VOTE:NO
Died In Committee on 06/26/21
Status (overview) of bill:https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Measures/Overview/SB865
Committee assigned to bill: https://olis.oregonlegislature.gov/liz/2021R1/Committees/SRULES/Overview
This bill prohibits person from simultaneously serving as holder of state office and as officer of state central committee of political party. Establishes fine of up to $250 per day for violation.
Personal Choice and Responsibility
Legislature has no business dictating the will of the people.
Limited Government
Oregon legislature should have no control over how a political party elects or appoints their members. This is overreaching of government imposing legislative power over the will of the people.
SB 865 should NOT be approved!!! It is total overreach of legislature to dictate the will of
WE THE PEOPLE!!!
I respectfully DEMAND this bill not go forward!!!
This bill is a direct effort by those who are seeking to overturn the will of the people in both Senate District 1, and across the entire state who elected two Senators to serve on the ORP Board. The bill would fine then $250 for every day they hold both offices. This bill would set a very dangerous precedent in our state. Political Parties (Democrats of Oregon and The Oregon Republican Party) are private entities much like your local Rotary Club or charitable organization. This bill would interject state government into the governance of these private organizations! It is fundamentally un-American and anti-democratic for the government to choose who can and cannot represent you! It should be up to the free citizens of Oregon to decide who their leadership shall be, not politicians who think they know better than you. This step towards a Big Brother like state shatters the very principle of a democratic republic chosen BY and FOR the PEOPLE! How anyone can think they are upholding their sworn duty to defend the Constitution while supporting a measure like this is beyond me.
There is argument that this measure is designed to prevent confusion as to official positions of the party vs. an individual member. By allowing the government to dictate who can and cannot represent the people, we sacrifice our ability to freely express ourselves and to make OUR opinions heard, and not just those of the ones on the government approved list. This infringement on the autonomy of private citizens (or citizens acting in their private capacity as we legislators are only part time) should frighten anyone who holds freedom near and dear to their heart.
This has been posted by Oregon Firearms Federation:
(May 18, 2021)
Senate Bill 865 has been pulled from today’s schedule. Also gone is all the testimony against it. {If you sent any in, please post it here as well.}
As you will recall, 865 was the bill sponsored by Republican sellouts, Linn Findley and Bill Hansell along with far left Democrat Rob Wagner.
The sole purpose of the bill was to attack fellow Republican Senators Dallas Heard and Dennis Linthicum who were recently elected to leadership positions in the Republican Party.
Heard and Linthicum were among the 6 Senators who refused to help Democrats pass SB 554, a radical anti gun bill.
Findley and Hansell were among the 6 Republicans who stayed on the floor for the vote on that bill, thereby giving the Democrats the quorum they needed to pass it.
Voters in Findley and Hansell’s districts have been furious at them for rolling over and helping pass 554. So, doing what all cowards do, they joined the Democrats to attack stand-up Republicans.
What the bill did was make it illegal for Linthicum and Heard to serve both as Senators and as officers in the party, and punished them with fines of $250.00 a day if they did not resign from one position or the other.
They were the only people in the state the bill would have applied to.
Hansell and Findley, under the “leadership” of Fred Girod, displayed a new level of disgraceful behavior with this ugly and vindictive attack not only on members of their caucus, but the entire Republican Party which chose Linthicum and Heard as leaders by a substantial margin.
The old guard who were replaced had a collective tantrum and Findley and Hansel stepped up to seek revenge.
As you can imagine, normal people were outraged by this sick display of petty vengeance and let the turncoats know. Before disappearing, testimony was soundly against this childish abuse of legislative power.
We want to thank everyone who took time to express their disgust with Findley and Hansell and their juvenile games. We have no doubts you are the reason the bill has been pulled. But, as with all legislative issues, nothing is truly dead until the legislature shuts down for the session.
We will continue to monitor the bill and keep you informed.
https://www.oregonfirearms.org/disgraceful-bill-pulled