need to fix that.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: It's first run.
5:23
SPEAKER_01: It's the first run of these.
5:24
SPEAKER_01: It's good to have a chance to practice with ledge days.
5:27
SPEAKER_01: I think there's – one of the things that was noticed, there isn't water.
5:30
The little water containers that they have in the upstairs
5:33
committee rooms are not
5:34
SPEAKER_01: in the basement yet.
5:35
SPEAKER_01: So hopefully we get – maybe they'll be cool and they'll be like metal.
5:39
SPEAKER_01: Maybe they'll spit out coffee too.
5:40
SPEAKER_01: I mean I don't know.
5:41
SPEAKER_01: I mean the fancy committee rooms deserve –
5:43
SPEAKER_01: fancy machines, right?
5:45
SPEAKER_00: So we'll see what they do there.
5:46
What's the Star Trek thing where they go in and it just makes
5:49
whatever you want?
5:50
You go,
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you know,
5:51
Picard would always say herbal tea hot and then it would just
5:53
make it.
5:55
SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's right.
5:56
SPEAKER_01: I do not remember what it is called.
5:58
SPEAKER_01: And I can't even remember the thing, the beam me up.
6:02
If you can get between,
6:04
the capital is big now,
6:05
so you kind of need the beam me up.
6:07
SPEAKER_01: If we can get that going.
6:09
SPEAKER_01: I found it.
6:10
SPEAKER_01: No, I think it's cool.
6:11
SPEAKER_01: I do like the new space.
6:15
SPEAKER_00: And with that committee,
6:16
SPEAKER_00: I think the only problem there and the hearings,
6:18
SPEAKER_00: some of those hearings that they're hearing their bills,
6:20
SPEAKER_00: like we're basically having bill hearings.
6:23
You know,
6:23
and that's not and they're trying to speed up the process of
6:26
short.
6:27
SPEAKER_00: I think if you're just going to do that,
6:29
I think you just do it the week before short and just call it
6:32
prep week or
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SPEAKER_00: something.
6:34
SPEAKER_00: And then we just jam stuff through.
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But I hate the whole go for a week and then everybody goes away
6:39
for two weeks and
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SPEAKER_00: then we come back and we just,
6:41
SPEAKER_00: you know,
6:42
SPEAKER_00: we run.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: I thought the Ways and Means was really great when.
6:46
We were voting on stuff early so they could recommend to
6:49
themselves to vote on it
6:52
SPEAKER_00: in short session.
6:53
SPEAKER_00: That was pretty hilarious.
6:54
SPEAKER_00: And Senator McLean had some of the best.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: It was some of his best material he's had in a long time.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: He was on fire.
7:01
SPEAKER_00: And I love the fact that he started saying straw poll.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: So I guess we're taking a straw poll.
7:08
SPEAKER_00: It just made me laugh.
7:10
SPEAKER_00: I thought it was funny.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: Super long meeting, three hours almost.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: Insane.
7:16
SPEAKER_01: Some of the big ones,
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SPEAKER_01: too,
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SPEAKER_01: you weren't even taking a straw poll because they said,
7:21
SPEAKER_01: well,
7:21
SPEAKER_01: here's how much the rebalance is going to cost.
7:24
SPEAKER_01: We're not going to spend that.
7:25
SPEAKER_01: We're asking LFO to come up with a plan.
7:27
SPEAKER_01: It's like...
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SPEAKER_01: We have to vote to ask LFO to come up with a plan?
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
7:31
SPEAKER_01: Don't remember that.
7:32
And usually the Koch chairs can just go to LFO and be like,
7:35
come up with a plan.
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SPEAKER_01: And I don't think anybody has to vote on that.
7:37
SPEAKER_01: So I think that some of those items did not make sense to me.
7:42
And I would like to understand better the rationale on some of
7:46
that stuff.
7:47
SPEAKER_01: Maybe there is one.
7:49
I don't think – I mean I think the main rationale that was
7:52
explained was –
7:53
This gives us a jumpstart on short session and really tells you
7:57
again why the cross
7:59
tabs layout for session of three months every year is way
8:03
better because 35 days is
8:06
SPEAKER_01: not enough time.
8:07
SPEAKER_01: I mean, I don't even know.
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SPEAKER_01: Brian, what do you think?
8:08
SPEAKER_01: Will we use all 35 days?
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SPEAKER_01: That takes us all the way to,
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SPEAKER_01: I think it's like Monday,
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SPEAKER_01: March 8th or something like that is the technically true sine die.
8:18
SPEAKER_01: I can't imagine being in the legislature for these 35 days and Monday,
8:24
SPEAKER_01: March 9th and everybody going on the weekend and be like,
8:28
SPEAKER_01: do we want to push through or do we want to come back on Monday?
8:30
SPEAKER_01: Let's just come back on Monday.
8:31
SPEAKER_01: So I doubt we go 35 exactly.
8:34
SPEAKER_01: How many days do you think we will go?
8:38
SPEAKER_00: I think we'll get you like that.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: I changed the view.
8:42
SPEAKER_01: Maybe we could go on YouTube with this.
8:44
SPEAKER_01: I know, right?
8:45
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of cool.
8:45
SPEAKER_01: We need to fix your glare though, but that's cool.
8:50
SPEAKER_01: Brian put us in immersive view because we're an audio podcast.
8:54
SPEAKER_01: We're playing around.
8:55
SPEAKER_01: I don't think we're ready to go video, but he put us in immersive view.
8:57
We were in some sort of,
8:59
one of the coolest looking coffee shops I've ever seen.
9:02
SPEAKER_01: And it was pretty cool.
9:03
SPEAKER_01: You know what we are ready for?
9:05
SPEAKER_01: We're ready for a producer.
9:08
If you are ready to produce the most popular Oregon politics
9:15
capital podcast for
9:17
SPEAKER_01: zero dollars,
9:18
SPEAKER_01: please reach out and let us know.
9:20
SPEAKER_01: We might throw in a sandwich or coffee or something.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: Maybe only at Adam's ribs.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: So anyways, I think.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think we make it.
9:30
SPEAKER_00: I think we're going to go to that Friday.
