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It’s easy to listen to Oregon legislative hearings.
If you want to tell your legislators what you think, you can do that too:
Articles Posted in State Government & Legal Resources
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What Oregon Legislators Need During Public Testimony
On the countdown to the 2010 Legislative Session, I offer this:
While listening to a particularly interesting Oregon Legislative Committee hearing (yes, they can be interesting), I noticed how wide-ranging the questions from Legislators were. So, I made a list of the types of information that were asked about during this single hearing:
(See also, How To Testify Before a Legislative Committee.)
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2009 Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS): Now Online
The 2009 Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) are online – hurrah! – just in time for the start of the Oregon 2010 Special Legislative Session, when we start all over again – aghhhh!
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Oregon Small Claims Court and Local Court Rules
I haven’t blogged about Oregon Small Claims Court in a little while, and while not much has changed overall, here are a couple of updates:
1) It is very important to keep up with your Small Claims Court rules and procedures. Always read:
a) the Small Claims packet of information the Court gives you or that is on their website,
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Vote or Don’t Complain: Oregon Ballot Deadline: January 26, 2010
The ballot deadline is January 26, 2010. Please don’t mail your ballot at this point. Please find a drop box.
It has been said that people spend more time shopping for a TV than they do mulling over an election ballot. For crying out loud, in Oregon you can fill in your ballot while sitting in a comfy chair, drinking a beverage of choice, and mumbling or ranting to your heart’s content.
If you don’t vote you can’t complain. People around the world and through the centuries know that maintaining a democracy is a lifetime effort (and sometimes a death-defying one). You can’t vote once and expect to find yourself in Shangri-La (which may not be your cup of tea anyway). And voting once or twice a year is the minimum entrance requirement for keeping a country a free republic. It takes more, much more.
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Oregon Legislature: “Special” Session or “Supplemental” Session?
Just as people ask if the Oregon SLRs are the “Supplemental” Local Rules or the “Supplementary” Local Rules, they also ask about those “Special” vs. those “Supplemental” Sessions. Here’s an article that may answer the question, in full or in part:
A lot is riding on February session: Senate president says it will be prelude to annual sessions ballot measure, by Peter Wong, Statesman Journal, January 17, 2010:
Excerpt: ‘Oregon lawmakers gave a test drive to an annual session two years ago, but Senate President Peter Courtney said the February session will be the one on which voters decide whether such sessions are permanent.
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Official vs. Unofficial Sources of Law (with a side of Positive Law)
It’s not easy to find a simple online explanation of the difference between Official and Unofficial sources of law. My explanation may fill in that gap – or not, depending on your specific question. (And a blog post this long can hardly be called “simple,” but such is life — and law.)
1) In a nutshell, an official source is a source that has been authorized by an official body, such as a court or a legislature. In Oregon, for example, we have the official statutes of Oregon, published in the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS), by the Oregon Legislature, through Legislative Counsel. (This official statutory compilation should not be confused with Oregon Laws, which is the official session law compilation.)
2) We also have in Oregon, as do many states, an unofficial statutory compilation, the Oregon Revised Statutes Annotated, which is published by Thomson-Reuters (West Group).
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When does the 2010 Oregon Legislative Special Session Start?
The official start date for the 2010 Oregon Legislature’s Special Session will be posted on the Legislature’s webpage. The likely start date is Monday, February 1, 2010, but do check to make sure that isn’t changed.
On a related note, and at the risk of making the demand for their excellent reference service greater than the supply of Legislative Liaisons, I need to put another word of praise in for our Oregon Legislative Liaisons, who can be contacted at 503-986-1000 (phone number at bottom of the Legislature’s homepage).
If you need a quick (and even a not so quick) Legislative Question answered, they are your Go To People. For example, what about those questions you just can’t find quickly, or at all, on their website?
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Oregon Legislature: February 2010 Special Session
Visit the Oregon Legislature’s 2010 Special Session Information website for updates on what will happen in February.
There is also that January 2010 election … and depending on the outcome, the Special Session agendas may change a lot or a little.
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The (print) 2009 Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) Has Arrived
The print set of the 2009 Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) is arriving in libraries and law offices around the state, but it’s not yet online. Soon, soon.
The ORS is chock full of goodies (notice I did not say goodness), including the full text of the Oregon Constitution.