by Tony Miller

The Oregon State Legislature is a democratic political process that is open and easily accessible for the public to follow along or even participate in at times. The process should be transparent throughout for an open and honest way to construct good legislation for all Oregonians. That is what most people believe and that is how the process should work in order to craft good legislation for such a large variety of people but unfortunately there is still a few areas within the legislative process that are flawed and lack in transparency.  The most notable opaque area is within the amendment procedure, which in the State of Oregon it is traditionally done while legislation is in the committee process. There is a very simple solution to this troubled area but before we explore the remedy to the problem a little history, procedure, and explanation for the related importance of transparency are in order.Read More »