Today is the Last Day to Register to Vote in Jan. 23 Special Election

Voters will determine whether to preserve or partially repeal Medicaid funding measure lawmakers passed in 2017.

(Joe Glode)
By Nigel Jaquiss

There's an unusual election coming up on Jan. 23, and today is the deadline for new or unregistered Oregonians to register to vote that day.

You can register to vote here.

The Jan. 23 election includes no candidate races and just one ballot measure—Measure 101—which asks voters whether they want to preserve or partially repeal House Bill 2391, a package of healthcare related funding measures the 2017 Legislature passed. Read more about the measure here in the voters' pamplet.

The underlying issues are complex: Lawmakers cobbled together a number of funding streams to keep paying for Oregon's Medicaid expansion.

The ballot measure is also counter-intuitive: Measure 101 is on the ballot because three GOP lawmakers, Reps. Julie Parrish (R-West Linn), Cedric Hayden (R-Roseburg) and Sal Esquivel (R-Medford) referred a partial repeal of House Bill 2391.

But instead of the ballot question being "do you want to repeal some of the bill?" the question is, in effect, "do you want to affirm funding package lawmakers passed?"

So, a "yes" vote means preserving the status quo.

A "no" vote means cutting the 2017-19 budget by $840 million to $1.3 billion, according to a state fiscal impact estimate.

Look for WW's Measure 101 endorsement on Jan. 10.

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