The Willamette Week has an article about the Oregon Single Payer Health Care Conference, to be held Saturday, January 29, 2010:
Coverage for All: Is Single-Payer Health Care the Cure for Oregon?, by Stacy Brownhill:
“State Rep. Michael Dembrow wants to establish in Oregon what the White House and Congress couldn’t do in last year’s healthcare reform effort: single-payer health care.
I heard a provocative, and wonderful, interview (with Frances Kissling) on the radio the other day, at On Being, the Krista Tippett radio program that is broadcast on OPB Radio on Sunday evenings, from 7-8 p.m.
I almost turned the radio off, not being much in the mood for “yet another” abortion debate. But then I started listening – and I’m so glad I did.
Listening Beyond Life and Choice: You can read the transcript of the interview or listen to it via download, podcast, and “listen now,” from the On Being website.
Multnomah County Library’s “Conversation Project” (“[t]his series is part of a statewide humanities program that promotes thoughtful discussions about important ideas.”) covers some interesting topics, including this one:
The Voters Have Spoken: Oregon’s Controversial Ballot Initiatives, with Jackson Miller, Saturday, March 19, 2–3 p.m. (Troutdale Library)
In these opening days of the 2011 Oregon Legislative Session, a reminder is in order, especially for people who know they will likely have to compile a legislative history one of these days:
Public records laws, open secrets policies, public meetings laws are all well and good – and you can see Oregon’s Public Records and Public Meetings Manuals posted at the Department of Justice website – but what do you do if you need a legislative history of a law, including its public hearings?
People use their public law libraries and the State Archives (in Salem) every day to research legislative histories of Oregon laws.
Public Printer Bill Boarman has named Mary Alice Baish Assistant Public Printer, Superintendent of Documents, for the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO).
A proud day for all law librarians! Mary Alice Baish, formerly Director of Government Relations for the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL), is a great friend to public librarians, too.
You can read the GPO press release or link to the story at the Law Librarian Blog:
Just a reminder about this terrific resource:
“How an Idea Really Becomes A Law,” 36 Willamette L. Rev. 1 (2000), by former Legislative Counsel Gregory A. Chaimov, (or link to it from the Oregon Legislative Counsel website).
There is also a lot of information on the Legislature’s website about how to testify before an Oregon legislative committee.
A colleague passed this along, from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Law Blog (and you can read other WSJ blogs, too):
“Survey Says! Paralegaling is a Better Job than Lawyering,” WSJ Law Blog, 1/6/11
The WSJ Law Blog seems to have a slightly higher caliber of Comments than some other news websites and blogs. See, e.g. their Oregon Supreme Court decision blog post (re Barger (SC S058345) and Ritchie (SC S057701 (Control), S057705):
There are a number of public affairs forums across the state, dozens, maybe hundreds, if you include all the “speaker” series offered by local nonprofits, libraries, political, and educational and religious organizations. Check your local news and events sources to find out what is happening in your community. There are sometimes multiple ways to listen to these, so check out their websites.
Here are three well known ones in Washington, Marion, and Multnomah Counties:
1) Stay tuned for the 2011 Oregon Legislative Session. And don’t forget that we will now have annual sessions, which will be even more exciting for law librarians who already have to explain the difference between session laws and codes. (You can also read about codification and my other attempt to explain session law vs. codification/codes.)
2) Visit the Oregon Legislature’s website for links to current and previous bills and laws.
3) About those Annual Sessions: See Ballotpedia’s entry and links for the 2010 Measure 71 that was approved by voters in November 2010. It amends the Oregon Constitution: “Amends Constitution: Requires legislature to meet annually; limits length of legislative sessions; provides exceptions.” (Measure 71)
4) Legislative Hearing Minutes: don’t forget that you now have to listen to the hearings in full to find out who said what. Visit the Oregon Legislature’s website for audio/video links. (Read more about legislative intent and legislative drafting and interpretation.)
It’s time to update my 2008 post on Researching Oregon Paternity Law
Depending on your specific question (and they do run the gamut!), here are some updated resources and links.
1) Oregon DOJ Child Support Program: Determining Paternity and more
Oregon Legal Research Blog