Willamette Week | News Buzz

Ducking For Cover
The shrapnel is still flying from the bomb dropped last week to dislodge Senate Bill 700, which would require background checks for sales at gun shows.

The bill had been stuck in the House Business and Consumer Affairs Committee, where chairman Roger Beyer refused to give it a hearing. Last Friday, Republican Rep. Lynn Lundquist joined the committee's three Democrats and forced Beyer's hand. Against his will, Beyer will hold a work session on the bill Wednesday morning.

Lundquist's move has infuriated the gun lobby. John Hellen, a former Lundquist staffer turned lobbyist for Oregon Gun Owners, says he knew his ex-boss wanted a hearing on the bill but thought Lundquist would vote against SB 700. Now, he says, it's clear the lawmaker has changed his mind. "He's a wild card," Hellen says. "You can't count on him on anything this session."

Lundquist, a Powell Butte rancher, says he is feeling the heat for his rebellion. Two of his most important bills this session had been scheduled for hearings Monday before the House Water and Environment Committee. He'd even brought in witnesses from across the state to testify. At the last minute, however, Water and Environment chairman Jim Welsh canceled public testimony on the bills. That same day, Lundquist says, Welsh upbraided him for turning his back on gun owners.

All this political infighting may ultimately amount to nothing. Even though SB 700 will at least receive a hearing, that doesn't mean the bill will make it to the House floor. Instead, it may go to the House Judiciary Committee, where pro-gun Rep. Kevin Mannix is working on an omnibus bill ("Under Fire," WW, April 28, 1999). Sen. Ginny Burdick, sponsor of SB 700, has said repeatedly she will drop the measure if Mannix messes with it.
--Patty Wentz
One Happy Family
In last year's heated campaign over Ballot Measure 58, selfish adoptees were pitted against ashamed birth mothers in a battle over who controls the information found on original birth records.

There were no such hysterics last week when the House unanimously passed House Bill 3194, an addendum to Measure 58.

The ballot measure gives adults adopted in the state unrestricted access to their original birth certificates. HB 3194, drafted with the aid of Measure 58 foes, allows birth parents to attach a form indicating whether they want to be contacted.

Given that the preference form leaves control with the adoptee, who could choose to ignore it, you might think birth mothers would be upset. Instead, many of them were delighted, according to Charity Fischer, a staff member for Rep. Betsy Close, who is vice-chairwoman of the House Human Resources Committee. Fischer says many birth parents--mostly women--contacted lawmakers to learn how to file a preference form letting their children know their whereabouts.

Chief petitioner for Measure 58, Helen Hill, who also worked on HB 3194, says she isn't surprised. Contrary to societal assumptions, Hill explains, most women want to be found. "This bill is more about the birth mothers who want to be found, who can't wait," she says, "those who can say, 'Here's my new number. Here's how to contact me.'"

HB 3194 will not go into effect until it passes through the Senate and is signed by the governor and, more importantly, until Measure 58 gets out of court. The lawsuit against it, filed by anonymous birth mothers, is backed by the National Council for Adoption, a group based in Washington, D.C.
--Patty Wentz

Minority Report
FOLLOW-UP
School superintendent Ben Canada has apparently decided how to spend the district's $6 million in desegregation funds--and it's bad news for three schools.

Canada will reportedly recommend that Irvington, Ball and Beach elementary schools lose all or part of their desegregation funding. His decision is based on a long-ignored district policy that requires schools to have at least 50 percent minority students to qualify for desegregation funds.

Exactly what constitutes a "minority" is likely to cause controversy. "The policy hasn't been revised since 1980," says Pat Burk, one of Canada's assistants. "In 1980, 'minority' meant black."

If that interpretation holds, parents at Ball and Beach will lose out. Neither school's African-American enrollment exceeds 50 percent, although minorities (African Americans, Hispanics, Asians and Native Americans) make up a majority of the student bodies at both.

Some argue the schools deserve funding based on the large number of low-income students they serve. Both schools serve free lunches to more than 70 percent of their students. "It seems they're saying only children of color have special needs," says Jan Stites, a member of the Beach site council. "That's not fair."

Stites may have legal precedents on her side. Courts have forced schools in Boston, Chicago and San Francisco to consider poverty when establishing desegregation criteria.

Irvington supporters are likely to be disappointed no matter how Canada divides the money. The school ranks 29th in the district in minority enrollment and serves a far smaller percentage of free lunches than the district average--a key measure of student poverty ("Mixing It Up," WW, April 7, 1999).

District personnel are searching for ways to cushion the cuts, particularly at Irvington, which stands to lose the most money. "Irvington's a very successful school," Burk says, "and the school board doesn't want to punish success."
--Nigel Jaquiss

Why, There Oughta Be A Law...

HOUSE BILL 4016
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