Isaac Homer Van Winkle was Attorney General of the State of Oregon for 23 years, born 5 years after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination and running the Oregon Department of Justice from the roaring 20’s until his death during World War 2. The Honorable Van Winkle is back from the dead after 80 years slumbering away from the public eye. Thanks to a legal opinion he wrote in 1935, the gas tax referendum must stay on the ballot.
After weeks braving the cold and rain gathering hundreds of signatures in Elgin, I was thrilled that the Governor’s gas tax was going on the ballot. I was even more thrilled when Governor Tina Kotek announced her intention to ask the Legislative Assembly to repeal it. I was not thrilled about allusions from the right about attempts to keep this bad bill on the ballot rather than let it die in the Capitol. I did not hear a single argument against a legislative repeal that was not political – Republicans hoped that keeping this on the ballot would win competitive legislative races this fall and even boost the chance at a gubernatorial victory. I projected that a legislative repeal would make the electoral impact of the gas tax smaller, but it would still pack a powerful punch at the ballot box. Republicans fighting or suing over a legislative repeal for a bill they tried to get on the ballot would come back to bite them – too many Democrats could easily cast Republicans as hypocrites.
As an elected Oregon Republican Party Precinct Committee Person for Union County, I have a duty to support the election of conservatives. As a municipal official, I have a duty to fight against policies that are harmful to my community. I urged the Elgin City Council to support the Governor’s legislative repeal of the gas tax, and the Council unanimously voted to support the repeal.
Then Van Winkle’s legal opinion awoke from its long slumber. There is little ambiguity in his determination that, “The right of the people to a referendum vote on a statute enacted by the legislature can not be defeated by a subsequent repeal of the act referred.” The argument against a legislative repeal is no longer political. It is legal. And in light of the legal requirement for a referendum to be held, I will be recommending that the Elgin City Council no longer support the Governor’s legislative repeal of the gas tax. America is a nation of laws, and cities need to support the rule of law when Salem tries to subvert our laws.
Buckle up, Elgin friends. I will be knocking every door I can this fall with flyers that say vote for me for City Administrator – and vote to repeal the Governor’s gas tax.
Editor’s Note
Alex McHaddad is the City Administrator of Elgin, Oregon. His views are personal and do not reflect an official stance of the City of Elgin.
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