Monday, September 27, 2004

Measure 32.
True to stripes, I'm back with the second measure on November's ballot. This one seems even more innocuous than Measure 31. Once again there is not much on this one. Most sites just list the ballot title, and there are no campaigns for measures referred from the Senate.
The Oregonian printed it's recommendations on the 14th of September for both Measures 31 and 32. Their explination for 31 still does not satisfy me and so I'm still wondering how I'm going to vote (knowing that it probably won't matter too much), but thier explination of 32 is like what I've heard and it does in fact look like a housekeeping thing.
Basically, until now mobile homes have been treated like cars in the tax code and the taxes and fees regarding them have been earmarked for transportation. This measure will change the code so that the taxes from mobilehomes will go to expenses related to building codes. The overall taxes on people living in mobile homes will not change.
Sounds fine to me. Once again the question flittering in my mind is, "Why are we being bothered with this? Why does it need to be an amendment?"
This article from the McMinnville Register Guard answers that, sort of. "Two measures on the Nov. 2 ballot are there because legislators, by themselves, cannot alter Oregon's Constitution."
Apparently the mobile homes are singled out specifically in the Constitution.

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