9:33
what is that the sixth yeah I think we end up going to Friday I
9:37
just think I just
9:37
think there's too much stuff going on there's too much to do I
9:41
think they'll be
9:42
able to wrap it into a into a bow and and get get it out of
9:47
there by Friday because
9:48
people hate going to Sunday unless there's something huge to
9:53
have happen I don't
9:54
think you know and now that now that the gas taxes gas tax off
9:58
the table I think
9:59
SPEAKER_00: we're done Friday
10:01
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I agree.
10:03
SPEAKER_01: If there's a big good thing we can get done,
10:06
SPEAKER_01: people would be willing to stretch it to Saturday maybe.
10:10
But worst case,
10:11
nobody wants to show up on Sunday and there won't be a quorum
10:14
on Monday.
10:15
SPEAKER_01: Guaranteed.
10:16
SPEAKER_01: Call the session if you want.
10:17
SPEAKER_01: Nobody's going to be there.
10:19
SPEAKER_00: Because you're in territory now.
10:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's no reason to be there.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: Right.
10:22
SPEAKER_01: And you're in the territory, right?
10:23
SPEAKER_01: You've got your – I think everybody – there might be –
10:27
SPEAKER_01: I haven't got the counts,
10:28
SPEAKER_01: but there might have been a couple of unexcused absences last session,
10:30
SPEAKER_01: but almost everybody's got all nine to use.
10:34
So you really if you don't want to show up on Monday,
10:36
you do not have to do anybody.
10:39
SPEAKER_01: And then they'll reset going into the next session.
10:41
SPEAKER_01: Right.
10:42
SPEAKER_01: So I agree with you.
10:43
SPEAKER_01: Friday, Saturday is the most likely most likely outcome there.
10:48
SPEAKER_01: So and so you mentioned the gas tax and this this I am huge props,
10:54
SPEAKER_01: honestly,
10:55
SPEAKER_01: to whoever found this 90 year old opinion,
11:01
SPEAKER_01: legal opinion.
11:01
So what we're talking about is there's an AG opinion dated
11:06
November 13th,
11:07
1935.
11:09
And it was asked the governor,
11:12
Charles Martin,
11:13
asked Attorney General I.H.
11:15
SPEAKER_01: Van Winkle.
11:16
whether lawmakers could repeal a bill instead of engaging in a
11:20
ballot fight.
11:21
So so it sounds like they would have passed the bill in that
11:25
1935 session.
11:26
And then people were collecting signatures and it was over
11:29
student fees at Oregon colleges.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: Right.
11:31
SPEAKER_01: So a fee tax.
11:34
SPEAKER_01: Funny.
11:35
SPEAKER_01: So they ask and the opinion.
11:37
Basically says that if you're going to have an initiative
11:41
system and it's in your
11:42
SPEAKER_01: constitution,
11:43
if the legislature can just repeal whatever the voters send to
11:47
the ballot,
11:48
SPEAKER_01: you've basically you don't have an initiative referendum process.
11:52
SPEAKER_01: You don't have a check and balance on the legislature.
11:55
SPEAKER_01: Right.
11:55
Because they can call themselves into special session or they
11:58
can have a short
11:58
SPEAKER_01: session or whatever,
11:59
SPEAKER_01: and they can just undo the.
12:01
the thing that went to the ballot and so the legal rationale is
12:04
you can anytime
12:05
before the signatures are collected you can amend or repeal uh
12:10
it's frozen once the
12:11
signatures are verified it's sent to the ballot and then after
12:14
it's voted on you
12:16
can go back to amending the same laws with a vote of the
12:18
legislature right and so
12:20
SPEAKER_01: and i would have to say i am not a lawyer however
12:26
SPEAKER_01: That seems correct to me.
12:28
SPEAKER_01: That seems like the correct rationale.
12:31
So congratulations to 90 years ago,
12:33
Attorney General,
12:34
for getting it right.
12:38
SPEAKER_00: He did get it right,
12:39
and I think he is correct because I don't think that – I don't
12:42
believe it's – well,
12:43
SPEAKER_00: besides being fair because we're in the game of politics,
12:46
SPEAKER_00: fair doesn't enter into it.
12:48
I just think that when there's a process and the Democrats
12:52
always talk about process –
12:55
SPEAKER_00: All ways and means yesterday.
12:56
SPEAKER_00: We just got in talking about that.
12:58
SPEAKER_00: Lieber's argument was this is the process that we determined.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: So this is the process we're going to follow.
13:04
SPEAKER_00: So there is a process.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: You pass a bill.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: It was referred the voter.
13:09
SPEAKER_00: There was the people that didn't like you passing the bill,
13:12
SPEAKER_00: got signatures to refer to the voters to give it a yes or no.
13:16
SPEAKER_00: That is in the Constitution.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: That is a process to usurp that process.
13:23
is undermining the entire democratic process that you so talk
13:28
about all the time.
13:30
That undermining the democratic process,
13:32
undermine,
13:33
undermine all the time.
13:34
You talk about that with Trump and all the things in the
13:36
federal government.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: So you don't get to talk about the stuff in the federal government.
13:40
And then when immediately something you don't like in the state
13:44
of Oregon happens,
13:45
SPEAKER_00: you don't get to change that democrat process to fit your own goals.
13:51
SPEAKER_00: That is bullshit.
13:52
And that is why finding this AG opinion is so important because
13:55
the AG opinion
13:57
SPEAKER_00: clearly makes it count that when it's done,
14:00
SPEAKER_00: it's done.
14:01
SPEAKER_00: It's going to the voters.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: Let it go.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: Yes, yes.
14:05
And I think that – They can go find other money and backfill
14:08
and do whatever they
14:09
SPEAKER_00: want to try to do there.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: You have a process for that,
14:11
but you don't just repeal because you don't want it on the
14:14
November ballot.
14:15
SPEAKER_01: Right.
14:16
SPEAKER_01: And the Constitution part of it, too, really sets that up.
14:20
If this was just statute,
14:22
you could make an argument that statute can be changed.
14:25
SPEAKER_01: Right.
14:25
I still don't think that even if it was only statute,
14:28
it's good policy to change it.
14:30
SPEAKER_01: But this is a constitutional process.
14:32
SPEAKER_01: This is something that Oregon has said.
14:34
And no one's tried to repeal the having initiatives,
14:37
having referendums,
14:38
having recalls.
