Oregon Republican Party

Backwards Budgeting
By Suzanne Gallagher
Chair, Oregon Republican Party

Imagine your family received a 10 percent increase in income this year. Like most Oregonians, you'd be pretty happy. Knowing your new income level, you might retool your family budget a little; pay down some debt or save for a rainy day.

Oregon government has 10 percent more to spend this year. That means $1.7 billion more for the next two years. However, Democrats who control both legislative chambers are doing things backwards compared to Oregon families.

Successful budgeting - whether for a nation, a state, a business or a family - means following basic rules of logic and common sense. We start with an estimate of our expected income and develop a list of priority areas on which to spend that income in a reasoned and equitable manner. As time goes on, we may adjust our budget as income fluctuates. None of this is rocket science.. It is good old-fashion common sense and every responsible family does it.

What conscientious business or family would start their budget process with an imaginary or ideal income number plucked out of thin air? No, we start with a reasonable estimate of our net income - these days usually from a two-income family - and go from there.

And yet, the Democratic leadership of the Oregon Legislature is basing its budget on a fictional, made-up number! It's like family budgeting based on what they want to make, not on what they actually bring home. Sure, it's nice to occasionally fantasize about what to buy after hitting the Powerball(r) jackpot, but that is not the same as responsible budgeting.

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The Elephant in the Room
By Suzanne Gallagher
Chair, Oregon Republican Party

The "Elephant in the room" is an English metaphorical idiom for an obvious truth that is either being ignored or going unaddressed, applies to an obvious problem or risk no one wants to discuss. The “Elephant in the Room” is not a Republican. It is a Democrat.

Oregon has a system of one party rule which now cannot effectively address the PERS crisis which threatens to financially hamstring Oregon Government at every level, from Governor John Kitzhaber’s State Agencies right down to your kid’s classroom.

Years of Democrat control has created an unfunded Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) that goes beyond taxpayers’ ability to support. Fundamental reforms are necessary and obvious, except to the Democrats who created the problem and are unwilling to make the necessary reforms.

Meaningful PERS Reform is possible, IF there were political will.

Senate Bill 754, would create and retain the most jobs right away -- with real savings equivalent to 5,000-10,000 teachers, police officers, firefighters, and other public servants. The Democrat leaders will not allow it a hearing.  This bill, supported by numerous non-partisan groups including Oregon School Boards Association representing schools statewide, Stand for Children, the Oregon Business Association, and the Oregon Business Plan, will not see the light of day. Meanwhile, all local government jurisdictions including schools, cities and counties will continue plan cuts to core services replaced by PERS – Oregon’s out of control utopian retirement plan.

Democrat legislators in both Houses who receive PERS themselves, are conflicted beyond their ability to solve the most pressing public problem facing our state. We sent them to Salem to solve problems, not provide themselves and their political allies’ overgenerous retirements at the expense of virtually everyone else.

Every other public priority is now a hostage to this political one-party stand-off. In their frantic efforts to ‘feed the beast’ Democratic leaders choose to do what they have always done: introduce regressive tax and fee proposals to raise revenue, including cigarette taxes, bird seed taxes, and sugar-sweetened beverage taxes. They think they know better than you how to live your lives, and they need your cash.

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How Republicans Can Win
RNC Passes Resolution Calling for Cooperation
with the Conservative Grassroots Movement

“You can’t govern if you don’t win, and we can’t win if we can’t grow,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told committee members Friday morning, before describing a $10-million field operation and planned investments in technology and data.

Though different factions of the party may occasionally disagree, he said, he urged them to unite. “We need everyone on our team. Conservatives, libertarians, the tea party, the liberty movement and those who don’t wear any label but are firmly to the right of center,” he said.

Priebus focused on party positions on education, the budget, the Constitution, the private sector and healthcare. “While we have to do things differently, there’s one thing that can’t and won’t change: our principles,” he said.

“We all agree the grassroots are the center of this party and are vital to winning elections, said Priebus. In a keeping with the sentiment to work with conservatives who share these conservative principles, at the RNC meeting this past week, the members of the Committee unanimous approved the resolution sponsored by Oregon Republican Party Chair Suzanne Gallagher to cooperate with the Conservative Grassroots Movement.

