Related Posts:
BOC ~ Notice of Deliberation on JCEP Tuesday August 16, 2016
Public Meeting for Coos County April 19 & North Bend April 26, 2016 on JCEP
Open Letter to the Coos County Board of Commissioners Concerning the JCEP
Eminent Domain Protest in Coos Bay Monday April 4, 2016 ~ 5pm at The Mill Casino
LTE ~ Proponent Kissing Off Local Concerns About JCEP
LTE ~ More Transparency for the SCCF
Coos Bay School District Contract w/Superintendent Dawn Granger March 2014
LTE ~ Coos Bay School Board Ignoring Parents & Students
LTE ~ Leshley Still Uninformed
BOC ~ County Dog Board, Prisoner Release, Public Meeting for October 13, 14, & 15
Board of Commissioners Op-Ed for Measure 6-152 Transient Occupancy Tax
Coos Bay Alternative Location for Waste Water Treatment Plant Oct. 6, 2015
Bandon Cheese Factory Receives Private Financing & Still Pays No Property Taxes
LTE ~ Leshley Don't Know Dick About the JCEP Work Camp
Jody McCaffree Appeals LNG Road Construction Coos County Planning Oct. 9, 2015
Do Enterprise Zones Work? ~ An Ideopolis Policy Paper February 2011
Educational Enterprise Zone Workshop Roseburg OR Thursday, September 17, 2015
Coos County Planning Decisions on LNG & Effected Roads
LTE ~ CEP appears to be great for Canadian Veresen / JCEP
LTE ~ LNG Pipeline Man and His Bag of Money  
LTE ~ Should We Be Worried Dealing with Veresen and the LNG
LTE~ A Package of Rancor for Coos County Commissioner John Sweet

League Testifies on Lodging Tax Bill
The House Revenue Committee, chaired by Representative Phil Barnhart (D-Eugene), held a hearing Thursday on an important lodging tax bill for cities and counties. The League testified in support of HB 2064 with a dash-1 amendment that revises state preemptions on the use of local lodging tax revenues in order to increase flexibility for addressing tourist-related costs.  The flexibility would allow restricted revenues to be used for maintenance of tourist-related facilities as well as the costs of tourism activities, tourist events and festivals, sporting events,
tourist attractions, and beautification projects that enhance tourist attractions, tourism facilities and tourist events.

In addition, the amendment would revise the definition for transient lodging intermediary to ensure all business model types that facilitate the retail sale of rooms or homes are required
to collect lodging taxes as well as file a tax return and pay the taxes. Presently, some entities are not paying the tax or require an agreement with a local government to pay the tax. Another amendment may be necessary to clarify that no double taxation is intended by the revisions.  The intent is that either the transient lodging provider is responsible for the tax, or if an intermediary is used by the provider, that intermediary will be responsible for paying the tax.

The committee’s discussion of the amendment was lengthy and very lively as there is great interest this session in providing local governments more flexibility as long as the changes are narrowly tailored to maintain a nexus to tourism. Oregon’s local lodging tax revenues have more than doubled since the 2003 preemptions went into effect, but increased tourism costs are also hamstringing the budgets of some cities and counties. Public safety costs for tourist events and activities are a particular need that legislators seem receptive to addressing this session.

The League will continue to work with the committee to advance the bill.
Contact: Wendy Johnson, Intergovernmental Relations Associate – wjohnson@orcities.org

Revenue Forecast Shows Net Increase
The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis issued its quarterly revenue forecast on Tuesday, informing lawmakers that state revenues for the 2017-19 biennium are expected to exceed March projections by $187 million. This lowers the deficit between projected revenues and current service levels for the upcoming biennium from $1.6 billion to nearly $1.4 billion. The net revenue projections would have been much higher, but the economists are now projecting that both the corporate and the personal income tax kicker will be triggered. Oregon's kicker law requires a tax rebate when the state's general fund grows at least 2 percent larger than projected.