14:39
SPEAKER_01: Those things are things we have said are core tenets of our democracy.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: Right.
14:43
SPEAKER_01: That we should,
14:44
that the voters should be able to put something up if the
14:46
legislature won't pass
14:48
SPEAKER_01: it,
14:48
SPEAKER_01: or even if they would pass it,
14:49
SPEAKER_01: we want a different version.
14:51
SPEAKER_01: That we can have a check and balance, right?
14:53
They're already really stretching the referendum by making sure
14:57
that they put an
14:58
emergency clause on anything that doesn't have taxes in it to
15:01
prevent that from
15:02
SPEAKER_01: going to the ballot,
15:03
SPEAKER_01: which I think is also wrong,
15:06
SPEAKER_01: but unfortunately is allowed.
15:08
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
15:09
SPEAKER_01: And then recalls.
15:10
SPEAKER_01: Right.
15:10
We've said if somebody really steps over the line and isn't
15:14
willing to step down,
15:15
SPEAKER_01: which is rare,
15:16
SPEAKER_01: but is is occasionally needed.
15:17
We just we just strengthen the recall process by allowing or
15:22
not strengthen the recall.
15:23
SPEAKER_01: But we we strengthen allowing the legislature to remove a governor.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: Right.
15:26
SPEAKER_01: If you don't go through a recall.
15:28
So so we made clear that these are things are core tenets of
15:31
our democracy.
15:32
SPEAKER_01: So if you are going to, for one reason,
15:36
session one budget one tax issue undermine those core tenets of
15:41
democracy i think
15:42
that says a lot about who you are as a policymaker and who you
15:45
are as a politician
15:47
SPEAKER_01: and that's that is uh short-sighted and partisan right yeah
15:51
SPEAKER_00: I think, where does that lead?
15:53
SPEAKER_00: Do you think that now we have to look at the fact that,
15:56
SPEAKER_00: like,
15:56
SPEAKER_00: maybe the Secretary of State has to weigh in on this point?
15:59
SPEAKER_00: Or what do you think?
16:01
I kind of feel like Tobias needs to come out and just say that
16:05
the law is clear and
16:05
SPEAKER_00: I'm moving forward with this to be on the November ballot.
16:08
SPEAKER_00: I kind of feel like he needs to come out and say that.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if he will.
16:13
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
16:14
I think that – I think what needs to happen is what I think
16:18
should have happened at
16:19
SPEAKER_01: the beginning.
16:20
So if you go back and read the article,
16:22
a couple things are relevant here.
16:24
SPEAKER_01: First of all,
16:25
SPEAKER_01: the governor comes out and says we didn't know about the opinion,
16:28
SPEAKER_01: and I think that's reasonable.
16:30
SPEAKER_01: It's from 1935.
16:31
SPEAKER_01: I did not know about the opinion either.
16:32
SPEAKER_01: There's no way.
16:33
SPEAKER_01: There was no way to know about it.
16:34
SPEAKER_01: You could have read the Constitution.
16:36
SPEAKER_01: I was having this conversation.
16:37
SPEAKER_01: I said, the Constitution, you kind of forget it exists.
16:40
SPEAKER_01: There's parts about it that you know are there,
16:42
SPEAKER_01: but I don't know if I've ever sat down to read the whole thing.
16:45
SPEAKER_01: I know where Article 1,
16:46
SPEAKER_01: Section 27 is,
16:47
SPEAKER_01: guns,
16:48
SPEAKER_01: and I have to Google where the kicker is,
16:50
SPEAKER_01: but I know it's in there.
16:51
SPEAKER_01: Right.
16:51
SPEAKER_01: So and but you don't sit down and read it.
16:54
SPEAKER_01: But I think if you sat down and read it,
16:56
you would get the vibe about what the initiative and referendum
16:59
process is supposed
17:00
SPEAKER_01: to be.
17:00
SPEAKER_01: So I think the governor's office, you know, the AG's office said.
17:06
SPEAKER_01: DOJ is still forming an opinion.
17:08
SPEAKER_01: That is not how AG opinions work.
17:11
SPEAKER_01: The AG opinion is your opinion.
17:14
SPEAKER_01: Now, you may say it's no longer relevant.
17:17
SPEAKER_01: You may issue a new opinion.
17:18
SPEAKER_01: I don't know what they're going to do.
17:20
SPEAKER_01: The AG opinion is your opinion to the executive branch until it changes.
17:24
SPEAKER_01: So it's not, well, we just found this piece of paper.
17:26
SPEAKER_01: So...
17:29
SPEAKER_01: somebody should walk their PR staff through how that works.
17:31
SPEAKER_01: Cause that is, that is an important nuance.
17:34
SPEAKER_01: I think for them to understand about this whole thing.
17:37
SPEAKER_01: I think that the, if Dirk,
17:40
SPEAKER_01: Julia,
17:41
SPEAKER_01: Carlos,
17:41
SPEAKER_01: whoever's listening should talk to all the legislators,
17:46
SPEAKER_01: should do the thing they do when Trump says something insane.
17:48
SPEAKER_01: They call the Republicans and be like, what do you think about this?
17:51
SPEAKER_01: They never do that with the Democrats.
17:53
SPEAKER_01: They don't do a full call down.
17:54
SPEAKER_01: They don't do a full email.
17:56
SPEAKER_01: They don't ask everybody, well, what do you think about this opinion?
17:58
SPEAKER_01: Do you think an AG's opinion is still legally binding?
18:00
SPEAKER_01: Would you follow it if it was found to be legally binding?
18:03
SPEAKER_01: They won't do that.
18:04
SPEAKER_01: They should.
18:05
SPEAKER_01: They should ask at least all the key Democrats in charge.
18:08
SPEAKER_01: AG, Secretary of State, Governor,
18:10
SPEAKER_01: Co-chairs,
18:11
SPEAKER_01: joint transportation chairs,
18:13
SPEAKER_01: majority leaders,
18:14
SPEAKER_01: providing officers,
18:15
SPEAKER_01: they should all get that question.
18:17
SPEAKER_01: And they will all say no comment,
18:19
SPEAKER_01: by the way,
18:19
SPEAKER_01: but they should all get the question and then they should report.
18:22
SPEAKER_01: No one is willing to talk about if this AG's opinion is.
18:25
SPEAKER_01: Here's what an AG opinion is.
