Legislature 2009

Leslie Rubenstein reports from Cottage Grove, “Suggestions for upcoming Town Halls: get there really early, not only to get a seat, but also to circulate and have friendly conversations, cheerfully scoping out the crowd but also mentioning courtesy and civility. I think the tenor of the crowd can be affected by projecting a sense of neighborliness instead of antagonism, and dispersing through the crowd so that disrupters can't be in their own isolated group.”

We are half way through this recess's Town Halls with 29 under our belt and 14 more scheduled. Implementing what we’ve learned so far is going to help Eastern Oregon get the most out of your upcoming meetings with the Senator. See below for tips for success and ideas from other town halls.

ROP is working to organize a statewide presence of progressive folks at the Congressional Town Halls that have been lightening rods for the Radical Right. We want to coordinate with you to bring a united front of justice, Healthcare for All and Immigrant's Rights to our Senator’s attention this week.  Tap into the strength of one united voice.

This Fall the critical message is a message of unity:
 HEALTHCARE AND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS

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Tips on how to have a positive Town Hall:

Arrive two hours early 

In McMinnville – 500 people came. In Port Orford – 200 people came. In Seaside – 300 people came. Get there 2 hours in advance! Have at least one person stationed outside the venue to hand out flyers, stickers and welcome folks to the meeting.

Tell your personal story and ask pointed questions

See the Talking Points for examples. Progressive voices are getting drowned out of the conversation. Be the first person to ask a question – this will help set the tone of the meeting. It is likely that the Senator will use a raffle system for questions where everyone gets a number and then the numbers get drawn to determine who gets to speak. Get EVERYONE to get numbers, even if they don't want to speak, and give them to someone who does.

Bring a clear message

Figure out your phrase and use it as many times as you can! ROP is using HEALTHCARE AND IMMIGRANTS RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS. It’s simple & addresses two main issues of the day that are critically linked. The Right is linking these two issues – stand strong that healthcare reform means everyone IN & no one OUT.

Be visible/ Be creative

The Senator won’t know where you stand if you don’t have a sign that tells him! Make a sign, wear a large bright sticker and make yourself visible. Do not be obnoxious or disruptive but do be creative.
 
In Newberg progressive took up the first two rows of seats and greeted Rep. Wu as he walked in the room with a standing ovation & a clear healthcare message.
 
In Cave Junction they bought a large cake – handed out pieces to participants and gave Rep. DeFazio a piece as he was leaving the event. Write your message on the cake and get the newspaper to take a picture!

Engage people beyond the Town Hall

Have flyers about your group and ROP to hand out to progressives you see in the crowd – build the movement one person at a time! Take a sign in sheet to get their contact info.

Check out the Town Halls Are Happening! post for flyers, talking points and more!

We attended the town hall meeting in Tillamook on Saturday with Senator Jeff Merkley, and saw firsthand the same tactics. People armed with clipboards and reading from their "talking points memos" filled the hall, kept their hands in the air so no one else could be called on, stood up and/or shouted out if they weren't called on, and in general monopolized the meeting. Some of them were probably local, but some were not. From what I've seen on video of other similar meetings, ours was rather subdued.

- Judith Allen of Tillamook

 This August's congressional recess is a hot political opportunity.

The teabaggers of the Right know it - and they are ORGANIZED.

Are we?

This Summer we tuck a successful Oregon legislative session to bed.  We have much to celebrate (fusion, tax progress etc see http://www.rop.org/2009-legislative-wrap-up-highlights-and-challenges-ahead).  Any caretaker knows, though, that tucking a child in bed is not really successful until silence reigns for a bit.  What are we hearing in Oregon.....

The 2009 Oregon Legislative Session concludes with some notable victories – passage of safe schools legislation that protects kids from harassment, a budget that funds schools and increases veterans benefits, improvements to tax fairness on the revenue front, and the failure of all anti-immigrant legislation to name a few.  These successes were supported by more than 50 ROP members who consistently wrote letters, made calls, sent emails and faxes, and wrote letters to the editor to keep our priorities clear and present.  Thank you, ROPers! 

In the 2009 Legislature, ROP will raise up a legislative platform that says YES to Rebuilding Oregon and NO to the Cost of War at Home and Abroad.

Now is the time to transform our hope for change into action at local, state, and national levels. We can turn back the tide of the past eight years and beyond and begin a new era of interdependence, respect, innovation, and community building rooted in true peace, justice, and democracy.

It's important for our elected officials to hear from us on issues we care about most. It's easy to do. Just go to the Oregon State Legislature Page to find your Senator's and Representative's contact information.

Take action for economic justice here at home by calling, writing or e-mailing your state legislators as well as Senate President Peter Courtney, Senate Revenue Chair Ginny Burdick, House Speaker Dave Hunt and House Revenue Chair Phil Barnhart and urging them to support an increase in the state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) which benefits low income families in Oregon. 

Don't let this election day slide under your radar!  You have until 8pm tonight, Tuesday, May 19th, to turn your ballots in.  It's too late to mail them, so you'll need to drop them off.  For a listing of drop sites, go here.

At a time when our schools are facing deep cuts and shortened school years, electing strong school board candidates is even more important. 

From reading the papers and listening to the news, we are hearing about budget cuts, shorter school years, reduced services, and more budget cuts.  Seniors are competing with kids, healthcare is competing with transportation, and the hungry are competing with people with disabilities.  The most vulnerable are vying for pieces of a pie that will never feed us all! 

But that's the shell game!  We follow the holes in the budget and see that they don't add up, but we don't see that the wealth exists in our state, if not in our state's budget!  The real problem is that we are not sharing the responsibility for taking care of our needs.  Instead we are trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor and most vulnerable in Oregon who are exactly the same folks who have been hardest hit by the economic crisis.