Three big, news-worthy events today in the world of Oregon politics. Rather than not mention any of them, I'll just give you a little rapid-fire coverage of all three of them. And our contestants today? Yearly legislative sessions (featuring Senate President Peter Courtney), undisclosed campaign contributions (featuring Portland Mayoral would-be Sho Dozono), and President Bush's budgetary disaster (featuring Oregon House Speaker/Senate Candidate Jeff Merkley). And away we go, with more after the break!

(1) Oregon should have yearly legislative sessions:

When I first heard that Oregon's state legislatures did not run yearly sessions, I was stunned. Keeping our business to once every two-years? Really? Is there not enough going on in our state to warrant more time spent working in Salem? Peter Courtney, Oregon Senate President, thinks we should have yearly sessions. From his Oregonian editorial:

"One session every two years no longer serves the needs of a growing, progressive state. Three-fourths of the time, Oregon is left without a lawmaking branch of government ready to function."

Those aren't my words. They are the words of a committee established to study how Oregon should best deal with the "increasing complexities of our society" and the need to ensure that the Oregon Legislature serves as "an equal and coordinate branch of state government"...

Oregon legislators are the elected representatives of the people, but in the 18 months between sessions, the people of Oregon aren't being adequately represented in Salem. Instead the state is being governed increasingly by the executive branch and its army of career bureaucrats and agency heads, the courts, the initiative process and, yes, even lobbyists.

Courtney is absolutely correct. Oregonians should have their representatives work for them in Salem each year. No more of this 18-month break ridiculousness; let's put our men and women to work so they can continue passing good, progressive legislation for all of Oregon. Judging from our last, most productive session ever in Oregon legislative history, we need to ensure our representatives have as many opportunities as possible to enact the will of the people. I hope that this year's special session goes well, so the Democrats in Salem have enough moment to carry these yearly sessions on into the future.

(2) Sho's reporting mishap is big news, as questions linger:

Interesting news out of the Portland Mayoral race today, as we learn that candidate Sho Dozono failed to disclose in-kind polling expenditures for his campaign. As covered by the Willamette Week and Portland Tribune, the polling occurred after Dozono's initial committee was filed, but the expenditures were never reported on campaign finance filings. From the Willamette Week story:

According to the Secretary of State's candidate guidelines, one of the characteristics that defines one as a candidate and that triggers reporting requirements is "spending money on your candidacy."

Since Dozono began spending money in November for websites and the poll was conducted in December, he would be subject to disclosing the expenditure on the poll no later than the end of January, according to the state's candidate guidelines: "Contributions and expenditures are reported on a transaction-basis. Generally, a transaction is due no later than 30 calendar days after the date of the transaction."

Dozono says he did file a political action committee with the Secretary of State but says that doesn't mean he was a candidate.

"I opened that [committee] as a potential candidate," he says. "Not as a candidate, as a potential candidate."

Under election law, however, there is no such thing as a "potential candidate."

It's hard to read this series of events. The story would seem to hinge on dis-organization: Dozono's campaign failed to report the in-kind expenditure. But I doubt that those around Dozono are unfamiliar with the campaign finance requirements, especially since he's applying for certification as a publicly-financed candidate. In either case, of dis-organization or something else, it's a bad first step for Dozono and continues a trend in his campaign. Am I the only one who's noticed that he missed the first two responses to the Mercury's "Meet the Contenders" series, while submitting his third one after the deadline? Those seem like minor glitches when compared to this big, big error, however.

(3) Jeff Merkley decries Bush's budget as out-of-touch and callous:

We got a look at President Bush's last budget today, and it's a whopper: 3.1 trillion, and lots of cuts to essential social programs. He's basically turning our budget into a military apparatus. Well, Jeff Merkley, who's running to beat Gordon Smith and give Oregonians real representation in DC, calls Bush on his bad budget:

“What the President has done here is cut every program he could think of that helps America’s working families get ahead. He cuts $178 billion from Medicare. He cuts rural health care grants by 87 percent. He takes home heating assistance money out of the hands of America’s elderly and most vulnerable citizens.

“The President’s budget even takes police off the streets and cuts funding for first responders and for state homeland security plans. That makes every single American less safe. And he does it all to extend permanent tax breaks to Americans making more than $450,000 per year. That is completely unacceptable.

“The President owes the American people a budget proposal that will help us climb out of that $9 trillion hole he and politicians like Gordon Smith have dug over the last seven years. George Bush and Gordon Smith owe us honesty and fiscal responsibility. They have failed terribly for seven years, and the President failed to do that again today.

Huge cuts for health programs. Cuts for our domestic security. All to enable his continued disaster overseas. With a voice like Jeff Merkley in the U.S. Senate, we'll be able to assemble the progressive critical mass we need to say "no way" to bad Republican policy in the future. And, hell, if we have a Democratic President in 2009, then we'll be that much more likely to get good budgets passed! If you want to learn more about Jeff or his candidacy, please be sure to visit his campaign website and toss him some support!

So, what are your thoughts on the above three items? Would you like to see yearly legislative sessions? How about Sho's campaign mess-up? And are you with Jeff when he says that we need to send the President's budget back DOA?

And, of course, congratulations to all the lucky couples who are now registered as domestic partners here in Oregon! I know separate but equal is not equal, but we'll get over these hurdles in time. I know we will. We must.

Disclaimer: I worked for Mayoral candidate Sam Adams' office in 2005 and I'm an ardent support, but I speak and write only for myself.