The Oregon Republican Party is pleased to share the text of the Republican National Committee Resolution Calling for Cooperation with the Conservative Grassroots Movement:

RNC Resolution Calling for Cooperation
with the Conservative Grassroots Movement

Whereas, Republicans and members of the Conservative Grassroots Movement have significantly more in common with each other than differences (remembering Reagan’s principle that 80% agreement equals friendship); and

Whereas, The Conservative Grassroots Movement’s focus on strict adherence to the Constitution and tax reform, has become the fourth pillar of the conservative movement along with fiscal, defense and social conservatives; and

Whereas, electing well qualified Republicans is essential to transforming any conservative principles into public policy; and

Whereas, improving communication between the Republican Party and the Conservative Grassroots Movement would result in Republican candidates being better qualified to move the conservative agenda forward; and

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OREGON REPUBLICAN PARTY

 OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE

Statement of the Oregon Republican Party in
Opposition to Oregon Senate Bills 347, 699, 700 and 796

Wilsonville, OR – On April 4th, 2013, the six Executive Officers of the Oregon Republican Party voted unanimously to oppose Oregon Senate Bills 347, 699, 700 and 796 for the following reasons:

•    The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees each law-abiding American citizen the right to keep and bear arms of his choice

•    The Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States clearly says “A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

•    Firearms known as “Assault Weapons” are also protected by the Second Amendment as part of a “well-regulated militia”

•    Firearms are used for the defense of person, family, and property more than one million times each year

•    More than 99.8 percent of all lawfully-owned firearms in America will not be used in crime in any given year

•    The criminal misuse of firearms by those in the criminal element is not a reason to deny the constitutional right to keep and bear arms by law-abiding citizens

•    Several local, state, and federal lawmakers continue to propose measures aimed at restricting all firearms and ammunition, including bans, taxation, waiting periods, registration, licensing, and even confiscation

•    Such laws assume the guilt of all firearms owners without addressing those who have mental issues, misuse and criminally abuse firearms, contrary to our legal justice system which assumes innocence until proven guilty

•    National Institute of Justice studies have shown that restrictive "gun control"
laws are ineffective against violent criminals, who show contempt for all laws

•    The effect of restrictive gun laws has been the exact opposite of that which was promised, as evidenced by high violent crime rates

Therefore, the Oregon Republican Party recommends the rejection of further restrictive firearms or ammunition regulation laws that only serve to limit law-abiding citizens in the exercise of their Constitutionally guaranteed rights while having no effect on the activities of the criminal element in our society.

Further, the Oregon Republican Party recommends that the scarce resources of the law enforcement and criminal justice systems be focused upon uniform, consistent, and just sentencing, speedy trials, and increased punishment and incarceration for those who commit violent crime.

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OREGON REPUBLICAN PARTY

 OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE

Oregon Republican Party Opposes Universal Voter Registration
Proposed Amendments Erode Privacy and Discourage Personal Responsibility

Wilsonville, OR – Oregon Republican Party Chair Suzanne Gallagher announced today that the state party opposes the Universal Voter Registration Amendments to HB 2198 advocated by Secretary of State Kate Brown.

“Registering to vote is an important responsibility of every eligible citizen. We encourage all Oregonians to register and we invite Oregonians to register as Republicans, but we do not support government automatically registering every Oregonian to vote, as these Amendments would require. This should be the choice of the citizen, not the mandate of the State,” Chair Gallagher said.

“Universal Voter Registration is full of consequences, intended and unintended which will lead to many foreseeable and unforeseeable problems. We are most concerned about how universal automatic registration will erode the privacy rights of Oregonians,” Chair Gallagher continued.

“A legislative concept with such broad impacts needs to be carefully considered by the legislature.  This concept is being proposed ‘on the fly’, in the form of an Amendment, without adequate hearing and consideration. I ask the Oregon House Rules Committee to reject these Amendments,” Chair Gallagher concluded.

