When OSPIRG turned in eight versions of the same ballot measure to the ASUO Constitution Court for review, it hoped it was making the election process a little easier.
But Sunday, when the court rejected all eight of OSPIRG’s versions of a measure that would determine whether it would get funding next year, a vital element of the elections process was missing.
An updated version of the Green Tape Notebook, the book of rules governing the ASUO, would have included new regulations about what a ballot measure has to contain. Students approved the new regulations for how ballot measures must be written during last year’s election.
But halfway through this year, ASUO President Jay Breslow still has not issued a new Green Tape Notebook with the updated rules, even though it is a constitutional requirement that each president do so every year.In using the old system of writing ballot measures, OSPIRG missed some key points it needed to cover.
The OSPIRG measures failed to include the amount of money the group has been receiving from the student incidental fee, along with an approximate dollar amount per student, which forced the court to return the measures to the group for additional work.
OSPIRG “didn’t have the right rules to go from,” said Robert Raschio, chief justice of the court. It was the “fault of other parties who had the responsibility [to see] that thing got out.”
As far as Raschio knew, the only copy of the updated regulations can be found in last year’s voter’s guide. The new wording is included in ballot measure No. 6.
Breslow said he has not made a specific effort to educate students about the new regulations, but he said he believes the ASUO Elections Board is working with students on the issue.
Melissa Unger, state board chairwoman of OSPIRG, said that no one in the group realized a new format for ballot measures had passed last year.
“We were pretty clueless,” Unger said. “We didn’t know all the rules and regulations [and] we just kind of followed what we did two years ago.”
Unger also works in the Executive office as a legislative organizer.
Although she said the updating of the Green Tape Notebook was definitely behind schedule, it wasn’t a major issue for OSPIRG. The group has since discovered the necessary change, has changed it and is moving on.
“It would have been nice to know,” Unger said. “But we didn’t know, and I think it’s fixed now, so it’s not a big deal.”
OSPIRG resubmitted its measures according to the new format Monday.
The court planned to review the measures Tuesday night. After its measures are approved by the court, OSPIRG must get 5 percent of the student body to sign a petition before a measure can be placed on the ballot.
Jumping that hurdle, however, doesn’t mean all obstacles have moved out of OSPIRG’s way.
The group has faced opposition to its funding when it has gone to the ballot in the past, and this year, opposition has already begun.
Senior finance major James Eddy, a member of the College Republicans, is manager of the Honesty campaign, which has been opposing OSPIRG funding since the 1997-98 school year.
He said that OSPIRG does a lot of good things, but he believes that the quantity of money it asks for is “kind of outrageous.”
Eddy said students shouldn’t be forced to pay for the political and lobbying efforts in Portland, which he said a lot of OSPIRG’s funding goes toward.
“I believe that the money that students allocate toward student groups should remain on campus and directly benefit the local community,” Eddy said.
Unger, however, remains unfazed.
“Students in general support the issues we work on and what we do,” she said. “OSPIRG does have a budget, and money does go to Portland, [where we] hire professional staff to work at the statewide level. Do we work on issues that are political and students care about? Yes. Do we lobby and support ballot measures? No.”
Though the deadline for ballot measures requiring student signatures passed last week, the deadline for referendum measures — those submitted by the Executive or the Student Senate — is Thursday.
Senate President Peter Watts said he thinks the senate will probably submit one measure this year.
Breslow said he anticipates at least three or four ballot measures will come across his desk before Thursday.
Breslow said he would like to keep the ballot as simple as possible. As a result of Gov. John Kitzhaber’s proposed state budget and the probable end of a tuition freeze at the University, tuition will likely rise next year, and Breslow said he doesn’t want the student fee rising too much along with it.
However, Breslow said he doesn’t think he’ll turn away many of the measures that do come before him.
“Because we were late getting all the elections together, [I’ll probably be using] pretty loose criteria,” Breslow said. “If it’s not something I’m just definitely opposed to, it will probably go on the ballot.”