18:27
SPEAKER_01: Interview somebody to explain it, a former AG.
18:31
SPEAKER_01: None of that will happen.
18:33
SPEAKER_00: I agree.
18:34
SPEAKER_00: So moving on.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: Secretary of State.
18:36
This is the other thing I wanted to hit on speaking of
18:39
Secretary of State.
18:40
SPEAKER_00: So in general government and then I think even in.
18:43
So he testified in general gov sub as well as testified over in
18:47
rules,
18:48
I believe was in rules.
18:49
And campaign finance reform,
18:51
because,
18:52
you know,
18:52
we love we love campaigns.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: So that that was enacted last session or two sessions ago short.
18:59
SPEAKER_00: Right.
18:59
SPEAKER_00: We needed campaign finance rules reform.
19:03
SPEAKER_00: And and so then they said,
19:04
SPEAKER_00: well,
19:05
SPEAKER_00: in twenty twenty seven,
19:06
SPEAKER_00: we're basically changing the entire campaign finance rules in Oregon.
19:09
And so the secretary of state came in with a couple of big
19:13
bombs that he's dropped.
19:15
One is they're removing eight hundred thousand inactive voters
19:18
off the rolls.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: Wow.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: Crazy that they've been sitting there forever.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: Dennis Richardson started this, I think, in twenty seventeen.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: Didn't quite get done in twenty seventeen.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: And then there's and these inactive voters now,
19:32
SPEAKER_00: mind you,
19:33
some of my Republican friends out here to say we're removing
19:35
eight hundred thousand
19:36
SPEAKER_00: inactive voters.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: They run around and see, see, they scream fraud, fraud, fraud.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: Right.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: See, we told you so.
19:42
SPEAKER_00: Inactive voters don't get ballots.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: That's right.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: Let me say that again for people that are listening.
19:49
SPEAKER_00: Inactive voters do not get ballots.
19:52
However,
19:52
it doesn't mean that they could easily go in and activate and
19:56
get a ballot.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: So they should be removed.
20:00
It should be a process that is cleaned up every two years at
20:04
least with every election cycle.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: And I think Tobias is basically – he has to –
20:10
SPEAKER_00: take the bullet on this one because it should have been done,
20:14
SPEAKER_00: you know,
20:14
SPEAKER_00: just hasn't because of lazy secretary of state.
20:17
SPEAKER_01: Well,
20:18
SPEAKER_01: and actually,
20:18
SPEAKER_01: so I think unfortunately,
20:20
SPEAKER_01: and this is where we need to hold our own party accountable.
20:25
It was Richardson's office,
20:27
secretary of state office,
20:28
trying to be pro voter.
20:30
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:31
Saying we're not going to remove inactive voters that they used
20:34
to get removed on a
20:35
SPEAKER_01: regular schedule.
20:35
SPEAKER_01: We're no longer doing that.
20:36
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
20:37
There is a lot of questions about whether or not that may have
20:40
actually violated
20:41
SPEAKER_01: federal voter registration law,
20:45
which requires removal of certain types of voters and in
20:47
certain circumstances,
20:48
SPEAKER_01: all that.
20:49
SPEAKER_01: But that being said, right, that's a Republican secretary of state.
20:54
SPEAKER_01: And that was the decision they made.
20:55
SPEAKER_01: I wasn't in the room.
20:56
SPEAKER_01: I didn't have rationale.
20:57
But I would say that actually Republicans really hurt ourselves
21:01
on that front.
21:02
SPEAKER_01: Now, it was a different time.
21:05
SPEAKER_01: So making that decision at that time wasn't –
21:08
necessarily particularly controversial um but the downstream
21:12
effect of not
21:13
following the federal law or at least the federal law as i
21:16
understand it is that we
21:18
have a lot of inactive voters and we shouldn't have that many
21:20
it should be a lot
21:21
less and it should be regularly reset and regularly called and
21:24
i i'm glad that the
21:25
SPEAKER_01: secretary of state is doing this and i think that every single person
21:30
SPEAKER_01: As you may remember, I got plenty of flack.
21:33
SPEAKER_01: Representative Wallen got plenty of flack for supporting Tobias Reid.
21:37
SPEAKER_01: I think this is a great choice.
21:38
SPEAKER_01: I think it proves what I believed about him,
21:41
SPEAKER_01: which is he's going to do the job,
21:43
and he's going to do the job according to what the laws in
21:45
Oregon and the federal
21:47
SPEAKER_01: government are.
21:49
SPEAKER_01: And where he thinks – he's obviously engaged in lawsuits,
21:51
SPEAKER_01: and I understand that not everybody agrees with those things.
21:53
SPEAKER_01: But I think he is making choices not based on partisanship here.
21:57
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's super, super clear.
21:59
SPEAKER_01: I'm super, super proud of that.
22:00
SPEAKER_01: I'm super, super glad that I don't regret my endorsement.
22:04
SPEAKER_01: And I don't at all.
22:05
SPEAKER_01: Zero.
22:06
SPEAKER_01: I zero regret it.
22:07
SPEAKER_01: I think he's doing a great job and I appreciate it.
22:10
SPEAKER_01: I think campaign finance is a huge challenge.
22:13
It got jammed through at the last minute because they were
22:15
holding a ballot measure
22:16
SPEAKER_01: to the heads of the legislature.
22:19
SPEAKER_01: I think that's kind of why we're in a mess right now,
22:24
SPEAKER_01: and the legislature needs to either get real about financing,
22:27
SPEAKER_01: setting up the system,
22:28
SPEAKER_01: giving the Secretary of State what he needs,
22:30
or they need to just go and do what everybody in the building
22:33
wants to do.
22:34
SPEAKER_01: And repeal it.
22:35
They won't say it publicly because it looks bad,
22:38
but they all want it repealed.
22:40
What they want is update the system to make it easy to search
22:43
who's giving what
22:44
SPEAKER_01: when and then be done.
22:46
SPEAKER_01: They don't want the limits.
22:48
SPEAKER_01: Jeff Gold wants limits.
22:49
SPEAKER_01: Everybody else doesn't.
22:50
SPEAKER_01: They don't want the limits.
22:51
SPEAKER_01: They don't want the rigmarole.
22:52
SPEAKER_01: They don't want the silliness.