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A special reminder to all Oregon Republicans:
Deadline to file for Special District Elections in Oregon
Thursday March 21st at 5:00 PM

Now is the time to file for School Boards, Fire Boards, Soil and Water Conservation Districts and other Special Districts. These are important local government policy jobs that make important decisions about local government services, which both tax and serve Oregonians through Special Districts. If you have questions about this, please contact your Republican County Chair.
 
Thank you for your efforts to recruit and elect Oregon Republicans to Special District positions!

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Founder’s Speech
Dorchester 2013
Representative John Davis

E Pluribus Unum—Many, Uniting into One

Thank you.  It is an honor and a pleasure to be here.  Thank you to the Dorchester Board for the invitation, and thank you delegates for indulging me for a few minutes while we wait for the real action to begin.

It’s a painful time for the conservative and independent movements. We’ve been talking about it all weekend, and for nearly four months.  Nationally, we lost the Presidency, and have lost the popular vote in 5 of the last 6 election cycles.  We held the US House but lost the House popular vote.  And we again failed to elect a Republican to statewide office in Oregon despite having qualified candidates with strong endorsements.

We stand today looking back on some lean years:

1982 - the last year a Republican won an election for governor in Oregon.
1984 - the last year a Republican won Oregon in a presidential election.
2002 - the last year a Republican won a statewide election in Oregon.
2004 - the last year that Republicans won control of one of the chambers of the Oregon State Legislature.

Questions for our future abound: will conservatives and independents remain sidelined in Oregon indefinitely?  Equally important: will quality candidates from our movements turn away and seek success, relevancy, and service in the fields of business, nonprofit, and education, rather than politics?

Familiar remedies are proposed: change a few policies here, talk in more inclusive ways there, articulate our message more clearly, build a better voter database, get out the vote, increase registration, and wait for a better election year.  There’s a lot of truth in each of these solutions, and many of them have been addressed this weekend already and will be discussed as the conference continues.

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OREGON REPUBLICAN PARTY

 OFFICIAL NEWS RELEASE

Oregon Republican Party Opposes Columbia River Crossing
ORP Executive Committee Issues Resolution Urging Legislators To Vote NO

Wilsonville, OR – Today the Oregon Republican Party announced its opposition to the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) Bridge Project.  Here is the text of the resolution passed by the Executive Committee that is being sent today to Oregon and Washington State Legislators urging a NO vote on the Portland to Vancouver Bridge:

Resolution of the Oregon Republican Party in Opposition to the
Columbia River Crossing (CRC) Bridge Project

Whereas, there is a clear necessity to increase vehicular transportation capacity from the Portland metro area to and from Clark County and surrounding areas across the Columbia River to and from Washington State; and

Whereas, the CRC design offers only three full span (entire length of bridge) vehicular lanes in each direction (the same as on the existing I 5 bridge); and

Whereas, light rail is an inferior transit option for Vancouver transit riders who enjoy the CTRAN express busses, since it is inflexible and would impose a commute time penalty of 125%; and

Whereas, TriMet is ineligible for further Federal light rail funding since it has reduced service by fourteen percent since 2009 and cannot make a commitment to operate any new trains for twenty years, as required by Federal law; and

Whereas, the “mega-bridge” concept of consolidating all future traffic down the I-5 corridor will never work, due to highway constraints south of the Fremont Bridge; and

Whereas, the CRC tolling proposal will use toll revenue to help pay for light rail, contrary to Oregon constitutional restrictions on the use of highway user fees; and

Whereas, the CRC bridge will have river clearance of only 116 feet, which will adversely affect at least four major Oregon employers and future economic development; and

Whereas, the bridge height of 116 ft does not have US Coast approval; and

Whereas, HB 2800-A authorizes debt financing in the amount of $450 million plus interest for the CRC project without providing any funds for repayment, which will require a future burden on taxpayers; and

Whereas, the Oregon Republican Party supports an efficient and cost-effective transportation system, essential to the movement of commercial and industrial goods and services; and

