Oregon Public Broadcasting

Oregon’s new Secretary of State says she wants to close loopholes in the state’s signature gathering process.  Democrat Kate Brown will testify this week Wednesday to a Legislative committee about a bill that puts new restrictions on getting an initiative on the ballot.

But Secretary of State Kate Brown says the process has been hijacked by deep-pocketed special interest groups from out of state.  

She’s backing a bill that she says would hold signature-gathering outfits more accountable.  For instance, Brown says the proposal would make chief petitioners subject to penalties if they, quote, “should have known” that their underlings are breaking the law.

Kate Brown:  “There are clearly cases where chief petitioners or contractors knew that their paid signature gatherers were skirting Oregon law and they simply looked the other way.” Initiative activists greeted the proposal with skepticism.

Jason Williams of the Taxpayer Association of Oregon says Brown is trying to come up with new ways to void signatures.

Oregon House Bill 2005