Legislative Watch

 Greetings: 

Last week, most of my time was taken up in preparation for and in attending the Joint Ways and Means Committee, which met Thursday and Friday in the Capitol. 

 I described my qualifications to succeed Senator Avel Gordly in the Oregon Senate in terms of my life experience in Parts 1 and 2.  

Celebrate Senator Gordly’s birthday in February and hear from the great lady herself why she is supporting Sean Cruz to succeed her in the Oregon Senate.

Place: The historic Billy Webb Lodge #1050

            Dahlia Temple #202

Sean Cruz for Oregon Senate District 23 campaign kicks off November 29  Celebration!!!  

Elect Sean Cruz 

3^rd teachable moment in Portland: Cesar Chavez and the Hopi Elders Prayer: 

Hopi Elders Prayer

I am going to try to seize a teachable moment amid this mind-numbing conversation that used to be about Cesar Chavez….

Much of the confusion stems from the lack of clarity regarding who is speaking and on whose behalf they claim to be speaking.

Virtually all of the public discussion centers on “Latinos” and the “Latino community”, or “the Community,” and on what “they” (“Latino ‘leaders’”) say “they” ("the Community") wants.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. The terms "Latino" and "Hispanic" do not necessarily describe the same people.

2. There is no single Latino "community." There is no formal Latino “leader.”

Last March, several volunteers and supporters of the Bus Project went down to Salem to testify on House Joint Resolution 43, which would allow same day voter registration.

Right now, registration for the election ends three weeks out from Election Day. Those who are already registered in the state, but have moved, are allowed to update their registration until 8 p.m. on Election Day. This leaves a lot of people out of the process.

Those who move into the state are not allowed to register after the voter registration deadline - even if they were previously registered in another state. Many young people who turn 18 close to Election Day are often left out because they don't know they can register early. Not to mention the thousands of young people under the age of 30 who often don't get informed and involved in the process until it's already too late to register.

Oregon is tied nationally for the biggest gap between turnout of those ages 18-24 and the oldest of our voters. A big part of that problem is that the voter registration deadline is only two weeks after college starts here in Oregon, as we have an early registration deadline and a late start to college.