22:54
SPEAKER_01: It's all just make it clear, transparent and fast.
22:57
SPEAKER_00: Yep.
22:58
SPEAKER_00: That should be the goal.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: And I'm glad he said 25 million.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a low number to do the thing.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: Oh, easily.
23:03
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: To do the things that you need to do in that bill,
23:07
SPEAKER_00: I mean,
23:08
SPEAKER_00: not only is $25 million a low number,
23:11
SPEAKER_00: the time frame in which to do all that.
23:12
Now,
23:12
granted,
23:13
it took them a long time to come to $25 million when the
23:17
deadline's coming up.
23:18
I don't know if you do that on purpose to try to make sure you
23:20
get an extension or
23:21
SPEAKER_00: something like that.
23:22
SPEAKER_00: The bill itself, it's not a good bill.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't do what it's really intended to do.
23:28
SPEAKER_00: All it's going to do is turn us into a dark money state.
23:31
It's going to create all of these third party packs and things
23:35
like that where,
23:36
SPEAKER_00: you know,
23:36
SPEAKER_00: you're not coordinating.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: But now all of a sudden I'm going to be running.
23:39
Reagan's going to have a race that's a candidate and I'm going
23:43
to have a race
23:43
SPEAKER_00: that's a candidate.
23:45
SPEAKER_00: So Reagan's consulting on that race.
23:47
SPEAKER_00: Well,
23:47
SPEAKER_00: what he's going to do is he's going to say,
23:50
SPEAKER_00: Brian,
23:51
SPEAKER_00: you go run the dark money pack for my candidate,
23:54
SPEAKER_00: and then I'll run the dark money pack for your candidate.
23:57
SPEAKER_00: But we won't coordinate any of that stuff.
23:59
We won't know what's happening,
24:00
but I need you to make sure you're doing it.
24:02
And,
24:02
oh,
24:02
by the way,
24:03
if there's a YouTube channel where you might find some good
24:06
video –
24:07
that you could potentially download for free without doing
24:10
anything of my candidate
24:12
SPEAKER_00: that you could use in a TV ad if you so fine.
24:15
SPEAKER_00: But it's public domain.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: Don't worry about it.
24:17
SPEAKER_01: This is what already happens at the federal level.
24:20
SPEAKER_01: That's the thing is they did it at the federal level.
24:23
SPEAKER_01: And then everybody goes, well, that's a great system.
24:25
SPEAKER_01: It's not.
24:26
SPEAKER_01: It's terrible.
24:27
SPEAKER_01: It's not transparent.
24:29
SPEAKER_01: It results in millions upon millions of dollars being spent.
24:32
SPEAKER_01: No idea where it comes from.
24:33
SPEAKER_01: No idea whose messaging it is.
24:35
Candidates and caucus leaders lose control of their ability to
24:39
run their races and
24:42
SPEAKER_01: run there and get the candidates.
24:43
And I understand that they are not the only ones that matter in
24:46
this equation,
24:47
SPEAKER_01: that voters and donors and candidates are all supposed to have.
24:52
SPEAKER_01: But candidates should have control of their campaigns.
24:54
SPEAKER_01: And right now, we have a simple system that does allow them to do that.
24:58
SPEAKER_01: If you want me elected, you write me a check.
25:00
SPEAKER_01: You don't have to write a check to anybody else because there's limits.
25:03
SPEAKER_01: And the limits will make that all worse.
25:07
SPEAKER_01: Candidates will have almost no money.
25:09
SPEAKER_01: They will not be able to defend themselves.
25:11
They will be reliant on outside groups who all have different
25:15
priorities than the
25:16
SPEAKER_01: individual candidate.
25:16
SPEAKER_01: If you want to be a total...
25:18
SPEAKER_01: Jeff Golden's a great example of this.
25:20
SPEAKER_01: He goes out there and he's a total wacko,
25:22
but he doesn't have control of his campaign because Democrats
25:25
always have to come
25:25
SPEAKER_01: in and spend money for him.
25:27
SPEAKER_01: Right now, they can coordinate with him on that if they want to.
25:30
SPEAKER_01: They will not be able to.
25:32
SPEAKER_01: So then they'll be like,
25:33
SPEAKER_01: well,
25:33
SPEAKER_01: we hope Jeff Golden loves jobs because we're going to say he loves jobs.
25:36
So groups will go out there and say stuff about candidates and
25:39
I won't be able,
25:40
SPEAKER_01: I'll have to go,
25:41
SPEAKER_01: actually,
25:41
SPEAKER_01: I don't necessarily agree with that.
25:42
SPEAKER_01: And now all kinds of chaos.
25:44
SPEAKER_01: Voters will not know what to believe.
25:46
SPEAKER_01: And so it will it will damage our democracy.
25:50
SPEAKER_01: They claim this is good government.
25:52
SPEAKER_01: It is bad government.
25:53
SPEAKER_01: It makes things worse.
25:55
SPEAKER_01: Limits and restrictions.
25:58
SPEAKER_01: Transparency is fine, but limits and restrictions are bad.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: I agree,
26:01
SPEAKER_00: and I think that you're going to find the caucuses,
26:04
SPEAKER_00: and I hope the caucuses from the Democratic caucus and the Republican,
26:08
SPEAKER_00: you've got to realize this is going to strip your leadership.
26:12
SPEAKER_00: This will strip your power like you've never seen any campaigns.
26:16
And right now you have a little bit of power because the lobby
26:20
has to work with you
26:22
SPEAKER_00: and other companies.
26:23
Phil Knight's money is $3 million that goes to bring balance to
26:26
Salem that they're
26:27
going to work with the caucus leadership to make sure that the
26:30
priorities are where
26:31
SPEAKER_00: they need to be.
26:31
SPEAKER_00: And then they spend and they show the money going to the leadership fund.
26:35
SPEAKER_00: And then that goes out to the Jeff Golden race, right?
26:37
SPEAKER_00: I mean, that process is there and it's good and it's transparent.
26:42
SPEAKER_00: What will happen is that $3 million, you will never see.
26:47
The public will never see where it went,
26:50
where it'll go to 17 different groups.
