Be it Enacted by the People of the State of Oregon
In the constitution of the state of Oregon, add section 47 to Article I as follows:
Section 47. Right of Local Community Self-Government
(1) As all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness, and the people have at all times the right to alter, reform or abolish their government should it become destructive to their fundamental rights or well-being, therefore the people have an inalienable and fundamental right of local community self-government, in each county, city, town, or other municipality.
(2) That right shall include the power of the people, and the power of their governments, to enact and enforce local laws that protect health, safety, and welfare by recognizing or establishing the rights of natural persons, their local communities, and nature; and by securing those rights using prohibitions and other means deemed necessary by the community, including measures to establish, define, alter, or eliminate competing rights, powers, privileges, immunities, or duties of corporations and other business entities operating, or seeking to operate, in the community.
(3) Local laws enacted pursuant to subsection (2) shall be immune from preemption or nullification by state law, federal law, or international law, and shall not be subject to limitation or preemption under Article IV, section 1(5), Article VI, section 10, or Article XI, section 2 of this constitution, or Oregon Revised Statutes 203.035, provided that:
(a) Such local laws do not restrict fundamental rights of natural persons, their local communities, or nature secured by the Oregon Constitution, the United States Constitution, or international law; and
(b) Such local laws do not weaken protections for natural persons, their local communities, or nature provided by state law, federal law, or international law.
(4) All provisions of this section are severable.
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Explanation in plain language:
This proposed Amendment would add a new section to the Oregon Constitution’s Article I, Bill of Rights, as follows:
Section 47. Right of Local Community Self-Government
(1) This section restates the concepts of Article I, section 1 of the Oregon Constitution, affirming the people’s ability to make new local laws. At present, it is not intended to recognize any broader legal authority than what already exists in the state constitution.
(2) This section authorizes the people of local communities and their governments to pass and enforce local laws containing bills of rights that protect health, safety, and welfare through the initiative process, municipal home rule charters, or local elected officials. These bills of rights:
- recognize or establish rights for individuals, their communities and nature; and
- secure those rights by banning certain activities or other means that the community decides, including the limitation of rights and duties claimed by corporations that may interfere with the newly-established rights. This section would allow the adoption of a local law that contains these elements, and would validate local bills of rights laws that Oregon communities are currently working to adopt.
This section also insulates local bills of rights, adopted pursuant to this section, from certain pre-election challenges that may be brought to keep these local laws off the ballot.
(3) This section provides that local laws, containing the elements recognized by the prior section, shall not be nullified by state, federal or international law that recognize corporate “rights” and privileges, nor be preempted by state, federal or international law, including limiting principles that Oregon courts have previously used to constrain municipal “home rule” authority, so long as those local laws do not restrict already-recognized state and federal constitutional rights of, and do not weaken existing protections for individuals, communities, or nature.