Oregon Ballot Measure 62 (2008) (formerly IRR 41) appeared on the November 4, 2008 general election ballot in Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. It was an initiated constitutional amendment

Initiated constitutional amendment

An initiated constitutional amendment is an amendment to a state's constitution that results from petition by the state's citizens. By utilizing this initiative process, citizens are able to propose and vote on constitutional amendments directly, without need of legislative referral...

 dealing with the issue of where a percentage of profit from the Oregon State Lottery should go. The initiative, if it had passed, would have required that 15% of net lottery proceeds be deposited in a public safety fund. 50% of that fund would have been distributed to counties to fund grants for childhood programs, district attorney operations, and sheriff's investigations. The other 50% of the fund would have gone to Oregon State Police criminal investigations and forensic operations. It is expected that most of that money would have been diverted from schools.

Background

The official ballot title

Ballot title

A ballot title is the official, short, summary of a ballot measure that appears on the ballot. The goal of a good ballot title is to be a neutral summary that accurately conveys to voters the gist of what the proposed new law says or would do...

 is: Allocates 15% Of Lottery Proceeds To Public Safety Fund For Crime Prevention, Investigation, Prosecution

Measure 62 has become unofficially known as the "Oregon C.S.I. Measure".

Specific provisions

Where the money would go:

• 20% for grants to counties to fund early childhood programs for children who are at risk;
• 50% to fund the criminal investigation and forensics operations (including crime lab) of the Oregon State Police to assist law enforcement throughout the state;
• 15% to provide grants to countries to supplement existing county appropriations for the operations of District Attorneys;
• 15% to provide grants to counties to supplement existing county appropriations for investigation and field operations of county sheriffs.

Estimated fiscal impact

The state's Financial Estimate Committee prepares estimated fiscal impact statements for any ballot measures that will appear on the ballot. The estimate prepared by this committee for Measure 62 says:

• Measure 62 would require public safety spending from the state lottery fund of $100 million in the first year, increasing in subsequent years depending on how much money goes into the state lottery fund from the sales of tickets in the Oregon state-sponsored lottery.,

Supporters

The measure was sponsored by chief petitioner

Petitioner

A petitioner is a person who pleads with governmental institution for a legal remedy or a redress of grievances, through use of a petition.-In the courts:The petitioner may seek a legal remedy if the state or another private person has acted unlawfully...

s Duane Fletchall, Steve Beck, and Kevin Mannix

Kevin Mannix

Kevin Leese Mannix is a politician, business attorney, and former chairman of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Oregon.Mannix has served in both houses of the Oregon Legislative Assembly, as a Democrat and, later, a Republican...

.

Arguments in favor of Measure 62

Notable arguments made in favor of Measure 62 included:

• More money going into crime investigations will help reduce the backlog of investigations.
• Currently, some crimes in Oregon aren't investigated using modern forensic techniques because the resources don't exist.
• Rural counties especially need the help funding investigations.
• The money is needed to help stabilize funding for state police investigations.

Arguments against Measure 62

Notable arguments made against Measure 62 include:

• It would divert money from the lottery that would otherwise go to schools.
• From the Oregonian's No on 62 endorsement: "Ballot Measure 62 is one more in a long line of gratuitous assaults on good government in Oregon. Ill-conceived and poorly crafted, the measure would rip millions of lottery dollars from where they are most needed -- Oregon classrooms -- and squander them in a hodgepodge of public safety causes."

Donors opposing Measure 62

Defend Oregon, as a committee, fought seven different ballot measures, and supported two others. As a result, it is not possible to discern how much of its campaign money was going specifically to defeat Measure 61. Altogether, the group raised over $6 million in 2008.

Major donations to the Defend Oregon group as of October 8 included:

• $4.1 million from the Oregon Education Association
  Oregon Education Association
  The Oregon Education Association is the largest public education employees' union in the U.S. state of Oregon, representing more than 46,000 teachers and classified personnel. It has local affiliates in each of the state's 199 public school districts, and 8 community colleges...
  
  .,
• $100,000 from School Employees Exercising Democracy (SEED)
• $100,000 from the AFL-CIO
  AFL-CIO
  The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
  
  .
• $50,000 from Oregon AFSCME Council 75.

Newspaper endorsements

Here is how Oregon's major newspapers endorsed on the measure.

Newspapers	Yes	No
The Oregonian		No
Medford Mail-Tribune		No
Statesman Journal	Yes
Bend Bulletin		No
Portland Tribune		No
Eugene Register-Guard		No
Daily Astorian		No
East Oregonian		No
Corvallis Gazette Times		No
Coos Bay The World		No
Willamette Week		No
Yamhill Valley News Register		No
Gresham Outlook		No

External links

• Chief Petitioner Kevin Mannix on BallotPedia.org
• Oregon Voters' Pamphlet for Measure 62
• 2008 General Election Measures: Voter Guide
• Information and status on this initiative from the Secretary of State
• Official text of measure
• Explanatory statement
• Website for the Defend Oregon Coalition