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Best Of Portland: 2000
Restaurant Guide 2000-2001
Cheap Eats 2000

masthead
 

 

 




Salem's Lot
YOUR WEEKLY GUIDE TO THAT PACK OF BLOODSUCKERS

by PATTY WENTZ
pwentz@wweek.com

gossip
* The adage that politics makes strange bedfellows was never truer than at last Thursday's unusual Senate Education Committee hearing at Self Enhancement Inc. in North Portland. Committee Chairman Charles Starr, the ultraconservative Hillsboro Republican, wowed the crowd of progressive activists with the observations that SAT scores declined 18 years in a row after school prayer was outlawed, and that textbook publishers languish in the control of "progressive forces."

* Lawmakers of all stripes are griping about term limits being so, well, limiting. Currently House members have to leave after three sessions, senators after two, with a lifetime cap of 12 years total. That has turned Salem into rookie land, and some say that's no good for democracy. The most popular solution so far is to change the lifetime limit so that all 12 years can be served in one chamber or the other. The Oregon Business Association and former lawmaker Lynn Lundquist agree and are talking about a 2002 ballot initiative to put the idea before voters.

* One way to prove you're a champion of campaign finance reform in Salem is to take the pledge. The League of Women Voters and Common Cause have asked all lawmakers to sign a promise that they won't take campaign contributions during the legislative session. One surprising refusal came from Portland Rep. Randy Leonard. He says he supports campaign finance reform and changing the constitution to allow restrictions on contributions, but he won't sign a promise generated by politics and grandstanding.


there's got to be a morning after
There are approximately 5,000 abortions in Oregon every year that state Rep. Kathy Lowe thinks she can prevent.

The Milwaukie Democrat is sponsoring a bill that would allow pharmacies to dispense emergency contraception without a doc's prescription.

Emergency contraception, marketed under such brand names as Plan B and Preven, is basically a high dose of birth-control pills. The hormones can prevent pregnancy from occurring 75 to 89 percent of the time. However, timing is everything. To be effective, the dose must be taken within 72 hours of intercourse.

"A failed contraceptive event can occur at any time," says Lowe. "What if it's over a weekend?"

Doctors are notoriously unavailable at such times, but the corner pharmacist is always there.

The bill isn't a mandate--it sets up a voluntary system in which doctors give the power of prescription to pharmacists for the pills. Lowe says she knows the system works, because Washington became the lone state to offer morning-after pills straight from the pharmacist two years ago. In fact, Portland women in the know just drive north across the Columbia River in an emergency.

There are more than 13,000 unplanned pregnancies in Oregon every year. Maura Roche of Planned Parenthood says about half of those result in abortions. Lowe believes that if her bill is successful, most of these abortions would be prevented by emergency contraception.

Last session, Oregon Right to Life and conservative lawmakers such as Republican Bill Witt beat down a similar bill that included RU-486. The pro-life lobby believes that, because implantation occurs in a small percentage of cases before the pill takes effect, its use is akin to abortion. The group has not returned calls from WW.

Lowe's bill is part of a package being put forth by the bipartisan Women Health and Wellness Alliance, which has a wide agenda. This is as good a time as any to push women's issues--holding 29 out of 90 seats, women are stronger than ever in the Oregon Legislature.

--Patty Wentz

 

quotable

"That's my twisted, principled stand for this session."
Rep. Randy Leonard on his refusal to take the campaign-finance reform pledge

pretend you give a damn
The first place to check every week to see what's happening on the issues you care about.

Environment: Legislation to reduce mercury pollution debuts this week. House Bill 2816 would phase out commercial uses of the runny metal in Oregon in order to stem the estimated 800 pounds a year that seep into the environment after thermostats, thermometers and automobiles are trashed. Sponsored by state Reps. Bill Witt (R) and Jeff Merkley (D), the idea comes from the brain trust of the Oregon Environmental Council.

Cleaning up the Willamette River: Nothing yet.

Poverty: Monday kicks off public hearings on the Adult and Family Services budget--the opening shot in the debate over Gov. John Kitzhaber's plan for children. How is he going to pay for it? By cutting into AFS's existing services for the working poor, including child care. Some say it's worth it, others say he's wacked.

Campaign-finance reform: It's not dead yet. Lawmakers who support tightening the Oregon constitution so that political contributions can be banned during the session hope to convince the legislative leadership that John McCain is onto something.

Animal rights: Big hearing Wednesday, Feb. 14, in the Senate Judiciary Committee on bills to increase penalties for harming God's creatures, whether you abuse them, have sex with them, or bet on them in cockfights.

Be aggressive! Track bills yourself at: http://www.leg.state.or.us./billsset.htm.

q&a
Jeff Merkley, sophomore state representative from Southeast Portland, has developed a reputation for standing up for consumers, whether they're getting screwed by mobile-home park owners or by lottery advertisers. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he loses. This session, in a package of six bills, the lanky lawmaker is focusing on personal privacy rights. He's going after everything from genetic privacy from insurance companies to spammers to Safeway-type club cards.

Willamette Week: How much of this is really a problem? Technology has taken care of some of it; for example, I can block cookies on my computer. And Safeway promises it won't sell info on my buying habits. Why do we need government regulations?

Jeff Merkley: It's one thing to rely on their good will, but those companies will test to see if the population will discover that they sell their information. Do you know, for example, whether or not your credit card company sells any of the information about your purchases or trades it with another company? Wouldn't you be a little more comfortable if it was against the law for them to do so?

What's the bill you have the best chance of passing?

The genetic privacy bill, which draws a very bold line against the use of genetic information in setting insurance rates or whether or not you qualify for insurance. The speaker shares my interest, and we're the co-chief sponsors. We have both sides of the aisle and I've probably signed up 80 percent of the lawmakers in advance. I anticipate that the insurance industry will fight this bill, but I hope they won't.

Are you paranoid?

I'm not. I just have a passion for this because technology is crushing our sphere of personal privacy. I don't want a world where everyone is staring in my window, tracking my physical movements, watching my finances, observing what things I buy or tracking my web use. We would have a much more gracious society if we would just leave people alone.