26:52
It'll go over to New York and then down to Georgia and up to a
26:57
nonprofit out and
26:58
it'll spit out at some PAC for better for Southern Oregon PAC
27:02
that you have no idea
27:04
SPEAKER_00: who's behind it.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: You can't find it.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: And then also the caucus will have zero say in all of that.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: And you'll be and you'll have nothing.
27:11
And then all the lobby groups won't give you any money because
27:14
you're going to be
27:15
SPEAKER_00: hampered by the amount of money they can actually give you.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: So basically, you'll be lucky if you can fund lunch for staff.
27:23
SPEAKER_00: Good luck.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: You know, just good luck.
27:28
SPEAKER_00: And we will we will lose.
27:29
And it's just a bad the transparency is the best sterilizer to
27:35
any fraud and any
27:37
SPEAKER_00: bad government thing.
27:38
SPEAKER_01: The more sunlight's the best disinfectant.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: The more you can make transparency, the better off it is.
27:45
SPEAKER_00: Just focus on that and people will be fine.
27:47
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: One hundred percent.
27:48
SPEAKER_01: All right.
27:49
SPEAKER_01: Last topic, Brian.
27:52
I never thought I'd be saying this because we just had a gas
27:55
tax referred to the ballot.
27:57
And I believe that gas tax,
28:00
correct me if I'm wrong,
28:00
Brian,
28:01
if you sell gas,
28:03
SPEAKER_01: You have to collect a tax.
28:04
SPEAKER_01: So it's like a sales tax, right?
28:06
Now,
28:07
Oregonians don't like sales taxes,
28:08
but that's probably why this ended up on the ballot.
28:10
SPEAKER_01: Well,
28:10
here I am looking at a L pro presentation to the interim Senate
28:14
committee on
28:15
SPEAKER_01: finance and revenue,
28:16
SPEAKER_01: which you may know about,
28:17
SPEAKER_01: Brian,
28:17
SPEAKER_01: because I think your senator is on it.
28:20
SPEAKER_01: And it's titled retail sales tax.
28:23
OK,
28:25
so I'm just I'm just scrolling through here,
28:27
Brian,
28:29
and it's mostly informational.
28:30
SPEAKER_01: What do Washington,
28:31
California do and all the sales tax rates for states and a
28:37
streamlined sales tax
28:39
SPEAKER_01: project?
28:40
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
28:41
SPEAKER_01: Um, you know what I can't see on here is which tax we're eliminating.
28:45
SPEAKER_01: I don't, I don't see that on here.
28:46
SPEAKER_01: I didn't see it.
28:47
SPEAKER_01: Maybe I missed that one.
28:48
Maybe that's page 11 and it just got,
28:50
uh,
28:50
page 12 and this ends at page 11.
28:52
SPEAKER_01: They just forgot to upload it.
28:54
SPEAKER_01: That could have happened.
28:55
SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I don't think so.
28:56
I think that this is just a sales tax and I'm kind of surprised
29:00
that it came up in revenue.
29:01
SPEAKER_01: What was the conversation in revenue about this?
29:03
SPEAKER_01: Were they like, yeah, let's do this.
29:05
SPEAKER_01: Oregonians love sales taxes.
29:07
SPEAKER_01: Um,
29:08
SPEAKER_00: Or was it different?
29:09
SPEAKER_00: There was no real conversation.
29:11
SPEAKER_00: I think Senator Brodman is floating around the idea.
29:15
He doesn't like our heavily reliance on income taxes and the up
29:21
and downs that we
29:23
SPEAKER_00: get with these wild forecasts and stuff that we've had over the years.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think and I think a sales tax,
29:30
SPEAKER_00: you know,
29:31
SPEAKER_00: if you look at states that have,
29:32
SPEAKER_00: you know,
29:33
SPEAKER_00: like the triple headed tax.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: Right.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: They tend to be a little bit more stagnant in their their ebbs and flows.
29:39
SPEAKER_00: Right.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: So you don't see wild ups and downs.
29:43
SPEAKER_00: So I think he would I think he's clearly wanting something like that.
29:47
SPEAKER_00: But the problem is, is it's very difficult for Democrats to lower taxes.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: income taxes,
29:53
SPEAKER_00: because they would say,
29:54
SPEAKER_00: why would we go through the headache to do a revenue neutral scenario?
29:59
SPEAKER_00: Right.
29:59
SPEAKER_00: We're not actually raising any more revenue.
30:02
SPEAKER_00: Why would we go through the political and the and the philosophical
30:08
discussions and the headache and the potential fallout of even
30:11
doing it if we're
30:13
SPEAKER_00: not going to generate more revenue for all of our silly programs.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: So that's their argument.
30:19
SPEAKER_01: The problem is, is they have a disingenuous argument about this.
30:23
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just going to call it out.
30:25
SPEAKER_01: They claim the thing they care about is stable revenue.
30:28
SPEAKER_01: Well, guess what?
30:29
A sales tax is more stable than income tax because it's not
30:33
because it's generally on.
30:34
Consumption doesn't change enough in a downtime,
30:39
the economy to tank your budget.
30:41
SPEAKER_01: Twenty five percent income can write.
30:45
SPEAKER_01: We were just talking about this.
30:47
If Phil Knight moves out of the state,
30:49
you're going to notice on our revenue forecast.
30:53
SPEAKER_01: You'll see that.
30:54
SPEAKER_01: That'll be forever etched in history.
30:56
SPEAKER_01: Phil Knight left Oregon.
30:58
I'm not saying he's going to,
30:59
but I'm just saying if he did,
31:00
that would hurt.
31:01
Also,
31:02
you can see somebody was talking about what happens if the
31:05
Blazers get sold this year.
31:07
SPEAKER_01: You know what happens?
31:08
SPEAKER_01: Kicker.
31:09
SPEAKER_01: That's how much that hits your revenue, right?
31:12
SPEAKER_01: So income versus sales is...
31:16
sales tax is better okay but they they will never say we'll
31:22
eliminate income or
31:23
property tax to make up for the balance they just want people
31:27
to pay more so they
31:27
go they go in with their trojan horse of stable stable income
31:32
and then they go just
31:33
kidding we're just trying to raise your taxes we just want more
31:36
money because guess
31:36
what um you know who has the three-headed monster as you
31:39
mentioned before is is
31:40
SPEAKER_01: california
31:41
SPEAKER_01: And, oh, are their budgets always balanced?