Whereas, the Oregon Republican Party supports a cost-effective alternative to the CRC project, without light rail; and

Whereas, the Oregon Republican Party recommends that the current I-5 Interstate Bridge should remain in use for the foreseeable future; and

Whereas, the Oregon Republican Party recommends that ODOT disperse traffic with two additional bridges, one West of the I-5 bridge and one East of the I-205 bridge, both with a height of at least 144 feet,

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, on this day, March 3rd 2013,
That the Oregon Republican Party recommends a NO vote on the Columbia River Crossing (CRC) legislation, HB 2800-A, because it fails to be an efficient and cost-effective solution and fails to meet the needs of all Oregonians.

Click Here to download the ORP Executive Committee's CRC Resolution.

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 OFFICIAL ORP NEWS RELEASE

SUZANNE GALLAGHER ELECTED TO CHAIR ORP
Party Unites Behind New Leadership,
Thanks Alley for his Strong Party Building Efforts

Salem, OR – At the 2013 Biennial Organization Meeting on Saturday, members of the Oregon Republican State Central Committee elected Suzanne Gallagher of Tigard, Oregon as the new Chair of the ORP.

Gallagher’s slate swept the other three officer positions as well. “Our slate of officers won these contested elections because the Central Committee wanted a team of officers which shared the same Constitutional values, worked together effectively and would turn our Party’s focus to attracting voters to the Party’s candidates,” Chair Gallagher said. Bill Currier, the new ORP Vice Chair and Chris Barreto, the new ORP Secretary, both won contested races for their offices. Ken Taylor, the new ORP Treasurer won by acclamation.

Chair Gallagher thanked Allen Alley, the outgoing Chair, “for the fantastic job he has done in the last two years.” She went on to say, “Allen traveled all over this state to meet with Republicans in every county of Oregon. His superb fundraising has put our Party on a strong foundation for future success.”

Gallagher has been a state Legislative candidate and has a strong history of conservative grassroots policy advocacy, as well as fundraising and Republican organizing at the PCP level. She has an extensive business background in marketing, entrepreneurship and public service.

Gallagher campaigned on a platform of reaching out to women and youth, Hispanics, Asians and other voter groups through targeted communication efforts. PCP recruitment, voter registration and better internal and external communications are the top priorities of Chair Gallagher’s agenda for the ORP. On being elected as the second Oregon Republican woman Chair to the State Party, Gallagher said, “We have so much opportunity to make Oregon better for all Oregonians!"

Chair Gallagher went on to say, "as the Chair of our state Republican Party, I will look to our shared strengths and values of entrepreneurship, private sector job growth, personal freedom and responsibility, and accountable government to address the many problems that Oregonians face today. All Oregonians deserve a chance to make a better life for their families. I am honored to lead Republicans and all Oregonians toward a better, more prosperous future.”

The other Officers who joined Chair Gallagher as new Officers yesterday, will each serve two-year terms:

Bill Currier of Adair Village, the new ORP Vice Chair, is currently the four-term Mayor of Adair Village near Corvallis, has served on the League of Oregon Cities Board of Directors and owns and operates an IT services company.

Chris Barreto, the new ORP Secretary, is co-owner of Barreto Manufacturing in La Grande, Oregon and mother of eight children and grandmother of three. Chris was elected as a Romney Delegate to the 2012 Republican Convention in Tampa from CD 2 and also served as Oregon’s representative on the Committee on Credentials at the Republican Convention.

Ken Taylor, the new ORP Treasurer, is also Chair of the Crook County Republican Central Committee from Prineville, Oregon.  He is a Youth Minister and has been active for many years organizing Republicans in Crook County, as well as the Tea Party in Central Oregon.

New ORP Leadership Team - Pictured from Left to Right: Solomon Yue, Jr. - National Committeeman ('12-'16);
Chris Barreto - Secretary ('13-'15); Suzanne Gallagher - Chair ('13-'15); Bill Currier - Vice Chair ('13-'15);
Ken Taylor - Treasurer ('13-'15); Donna D. Cain - National Committeewoman ('12-'16).

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