Evaluating our State Legislators - Part I

The Oregon State Special Legislative Session ends today. As the session winds down, various media spokespersons, experts, and citizen groups will be discussing the merits of the legislators' work. But I wonder how I as a Believer in Jesus Christ am to evaluate their month of concerted effort on behalf of Oregonians.

The intention of the legislators to go home early has been hampered by some minor controversy over a plan to make these sessions an annual affair. Constitutionally they are to convene every other year, but can if need be also meet in the off-year, which they have done regularly in the immediate past. In a time when significant events such as our current Great Recession can impact so many lives so suddenly, a more regular if not full-time presence of the Legislature makes sense. But what they do with those sessions is another matter, one that cannot so easily be written into the State Constitution or evaluated in media sound bites.

From a Christian perspective, the role of government is at minimum found in the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 13:1-7. Our authorities, which certainly include our 30 State Senators and 60 State Representatives, have been established by God, according to Paul, to do us good, which includes but is not limited to making sure that wrongdoers are properly punished. For this reason we pay them our taxes and revenue, Paul says, as well our honor. One could proof text from verse 6 that they are be working full time, but be that as it may, they are, whether they know it or not, God's servants, for "there is no authority except that which God has established."

Obviously these 90 public servants are but one segment of the civic authorities in our lives, but how are we -- and they -- to account for the past month? How have they done as far as doing us good?

In recent weeks I have been working on an assignment for the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV), helping to delineate the theological foundations for their advocacy work on the state and local level. The Scriptures do have much to say about good governance and the role of Believers in helping to shape that good governance. Paul's brief admonitions in Romans 13 are but the tip of the biblical "iceberg."

Ron Sider, in The Scandal of Evangelical Political Engagement (2008), writes that "Evangelical pronouncements on the role of government are often contradictory" and he calls for a commonly embraced, biblically grounded framework for doing politics." He proceeds to articulate in the erudite fashion we have come to expect from him how that framework should proceed. In so doing, he delineates how "every careful political decision requires four different yet interrelated components of a normative framework, a broad study of society and the world, a political philosophy, and a detailed social analysis on specific issues."

OCCV has already determined what it believes to be a political philosophy founded on the Scriptures and out of that has given much focus and effort to three specific bills in this legislative session which it believes fulfill Paul's teachings concerning "doing us good." Two of these bills it has endorsed and testified concerning: HB 3623 and HB 3664. On a third, HB 3703, it has given careful consideration. These three bills concern themselves with public safety and public health, specifically fighting human trafficking, promoting the welfare of children in the care of the state, and providing food safety for small children. For more information on OCCV's positions on these issues, you are welcome to go to www.occv.org.

On each of these bills, OCCV followed its usual pattern of careful research and analysis, evaluation, and effective advocacy, all with its political philosophy clearly in focus. That focus is threefold:

1. Our vision for Oregon is rooted in the Word and its understanding of Christ's vision for humanity.
   
2. We as a community of faith are called to shape public policy for the common good.
   
3. We shape public policy by advocating for biblical justice at a structural level in society.
   

OCCV's concerted efforts had a significant impact on getting HB 3623 and HB 3664 passed, which it determined according to this vision statement clearly warranted such an endeavor of faith.

But what of all the other bills that the State Legislature has wrestled with? What of the bills it has passed into law or rejected? How do these laws and actions line up with the biblical mandate to do us good?

As an individual citizen, I am to do my civic (and biblical) duty in closely examining and evaluating the work of the Legislature. As a Believer, I am to do so according to the Word and its mandate that government is instituted by God to serve the common good. In fulfilling these obligations, I pay due honor to my authorities. Fortunately, I don't have to do this work alone, for I am part of a great Community of Faith with which I can fulfill my supreme obligations to my God and to my neighbors (Luke 10:27).

To be continued...

HB3623 – On to the State Senate

The human trafficking hotline bill passed the Oregon State House unanimously last week as reported in the OCCV news release that follows. This past Tuesday I picked up my son, Stephen, from college and we drove once again to the state capital in Salem where I presented testimony on behalf of OCCV to the Senate Human Services Committee. After hearing several testimonies – including from the legislative sponsors, and two people who have been spearheading this fight against human trafficking in Oregon, Sherriff Deputy Keith Bickford and County Commissioner Diane McKeel – the Committee unanimously passed the bill.

