Freep the Senate GOP's "Worst Bill of Session" Poll!

Wanna have some fun?

As the final hours of session tick off the clock, the Senate Republican Office wants your thoughts:

What is your vote for the worst bill of the session? There are plenty to choose from whether your pet peeve is increased taxes, more of big brother, or just really stupid ideas.

Please let us know what bill made you roll your eyes and throw something across the room, and we will tally the results for a future Capitol Update. You can contact us either by replying to this e-mail or sending a new one to sr.media@state.or.us.

I guess asking Republicans about really stupid ideas makes sense, since they're the ones pushing most of them this session. Here are some choices, or suggest your own!

• HB 2680, to turn the DMV into the Homeland Security Department in order to check driver's citizenship papers.
  
• HB 2682, which does the same thing to local cops, allowing them to arrest those with "probable cause" of being here illegally. What would the standard of cause be exactly--hanging around a tapas bar?
  
• HB 2684, making English the "official language of Oregon."
  
• HB 3415, requiring a 24-hour waiting period to get an abortion, and changes the record of an abortion from termination to "fetal death."
  
• SB 698, "to repair stairwells in old part of State Capitol."
  
• SB 585, eliminating taxes on capital gains entirely.
  
• HJM 16, asking the federal government to cease "over-regulating
  Oregon's public lands and water."
  

You get the idea. If you want to look through the bills yourself to find some gems, here's a good start page. And here's a hint--if you use the House and Senate tables (both pdf) to see which ones were sponsored by which lawmaker, you can zero in on people like Kim Thatcher, Dennis Richardson and Gene Whisnant and find some doozies. I've barely scratched the surface here...

Get to it! And if you have room in your email, ask them: "Is this REALLY what the Senate Minority Office thinks is important with a week left to go in session? Is this actually how they're spending their time supposedly doing our work?"