Economists anticipate revenues will exceed the threshold for the personal income tax kicker by $69.9 million, and $408 million will be returned to tax payers as an income tax credit for filings in 2018.

However, because the margins are so small, that kicker is not a certainty. The state economist put odds of not triggering it at 1 in 3. A $75.5 million corporate kicker is also possible, but will not be returned or credited to corporate taxpayers because in 2012 Oregon voters directed future corporate kicker money to K-12 education spending.

The projected increases in overall revenues are largely the result of higher April income tax revenues, estate tax increase and an increased ending balance. The state’s unemployment rate is still below the national average, but job growth is slowing significantly throughout the state and across industries. Lottery revenues are projected to increase $3.6 million for the remainder of the 2015-17 biennium, and an additional $9.6 million for the 2017-19 biennium. The May forecast provides the final budget number for legislative leadership and the Joint Ways & Means Committee to use in finalizing the legislatively-approved budget for the 2017-19 biennium. The forecast was presented to a joint meeting of the House Revenue and Senate Finance and Revenue committees, chaired by Representative Phil Barnhart (D-Eugene) and Senator Mark Hass (D-Beaverton) respectively. The next forecast will be released August 23.

Contact: Wendy Johnson, Intergovernmental Relations Associate – wjohnson@orcities.org

The following Press Release was sent out by the Sheriff's Department in
February of 2017, but then it was resent out on May 11, 2017. 

We the People Rally
We have just made history! Citizens for Fair Representation has filed suit to the State of California for lack of representation and dilution of vote. Join us for a couple hours to hear how we plan to restore our representation, including details about…
EVENTBRITE.COM

Hey Folks,

The Jury Nullification Bill, SB924, died in committee. 

However, we plan to resurrect it next year.  It will be brought back in the short session in 2018. 

Thank you all for the support. 

Citizens File Lawsuit Against  State of California

Citizens for Fair Representation (CFR) will file a lawsuit against the State of California for lack of representation and dilution of vote. CFR represents citizens from 21 rural counties in the northern area of the State. A long list of plaintiffs have joined CFR in the lawsuit, representing a diversity of cultures, ages, races and political philosophy.

Over the last 3 years, most of these plaintiffs have petitioned the California State Legislature and Secretary of State seeking equal/fair representation, tens of thousands of letters, phone calls and emails have gone out to their elected representatives, requesting they introduce a Bill or Resolution that would create a more representative balance in both legislative chambers. The plaintiffs have personally visited individual legislative offices, but plaintiffs claim that all requests have gone ignored, leaving them no choice now but to enter the legal process.

Currently, California's population at just under 40 million is represented by 40 State Senators and 80 Assembly members. This is the same number of elected representatives that in 1862 represented 416,640 people.

Prior to 1964, just about every County in California was represented by one State Senator. Today, a California State Senator represents an average of 1 million people, with each assembly member representing 500,000.  Currently, 11 northern rural counties have one Senator whose vote is diluted by 15 senators representing the single County of Los Angeles.

California's imbalance of representation ranks the worst on the list of 50 States. The small state of New Hampshire has 400 in their State House of Representatives, with one representative for less than 4,000 people.  There are 24 State Senators or one for every 55,000 citizens. New Hampshire's ratio of balance closely models the representation that CFR is seeking to accomplish for California. If CFR is successful, this would be history in the making, not only for their 21 counties, but all of California's 58 counties and those in other states.

Claimants state, “California's refusal to increase its levels of representation to reflect its exponential population growth is both arbitrary and unconstitutional. “

The case, Citizens for Fair Representation vs Secretary of State Alex Padilla, will be filed on May 8th, in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California, Sacramento Division.  Citizens for Fair Representation is a 501(C)(4), a nonprofit corporation.
#   #   #
Attention News Editors:  For interviews or more information, please call Mark Baird, 530-227-6729,    Terry Rapoza, 530-246-9706.