31:43
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
31:44
SPEAKER_01: Actually, no.
31:45
SPEAKER_01: They run massive deficits.
31:47
SPEAKER_01: They have all kinds of fiscal problems.
31:50
SPEAKER_01: It seems like maybe your spending is the problem.
31:55
SPEAKER_01: And the reason we have the kicker,
31:56
SPEAKER_01: too,
31:57
and one of the great things about the kicker is it curtails the
32:00
increases when the
32:01
SPEAKER_01: increases go up.
32:02
SPEAKER_01: So guess what?
32:02
You only have to cut $700 million this year instead of $2
32:06
billion or more,
32:08
right?
32:10
SPEAKER_01: So I think it's wrong.
32:11
I think if you want to do a sales tax and swap it out for an
32:14
income tax,
32:14
I'm excited about that.
32:16
SPEAKER_01: I would be totally on board for that.
32:17
SPEAKER_01: Anything short of that, I think, is just a stinker.
32:20
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that'd be a pro worker policy.
32:22
SPEAKER_00: That'd be a pro state policy.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: That'd be a pro business policy.
32:25
If you just swapped it out altogether,
32:28
you're taxing tourists and stuff like that.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: They don't pay for anything now.
32:32
SPEAKER_00: You know,
32:32
we don't have any toll roads or anything that tax tourists that
32:35
drive up and down
32:36
SPEAKER_00: one on one.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: You know,
32:38
we don't even have a we talked about there's not even a rental
32:40
car tax that goes
32:41
SPEAKER_00: after tourists.
32:42
SPEAKER_00: So tourists,
32:43
SPEAKER_00: if they don't pay the TLT tax,
32:45
they basically get off scot free in the state of Oregon for
32:47
being a tourist.
32:48
SPEAKER_00: And so that's that that's definitely a problem when we're a high tourist.
32:53
SPEAKER_00: economy driven state that,
32:55
SPEAKER_00: you know,
32:55
our local economies that always in our local cities and stuff
32:58
that just freak out
32:59
SPEAKER_00: that they can't.
33:00
SPEAKER_00: That's why,
33:01
SPEAKER_00: you know,
33:01
I think the TLT looking at how to reposition the percentage of
33:05
money that goes to,
33:06
SPEAKER_00: you know,
33:07
SPEAKER_00: local governments and stuff.
33:08
SPEAKER_00: We got to take a look at that because the reality is,
33:10
is these local governments have no other really way of
33:13
generating revenue from
33:14
SPEAKER_00: tourists,
33:15
SPEAKER_00: especially in
33:16
Newport and Lincoln City and Astoria and his places have got
33:19
high tourism,
33:21
SPEAKER_00: you know,
33:21
SPEAKER_00: economy,
33:21
SPEAKER_00: Central Oregon and stuff.
33:23
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's why this sells tax.
33:25
I would imagine that's kind of why Broadman's kind of looking
33:27
at it because Ben is
33:28
SPEAKER_00: where he's from.
33:28
SPEAKER_00: It's a very high tourist thing.
33:30
He's talked about other things from taxing Airbnbs and other
33:34
vacation rentals,
33:35
things like that.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: You're looking at,
33:37
SPEAKER_00: you know,
33:37
SPEAKER_00: a city growing super fast has got to try to come up with money,
33:40
SPEAKER_00: revenue to pay for infrastructure upgrades.
33:43
SPEAKER_00: And it's really happening on a quick level.
33:45
SPEAKER_00: So I don't mind the discussion.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: I'm willing to have the discussion.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: I think it's worthwhile having a discussion.
33:51
But it has to be you have to give income taxes so regressive
33:55
for people if you're
33:56
SPEAKER_00: trying to work up the food chain,
33:58
SPEAKER_00: you know,
33:58
SPEAKER_00: in life.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: As soon as I make it to the next tax bracket,
34:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm going to get whacked with another 5% income tax.
34:04
SPEAKER_00: It's just, it's so aggressive.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: So,
34:07
SPEAKER_00: you know,
34:07
if you want to help people save money to buy their first home
34:11
or all the sort of
34:12
SPEAKER_00: things,
34:12
SPEAKER_00: you got to get rid of the income tax.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: Without that discussion, it's DOA in my mind.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: So I'm with you.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: I agree.
34:18
SPEAKER_01: And I appreciate bringing that up, Brian.
34:20
SPEAKER_01: I am not trying to,
34:22
SPEAKER_01: you know,
34:22
SPEAKER_01: smack the good chair and Senate Finance and Revenue rookie of the year,
34:27
SPEAKER_01: Broadman,
34:29
SPEAKER_01: Senator Broadman.
34:30
SPEAKER_01: I think it's totally fine to have the conversation.
34:32
SPEAKER_01: I just think that there's a lot of people that go,
34:34
oh,
34:34
wouldn't it be so great if we had a sales tax and how much more
34:37
stable our revenue is?
34:38
SPEAKER_01: And that's not why they want it.
34:39
SPEAKER_01: They want more money.
34:40
SPEAKER_01: They want more money for services.
34:42
SPEAKER_01: They want to spend more on human services.
34:44
SPEAKER_01: They want the government more involved in our lives.
34:46
SPEAKER_01: They want to create another government program that,
34:48
SPEAKER_01: you know,
34:49
SPEAKER_01: spends more than it takes in and creates outcomes.
34:53
SPEAKER_01: It creates no outcomes.
34:54
SPEAKER_01: And that's what they are trying to accomplish.
34:57
SPEAKER_01: And we're not – listen –
35:00
SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the new era.
35:02
SPEAKER_01: I'll just, you know, to quote a great president, an OK president.
35:06
SPEAKER_01: The Arab big government's over, guys, in Oregon.
35:09
The federal government is cutting us off and the economy is is
35:13
in rough shape right now.
35:14
SPEAKER_01: So era big government is over.
35:17
SPEAKER_01: It's so funny because one of the ways that they've tried to curtail the
35:21
SPEAKER_01: legislature,
35:22
SPEAKER_01: if you're an outside organization,
35:24
SPEAKER_01: you used to be able to submit capital construction requests.
35:26
SPEAKER_01: They're like, we're not taking them.