Stephen and I then helped Stephanie Mathis, the OCCV Executive Director, visit every one of the 30 State Senators' offices and ask them to vote for the bill when it comes to the Senate Floor later this session. Stephen and I dropped in on to see our own legislators, Senator Mark Hass and Representative Tobias Read, and their great Aides Ryan and Eva. I also introduced Stephen to Legislative Aide James Barta. James works with Representative Brent Barton, one of the chief sponsors for HB 3623. James and Stephen both have something in common, as James was previously a high school math teacher, a career to which Stephen aspires.

Hopefully, the bill will come up for a vote on the Senate Floor sometime today or tomorrow, but for sure before this brief session ends later next week. We are hoping for another unanimous vote, believing that this bill can serve as "heat and light" for an issue in our state that demands even far greater attention from the legislators in next year's full session.

Most people have no idea human trafficking is a significant issue in our own state. Human Trafficking was written into the state's law books only as recently as 2007. Last year, the State Legislature passed SB 839 which among other things granted "confidentiality status" to victims of human trafficking. This year it is HB 3623 which promotes a human trafficking hotline number and sticker through the Oregon Liquor Licensing Control Commission's license renewal mailings to 12,000 retail centers. Next year we are praying for legislation to be passed that will be much more comprehensive.

What more needs to be done? Human Trafficking is on the law books, but are there any teeth to the law? What kind of sentencing provisions are provided, if any? What can we learn from New York's Safe Harbor Act and similar laws in California? What can we learn from the example of how Dallas, Texas, treats victims as victims and goes after the pimps and traffickers as well as the johns? Laws need funding to function, a point New York's Safe Harbor Act has made painfully clear.

In our own state, Bickford, McKeel and others are leading the way in changing the way human trafficking is understood and dealt with, particularly in Multnomah County. But with the I-5 and I-84 corridors, HT is a statewide problem. And it is not just a concern of rescue and recovery, but finding ways to shut the door on the entry end of human trafficking. Most crucially, human trafficking is all about supply and demand. Cut off the demand, make human trafficking unprofitable and painful even to the perpetrators and the supply will dry up.

Already plans are being laid to work toward the 2011 legislative session as soon as this session closes next week. There is a whole year to get ready. Unfortunately, for those enslaved or about to be, a year is a long time to waste in the life of even one victim.

For now, we are grateful for all who are helping HB 3623 become law. If you are a resident of Oregon, please contact your State Senator and urge her or him to make it a unanimous vote in the next few days. Send a message that Oregon cares about all of its citizens, even the "least of these" among us (Matthew 25:45).

***

Two other bills in this legislative session are also of concern. HB 3703 bans the use of Bisphenol A, a ubiquitous toxic chemical, which disproportionally affects the most vulnerable among us, namely our children. Since the 1960s, BPA has been used to make hard plastic polycarbonate bottles, like Nalgene, sippy cups for toddlers, and the linings of food and beverage cans, including the cans used to hold infant formula and soda. HB 3703 basically bans BPA from being used in containers intended primarily for consumption by children under three years of age. The bill is currently in the House Rules Committee, where Dr. Andy Harris has presented written testimony on behalf of OCCV in support of this bill.

HB 3664 is a bill that would extend health care benefits to foster children who age out of foster care, but who have not yet reached age 21. I wrote a member of the Ways and Means Committee this morning: "As an individual voter, I am very much in favor of our state extending health care to foster children who have aged out of foster care until they reach age 21.  I believe that we as a State have a responsibility to these children to help them achieve full adulthood.  As the father of four children ages 14 to 21, I well understand that none of them are ready to be on their own by age 18.  As a Christian, I believe that we as a society have a responsibility to care for the fatherless and orphans.  As a citizen, I am concerned that when we do not fulfill our responsibility towards the weak and the vulnerable, we pass on one generation's injustices to the next and we as a society pay for these injustices one way or another.  In that an ounce of prevention is always cheaper than a pound of cure, I urge Representative Barker to vote for HB 3664 extending health care to age 21 for foster children who have aged out of foster care."

***

OCCV News Release:

Human Trafficking Bill Unanimously Passes House and Senate Human Services Committee

The Oregon Center for Christian Values mobilizes advocates to support State Anti-trafficking bill.

The Oregon State House and Senate Human Services Committee unanimously passed HB 3623 which allows the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) to include informational stickers with the National Trafficking Hotline Number to all 11,000 licensees across the state.

The estimated average age for a victim's first encounter with forced prostitution is thirteen. Because of the I-5 corridor, Oregon has become a hub for traffickers moving victims along the West Coast.

The bill's sponsors, Representatives Barton and Smith, praised the help of Multnomah County Commissioner Diane McKeel who launched the anti-trafficking campaign, the Polaris Project, which sponsors the hotline, Representative Tim Freeman (R-Roseburg), and the Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV). "This bill is a small first step to begin the fight against this problem," said Representative Smith on passage of the bill.