Terry Gherardi, CFR Public Information Officer - 530-677-4294

Hey Folks,
      
I received the following invite to a couple of local Democratic Party events.  One event is a Trounce Trump Tea Party on Mother’s Day, because Mom is going to want to sit around a bunch of sanctimonious politicos complaining about the President. 
 
The second event is dinner with former Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins. 
 
It sounds like two great events for Trump Supporters who want to see what their opponents are up too.   If you attend these events, would you please film it and then send us a link to CoosCountyWatchdog.com?….Rob T.

The Sustainable Energy Ordinance
Violates the Right to Commerce
 
Since the first time cavemen traded bones for beads humans have participated in the most basic ritual of shopping the marketplace commonly referred to as the Right to Commerce.  Preceding any government or religion, the market is an organic element existing because we exist surviving on the unique trait of adaptability, not the artificial illusion of sustainability.        
 
Currently, there is an effort by a group of rabid environmentalist to deny people this right by democratizing trade and allowing voters the power to dictate over who can and cannot buy and sell products to willing consumers.  It is a threat to liberty looming over Coos County in the form of an ordinance titled, Establishing a Community Bill of Rights Providing for a Sustainable Energy Future, or Measure 6-162, which will be on the May ballot in a countywide election.
 
Measure 6-162 is supposed to be the silver bullet that will kill the LNG project in Coos Bay, but the people promoting this tyranny by the majority have stated that their end goal is to eliminate all use of fossil fuels and replace those affordable, dependable energy sources with more costly and unproven experimental alternatives.  The bill will also impose new draconian regulations that will limit growth potential through the hindrance of private ownership to the point of crippling the economy.  In an effort to find fuel smugglers or to detect illegal infractions, the local government will have to establish checkpoints on its borders, stifling traffic and free travel.  The process will make it more difficult and more expensive to heat houses and businesses or simply fill-up a car, effectively closing down the county.   
 
The nihilistic sponsors of the bill have even stated that, “if a town goes bankrupt trying to defend one of our ordinances, well, perhaps that’s exactly what is needed to trigger a national movement,” which shows a cruel indifference towards the very people they claim to be helping.   It also demonstrates the group’s blind faith adherence to a radical ideology even when those beliefs are detrimental to their fellow citizens.   It is the height of irrationality. 
 
The people of Coos have a chance to retain sanity by rejecting the idea that a vote can eliminate a right.  More importantly, its defeat will send a message to the anticapitalistic crowd who may use this same initiative to try to destroy the economy of other Oregon counties.  Oppose the regression of society and Vote NO on Measure 6-162 before the extremists relegate the community back to the Stone Age.
 
About the author:
Rob Taylor is the founder of a virtual network of local activist at CoosCountyWatchdog.com, and a chief petitioner for the Second Amendment Preservation Ordinance. 

05.01.17

On the communist holiday of "May Day" the Oregon Senate passed, on an almost party line vote, the Boquist/Burdick gun grab SB 719A. Senator Betsy Johnson was the only Democrat voting "no."  Boquist was the only Republican voting "yes." The Democrats immediately issued a press release calling the vote "non-partisan." 

Senator Boquist's floor speech revealed a very different interpretation of what "due process" is than what we believe.
 
Under this bill you get an opportunity to prove your innocence only after you have been punished with the confiscation of your property and the elimination of your rights.
 
Boquist claimed that "there is a process" for confiscating legally owned Class III items under this bill but neglected to say what it was. When we contacted ATF several weeks ago they said they knew of no such process and one Police Chief told us he had no idea how this could be done legally.
 
We want to thank Senators Kim Thatcher, Dennis Linthicum and Alan Olsen for their testimony in opposition to this dangerous bill. We also want to thank Senators Girod and Kruse who, along with Thatcher, Linthicum, and Olsen approved and distributed a floor letter OFF wrote in opposition.
 
The bill now moves to the House where will do all we can to derail it. It's not clear at this point what committee it will be assigned to so please contact all Oregon House members to express your opposition to this assault on your rights.

TAKE ACTION HERE.