Riders on a legislative tax bill under the Oregon constitution are unconstitutional because of an article that requires all such legislative tax bills to be single issue in nature; again proving Oregon’s founding fathers were no ones' fools.
The fact that the current legislatures in Salem passed legislation which was/is unconstitutional should send strong signals to the constituency saying our legislature needs some (read - lots of) guidance from “we the people”, which they are not getting. A duty we the people have been sorely neglecting for far to long. In particular guidance in the area of large, special interest expenditures such as the Portland Light Rail appropriation bill.
By not indicating more strongly to our representatives our opposition to the passage of the Light Rail appropriation bill, will be paying for an expensive Mass Transit System which benefits only those living in the Portland Metropolitan area. I believe only a small portion of those.
State funds, if spent on transportation, should be spent on projects which will, or have the potential of, benefiting travelers on a state wide basis - on projects similar to the highway improvements now under way on US Highway 22. Perhaps on the much needed repair and resurfacing of Oregon’s secondary highways, like Oregon 226, although I am sure there are other state highways in as much or more need of repair as 226.
Perhaps if the Legislature knew Linn Countys county roads are in much better condition than the State Highways within Linn County, they might have spent our money on Oregon’s roads. The benefit would be enjoyed by a much higher number of Oregonians than on the Portland Light Rail System.