A months-long anti-trafficking advocacy effort by OCCV culminated last week with a hearing before the House Human Services Committee. At the hearing, Stacy Bellavia, member of OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee, presented testimony and introduced more than 20 OCCV members and friends from other organizations in attendance. These volunteer advocates then fanned out to visit the offices of all 90 of Oregon's state legislators, urging them to vote for the bill that could save trafficking victim's lives.

OCCV returned to the Capitol to testify before the Senate Human Services Committee with local anti-trafficking advocates and governmental officials. Senate Committee member, Senator Winters profoundly noted that trafficking is another word for modern day slavery.

"I have a lot of passion for justice," said Amy McDonald, one of four George Fox University students in the OCCV delegation. "Being able to go to the capitol and shake hands with people who have a direct impact on making changes in the vein of what I'm passionate about is incredibly encouraging to be a part of."

"It was so powerful when we all stood up in the hearing to show our support for the bill," said Lexie Woodward, Not for Sale's Co-Director of Oregon. "I feel there was and is a direct link between our organizations and the Capitol.  I feel very encouraged by this and that my input was and will be heard." 

OCCV's Human Trafficking Advisory Committee has served as a legislative facilitator for a host of other groups fighting human trafficking. This organizational network will coordinate efforts to recruit volunteers to help with the first mailing of the hotline stickers later this spring.

"While some bills are solutions in search of a problem," said Representative Barton, "this bill will save the life of at least one girl who would otherwise become the victim of human trafficking."

 

 

 

 

HB3623 – Before the Committee

There we were outside of the House Human Services Committee hearing room, praying together that God would bless our efforts that day on behalf of thousands of human trafficking victims in our state. We filled about a third of the room as James Barta and Stacy Bellavia testified briefly and then asked all of us with OCCV to stand.

James is the very capable Legislative Aide to Representative Brent Barton, who is sponsoring HB 3623, the "HT Hotline" bill we are advocating. Stacy, who served for two years in India with the International Justice Mission (IJM) and now works for the DHS hotline, is a very active member of our Human Trafficking Committee.

Only one member of the committee had a question, a good one, in fact, asking if the Department of Agriculture could become involved. The bill authorizes that hotline stickers be sent to all businesses authorized to sell alcohol (posting them is optional), but the agricultural department can help with gas stations and truck stops. Already the state's rest stops are being covered.

In all we had 22 in our number, filling a third of the hearing room and looking very impressive, especially when we all stood. All were there in response to our appeal from the Oregon Center for Christian Values, several representing other organizations also fighting HT, including OATH, Door to Grace, Not for Sale, along with some students from the IJM chapter at George Fox University.

After the hearing we connected with Representative Barton as well as Representative Jefferson Smith, the other avid sponsor of this bill, and then fanned out to visit every single office of Oregon's 90 State Senators and Representatives. I went to visit my own Senator Mark Hass and Representative Tobias Read, and also dropped in on the office of Representative Jeff Barker, the other representative sharing Senator Hass' district.

We'll keep close track of this bill as it winds its way through the Assembly and on to the Senate in the next few days. Meanwhile we are gearing up for making this bill effective once it is passed. There is no opposition to the bill. At most, some legislators are not familiar with the issue. The greater concern we have is that while this is a legislative bill, it depends entirely on private funds and the work of volunteers to implement.

In the next few months we trust we can find printers willing to donate their time and effort and individuals willing to fund the printing of 11,000 hotline stickers (Polaris Project, which runs the hotline, provides the initial batch of stickers). We already have lots of interest from friends wanting to volunteer to stuff the envelopes at the OLCC. ("What did you do over spring break?" "Oh, I worked at the Oregon Liquor Control Commission!") The first of four annual mailings gets prepared in April. Meanwhile over this next year, we will talk with businesses who sell alcohol to make sure they are posting the sticker.

The sticker itself is currently being designed, with input from Polaris Project, Representative Barton's office and Stephanie Mathis, OCCV's Executive Director. The sticker is about the size of a dollar bill. Hopefully very soon, people will be noticing it showing up all over Oregon.

Oregon is affected by this problem more than most states. With our location on the I-5 corridor, Oregon has become a hub for the smugglers and pimps who are forcing these victims into prostitution and other forms of modern slavery and moving them north and south to cities all along the West Coast. If you want to read through more of our OCCV talking points, check the post from this past Tuesday for the link.

