After rejecting two ballot initiatives aimed at facilitating clean-energy usage in Oregon, Secretary of State Bev Clarno has now lost a lawsuit filed by environmental advocates in opposition to that dismissal.
Clarno had previously rejected the Initiative Petitions 48 and 49 on Dec. 19, 2019 after determining that they went against the “single-subject provision” set forth by the Oregon Constitution, which states that a “proposed law or amendment to the Constitution shall embrace one subject only and matters properly connected therewith.”
However, Marion County Judge David Leith ruled on Jan. 16 that the petitions were not in violation.
The rejection, and subsequent lawsuit, was over Sections 2 and 3 of initiatives 48 and 49 respectively, which would require an electric utility or primary contractor participating in a construction project valued at $50,000 or more to do four things:
- pay the prevailing hourly wage rate for the same job for the locality in which the labor is performed
- provide healthcare and retirement benefits to project employees
- participate in a State Apprenticeship and Training Council apprenticeship program
- demonstrate compliance with federal and state laws
Tera Hurst, executive director for Portland-based environmental coalition Renew Oregon, and Eric Richardson, executive director of the Eugene-Springfield NAACP branch, filed the suit, which asks to “set aside the Secretary of State’s erroneous decisions” about the initiatives, according to court documents. “Secretary Clarno and Deputy Secretary [Rich] Vial are wasting taxpayer money to protect the interests of the wealthy and powerful against the will of the people,”Hurst said in a press release.
“These initiatives provide not only a target for 100-percent clean electricity but also a blueprint for the transition,” Richardson said in a news release, “so it creates good-paying jobs with benefits and prioritizes communities most in need of investment.”
According to a description attached to court documents, the goal of the initiatives was to mandate that Oregon generate the entirety of its electricity with renewable and carbon-free energy sources by January 1, 2045. Initiative Petition 49 specifically requires electric utilities to invest in electrification processes that reduce greenhouse gas emission.
Brad Reed, spokesperson for Renew Oregon, told the Emerald in an email that the coalition had been working on the initiatives since summer of 2019, before filing in October. “Examples of projects utilities would invest in are electric car charging stations, electric transit and school bus charging, and switching homes and buildings from burning fossil fuel gas for heat and appliances to cleaner electricity,” Reed said.
However, Clarno initially found issue with two subsections of the petitions related to labor and equity requirements.
In letters sent to petitioners Richardson, Lisa Adatto and Chrissy Reitz declaring the rejections of the two initiatives, director of elections Stephen Trout said that Clarno found that Sections 2 and 3 of initiatives 48 and 49 respectively to be not “properly connected” to the rest of the initiatives, and thus embracing more than a single subject.
The Secretary’s office refused to comment for this story.
It isn’t the first time that Clarno has turned away ballot initiatives aimed at environmental regulation, or been sued for it. The Secretary rejected Initiative Petitions 35, 36 and 37, which called for increased logging restrictions, the tightening of aerial herbicide spraying laws, and the prohibition of state forestry board conflicts of interest, in September 2019.
Subsequently, environmental group Oregon Wild sued Clarno, although Marion County Judge Daniel Wren sided with Clarno in November. The plaintiffs in the Initiative Petitions 48 and 49 suit also requested a motion to disqualify Wren from their case.
After winning the suit, Renew Oregon announced in a press release that once the initiative petitions are reviewed by the Attorney General, it will work to collect signature to fully put the measures on the ballot for 2020.