35:29
maximum of two in the short session and it better be a
35:32
legislator sponsored request
35:34
because they're not even gonna they don't have the money they
35:36
don't even look uh i
35:38
think senator gerard advised 10 million or less um and i heard
35:43
somebody ask so you
35:44
SPEAKER_01: know if we're under 10 million then we get funded and i was like why
35:48
SPEAKER_01: No, no, not even close.
35:52
SPEAKER_01: You'll be lucky to get one.
35:53
SPEAKER_01: If you get one, you're in pretty good shape there.
35:56
SPEAKER_01: So it's just a new era.
35:59
And bills that go down to ways and means,
36:01
almost all of them will die this session.
36:03
Almost all of them will die this session,
36:05
guaranteed,
36:06
because they've got to find $700 million.
36:08
Because not only are we upside down just on revenue,
36:11
cost increases in human services are up.
36:14
So the deficit is getting bigger,
36:17
even if revenue stabilizes or goes up slightly.
36:20
SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, it's just a different era.
36:24
SPEAKER_01: We had 10, 12, 15 years of just up, up, up, up, up, and we're done now.
36:29
SPEAKER_01: It's back down.
36:31
SPEAKER_01: Hopefully not for too long, but right now it's down.
36:34
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I hear you.
36:35
SPEAKER_01: All right.
36:36
SPEAKER_01: We did it.
36:38
SPEAKER_01: 35 minutes.
36:39
SPEAKER_01: Yeah, the timer went off a couple minutes ago.
36:41
SPEAKER_01: I've always said 35 minutes, Brian, not 30.
36:43
SPEAKER_01: 35 is the sweet spot.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: We get to talking about sales taxes.
36:46
SPEAKER_00: That gets us fired up.
36:48
SPEAKER_01: You had three.
36:49
SPEAKER_01: Here's the thing.
36:50
SPEAKER_01: This is the mistake I made, Brian.
36:51
You had three topics,
36:52
and three topics is 30 minutes,
36:54
and I added a fourth.
36:55
SPEAKER_01: So it's my fault.
36:55
SPEAKER_01: I take the blame for this podcast being long.
36:58
SPEAKER_01: I probably did talk the most, too.
37:00
SPEAKER_01: We were talking about talk time.
37:01
It'd be cool if Ledge Media could pull talk time and who talks
37:04
the most in each of
37:05
SPEAKER_01: these committees.
37:06
SPEAKER_01: And then and then when you're setting up your committees,
37:08
SPEAKER_01: not only do you look at schedules and you look at issue areas,
37:12
SPEAKER_01: you can go,
37:12
SPEAKER_01: oh,
37:12
SPEAKER_01: we have two people who talk a lot in this committee.
37:14
SPEAKER_01: Let's break them up.
37:16
I would say if you run a talk timer on this podcast,
37:19
I probably talk more than you do,
37:20
Brian.
37:21
SPEAKER_01: So maybe that's a resolution for me this year.
37:23
SPEAKER_01: Talk a little bit less.
37:24
SPEAKER_01: Let you talk more.
37:25
SPEAKER_01: I like it when you're fired up.
37:26
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of fun.
37:27
SPEAKER_01: I am fired.
37:28
SPEAKER_01: I got opinions, Brian.
37:29
SPEAKER_01: And at this point,
37:30
SPEAKER_01: I'm not afraid to share them unless I think they will get me fired,
37:33
SPEAKER_01: in which case I don't share them.
37:35
SPEAKER_00: Well,
37:35
SPEAKER_00: hopefully people listen to our show,
37:36
SPEAKER_00: Reagan,
37:36
because we have opinions because you can't listen to shows
37:39
where they don't really
37:40
SPEAKER_00: have opinions.
37:41
SPEAKER_00: They say the same stuff over and over again.
37:43
SPEAKER_00: It's kind of boring.
37:44
SPEAKER_00: So I like to have opinions and I like to make my my voice heard.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: And I think it's really my opinions are shaped by people around me, too.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: So you shape my opinion and stuff.
37:53
SPEAKER_00: I'm shaped by people.
37:54
SPEAKER_00: I think my opinion is right.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: So I think it's I'm just a big blob waiting to be shaped.
38:01
my goal and when i worked for oregon catalyst the stories i
38:04
would write and with
38:05
this podcast and with the podcast we've been before my goal has
38:08
always been i think
38:09
that there's a lot about the legislative process that isn't a
38:12
secret but that
38:13
nobody knows about because you have to be there and so my goal
38:17
is to you know tear
38:18
off the first page of the press release tear off the first page
38:21
of the talking
38:22
SPEAKER_01: points and get to what's the actual debate what's the real discussion
38:26
SPEAKER_01: What are the lobbyists saying to staff and legislators in the hallways?
38:29
That is the conversation that is – I think that's the goal of
38:33
Crosstabs is that's
38:34
SPEAKER_01: the conversation we're going to bring to this podcast,
38:38
SPEAKER_01: not the talking points.
38:39
SPEAKER_01: There are shows for that.
38:40
SPEAKER_01: Every legislator has a podcast for talking points now.
38:44
SPEAKER_01: And not the press releases.
38:45
SPEAKER_01: I want to get beyond that stuff.
38:46
SPEAKER_01: We touch on them and we say, this is why this is happening.
38:49
SPEAKER_01: And I think that's what makes our show valuable.
38:51
SPEAKER_01: We hope that it continues to be valuable.
38:54
SPEAKER_01: And if Brian and I both get fired from the legislature,
38:57
then we will have to shut down the podcast because we'll be on
38:59
the outside and we
39:00
SPEAKER_01: will not know anything.
39:01
SPEAKER_01: And then it will be useless.
39:03
SPEAKER_00: But for now, we'll be large at that point.
39:08
SPEAKER_01: His show does make it clear.
39:09
SPEAKER_01: He has no idea what's going on at the legislature.
39:12
SPEAKER_01: He does his best,
39:13
but he he's got a lot of listeners and a lot of subject areas
39:16
and he is a national
39:17
SPEAKER_01: show.
39:17
SPEAKER_01: He's a big he's too big now.
39:19
So but looking forward to continue to peel back the layers of
39:23
the short session
39:24
SPEAKER_01: onion for people as we move forward.
39:27
SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
39:28
SPEAKER_01: Talk to you next week.
39:29
SPEAKER_00: See you, Brian.