As I wrote my legislators, "As a Christian, I am keen to head the call of Psalm 82:3, which says, 'Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.' Not all human trafficking victims start out poor, but they all end up that way and all are greatly oppressed with no way out, their minds and bodies raped for the financial and power gain of others. I am compelled as a Believer to do all I can to speak out for biblical justice and to set the oppressed free."

If you live in Oregon and want to help, write your state legislator today, or for more information contact us at info@occv.org. If you live outside of Oregon, find out how you can make a difference in the lives of the world's 27 million human trafficking victims. Let's commit ourselves to releasing the oppressed (Luke 4:18) and making this world HT-Free!

 

 

HB3623 - Preparing for Tomorrow's Rally at the Capital

There are many steps we have to take to make Oregon HT-Free. While HT (human trafficking) is very alive and all too well in our state, concerned citizens of all theological and political persuasions are coming together to fight this endemic problem on every level. While other organizations are working to develop much needed rescue and recovery operations, our own Oregon Center for Christian Values (OCCV) is leading the way in advocating with our state legislature.


 
Last Wednesday, January 27 our OCCV Human Trafficking Advisory Committee convened a meeting at George Fox Seminary here in Portland and invited Legislative Aide James Barta to speak to us about HB 3623 and the reasons Representative Brent Barton has chosen to sponsor this bill with Representative Jefferson Smith. Our own executive director, Stephanie Mathis then walked us through the advocacy process. Bryan Colbourne, who co-chairs the HT committee with me, MC'd the meeting.


 
The Oregon Legislature meets for only a short month during its off year. That brief session started this week. The hearing in the House Human Services committee is scheduled for tomorrow, Wednesday, February 3, in Hearing Room D at 8:00 am. Since we met last week, we have been getting the word out for everyone we know to come to that hearing. Stacy Bellavia will be testifying for OCCV on behalf of HB3623 if there is time, but at the least we hope to fill that hearing room to let our representatives know that we as citizens of Oregon are deeply concerned about this issue.


 
In the January 27 meeting, several key anti-HT entities were represented. These included Oregonians Against Trafficking Humans (OATH), Door to Grace, Women of Vision (World Vision), International Justice Mission (IJM), OAASIS (Oregon Abuse Advocates and Survivors in Service), local churches, George Fox Evangelical Seminary, and OCCV.


 
The next night I represented OCCV at the IJM chapter at George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. This chapter, led by students Amy McDonald and my son, Stephen, is affiliated with IJM which fights trafficking on an international level. On state and local issues, the Fox chapter partners with OCCV. About 20 students and faculty attended as I shared with them about HB3623 and encouraged them to write their representatives. As a result of that meeting, Amy is bringing a carload of students to the state capital tomorrow.


 
Over the weekend, the OCCV board held its annual retreat. Among other matters, Bryan reported for our committee on the progress we have been making against human trafficking this past year, starting with SB 839 last spring, which passed in part because OCCV advocated on its behalf. That bill protects Oregon's youth by defining and including "Victims of Human Trafficking" as a person eligible for the Address Confidentiality Program. Senator Bruce Starr thanked OCCV, "We couldn't have done it without you! OCCV is a true representation of God's mercy and love and the positive impact we can have on our cities and state when we work for the good of his plan."


 
In this weekend's retreat, we also took a look at our task to develop OCCV's theological foundation, a project that I have been assigned to coordinate as a theological consultant for OCCV. Our organization has had several key successes in recent legislative sessions on issues dealing with health care and poverty as well as human trafficking. It was great meeting with the board to which I was elected only late in 2009. OCCV is a wonderful place for me to call home missionally, a place I can work with great people fulfilling God's vision in our society for the common good.


 
So now we are preparing for tomorrow's hearing, writing letters to each of our Assemblymen as well as to our State Senators and scheduling appointments with them. If the House Human Services Committee votes to send HB2623 to the Assembly, a vote by that larger body will likely come up by this coming weekend. Then it is on to the Senate where we pray it will also move quickly through committee there, and on to be passed by the Senate and then to the governor for signing.


 
HB3623 should pass because it requires no state funds - and who would be FOR human trafficking? But we need much heat and light to come out of this bill so that we can generate private funds to pay for the needed 10,000 hotline stickers and to generate concern for a more substantial bill next year.


 
What does HB3623 do besides plaster a Polaris Project human trafficking hotline number wherever alcohol is sold in this State? It begins to let the people of Oregon know that there are thousands , yes, thousands of victims in this state who are trafficked in prostitution and other forms of forced labor. And it tells people that we as concerned citizens want to end oppression in any form in Oregon. One step at a time we march toward making Oregon HT Free!


For OCCV's "Talking Points" on HB3623, see: http://www.occv.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/hb3623-talking-points.pdf