The Oregon Employment Department reported Tuesday that Oregon’s unemployment rate is now 9.1%.  This percentage is reported as the lowest unemployment rate this state has seen in the past three years.

A reason to celebrate?  Not exactly.  The Employment Department also reported that Oregon lost1,600 jobs last month (seasonally adjusted).  If the facts don’t seem to add up, the chart below may help explain:

Source: Oregonian

This chart suggests that the reason our unemployment rate went down is because more Oregonians have become discouraged and have given up looking for a job.

So is Oregon unique?  How do we compare with our neighbors?

Here’s one report out of the state of Washington this week:

“Private-sector job growth has pushed Washington’s unemployment rate to the lowest point since February 2009, officials said Wednesday. The November jobless rate of 8.7 percent was down from 9.1 percent in October, according to the Employment Security Department. The state added some 12,100 jobs — more than any month since the official start of the recession at the end of 2007.”

What is Oregon doing to support its private sector?

Find this article on our website at http://www.oregontransformation.com/2011/12/16/oregon%E2%80%99s-unemployment-rate-going-down-or-giving-up/

Sources: http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2011/12/oregon_jobless_rate_holds_lead.html, http://www.qualityinfo.org/pubs/pressrel/1211.pdf, http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Wash-jobless-rate-at-8-7-pct-lowest-since-2009-2402627.php

Oregon’s voters will have an opportunity during the coming election season to engage in an open debate about our court system, with actual candidates for election to open seats on the Supreme Court.

Two current court members, Chief Justice Paul DeMuniz and Justice Robert Durham, have announced that they will retire at the end of their current terms of service.  Both of these positions are scheduled for election in 2012, so Oregonians will be able to directly elect two Supreme Court Justices who are not already in office.

This is significant because most judges retire in the middle of a term.  When this happens, the Governor appoints someone to the seat, and that person later runs for retention as an incumbent judge.  In recent years, 87% of Oregon’s judges first got on the bench through appointment and later ran for election to their seats.

With open seats, voters will see real campaigns and will have an opportunity to openly discuss issues with the candidates.

One important reform is judicial pay.  Oregon ranks near the bottom in the salaries we pay our judges.  This has a significant effect on the ability to recruit the best qualified candidates for these positions.  We want to do all we can to ensure that we have the widest possible pool of candidates by assuring that those who are elected receive reasonable pay.

Another issue to confront is the high fees which are now charged for court filings.  The legislature has forced these high fees as a revenue device.  High fees make access to justice very expensive, and run counter to our belief that the courts need to be readily available to the people.

A third issue is court productivity.  The Oregon Court of Appeals has achieved national recognition for its efficiency in handling cases.  Our circuit courts have also done a reasonably good job considering their staffing limitations.  Sadly, our Supreme Court stands out for its slow handling of cases.

A key example is the slow turnaround in regard to ballot titles for citizen initiatives.  Under the current statutes, a statewide initiative petition cannot be circulated until a final ballot title is established.  The Attorney General is charged with producing ballot titles under a very tight schedule; and in recent years, has done a good job meeting this requirement.  However, the final ballot title from the Attorney General is subject to Supreme Court review.

This is where the process bogs down.  It is now taking as long as six months to get the Supreme Court to decide the relatively simple issues regarding how a ballot title describes the contents of a citizen initiative.  This kind of delay is embarrassing to the court and is an obstacle to the citizen initiative process.  Opponents to citizen initiatives know that the best way to slow down an initiative is to challenge a ballot title in the Supreme Court.

During the next election season, we will have a chance to ask candidates for the Supreme Court what they will do to bring about reforms to the justice systems and to press their colleagues on the Supreme Court to decide cases with dispatch.

Kevin L. Mannix

The national movement to repeal death taxes is based on a growing understanding that such state taxes (which are imposed on top of the federal tax) are job-killers.  In Oregon, 90% of jobs are created by family-owned businesses, and these businesses are severely damaged by the death tax when the oldest generation dies.  Many families have significant property assets but do not have the cash to pay these taxes.

Common Sense for Oregon will be a strong supporter of a citizen initiative to repeal the Oregon Death Tax.  Stay tuned.

If you want to support this effort, please send an email to info@commonsensefororegon.org.