The HOPE Initiative

Sun, 01/06/2008 - 19:21 — mark

Summary
Every Oregonian has the fundamental right to access affordable and effective health care, and we need to amend Oregon’s Constitution to explicitly identify that right and require the legislature to develop a plan for a real universal access health care system. The HOPE legislation will refer this constitutional amendment to Oregon voters in the 2008 general election.

While the HOPE Initiative just barely missed the threshold of signatures required to make the 2006 ballot, the idea remains strongly supported by Oregon voters. We know that we cannot tolerate leaving 600,000 Oregonians without access to health care. We also know that we cannot sustain the continuing burden of shifting the costs of care for people without health insurance to those with health insurance. And we cannot afford to wait any longer, especially as costs are driven ever-higher by the shift uninsured patients’ expenses to the insured.

We need health care reform today, and to make this change we need to hold politicians accountable to the demands of everyday Oregonians. Oregon voters support amending the state Constitution to designate access to health care as a fundamental right. Since the amendment would require the Legislature to craft a plan for a system that provides universal access, politicians will be constitutionally forced to deliver on their consistent promises of better and expanded health care.

Ensuring universal access to health care will fulfill our moral responsibility to see that the over 600,000 uninsured Oregonians can receive the critical services they need in an effective and affordable way.

Current Status
On November 30, 2007, the House Elections, Ethics and Rules Committee unanimously approved the drafting of the HOPE Amendment as a legislative concept for the February 2008 session. I expect to introduce the bill and have it referred to the House Health Care Committee, of which I am the chair. I also expect it to pass both chambers of the legislature, as I have maintained the support that my proposal earned in the 2007 session.

The legislature will also consider a legislative concept that will craft the ballot title for the HOPE Initiative in the 2008 General Election.

Allies and Stakeholders
I have been fortunate enough to have many allies in this process over the two years during which I have worked on the HOPE Amendment. Here is a short list of highly supportive individuals and organizations:

Oregon Nurses Association - Oregon Health Action Campaign - Oregon Action
Coalition for a Healthy Oregon – CareOregon - Kaiser Foundation - Tuality Healthcare Oregon School Employees Association - Metropolitan Alliance for the Common Good
Senator Ben Westlund - Senator Alan Bates - Senator Frank Morse - Representative Peter Buckley - Representative Jackie Dingfelder - Representative Bob Jenson - Representative Chip Shields

Contact:
Representative Mitch Greenlick, 712 NW Spring Avenue, Portland, Oregon 97229
mitchgreenlick@msn.com www.greenlick.com
(503) 292-2223 phone (503) 292-1298 facsimile

Additional Information about the Policy Idea

What is your current strategy for moving this idea forward? What is the general timeline?
• January 8/28, 2008: House Health Care Committee will deliberate and vote to introduce two legislative concepts for the HOPE Initiative into the 2008 supplemental session.
• January 11, 2008: Rebooting Democracy attendees/voters are hyper-enthusiastic about guaranteeing health care coverage for all Oregonians; overwhelmingly support HOPE Initiative in Policy Battle Royale.
• February 2008: Oregon's Legislature convenes in a supplemental session and refers HOPE to the November 2008 general election ballot.
• February 29, 2008: Supplemental session ends; HOPE ballot measure campaign officially kicks off.
• March 2008 - November 2008: Rep. Mitch Greenlick takes the HOPE campaign statewide, knocking on doors from Astoria to Alsea to Arlington to Ashland.
• November 4, 2008: General election - HOPE on the ballot!
• January 1, 2009: Oregon's legislature begins work on ensuring that all Oregonians have the basic access to effective and affordable health care that is their newly-recognized, but long-held, right.

Based on the list of prizes that are available for the winner of this contest, what prizes would you select and how would you put them to use?
• 1 Bus Trip or canvass dedicated to your policy - Field for Ballot Measure Campaign in key precincts
• Gold Media Package: includes Mercury ad [1] , Radio ad, Loaded Orygun and Blue Oregon exposure, as well as press by participating news media outlets, and email blasts by partner organizations - Ad for ballot measure campaign
• 50 volunteer phone bank shifts - Voter contact for ballot measure campaign in key areas/demographic

Voters in the Progressive Policy Battle Royale commit either money or volunteer time to whichever ideas they support. To which 501c3 organization will such monetary donations go and how will they be used? How will you be able to put volunteers to use and what kinds of tasks will they perform?
The Oregon Health Access Project, which is a 501c3 arm of the Oregon Health Action Campaign. OHAP is the Oregon lead for the Robert Wood Johnson initiated Covering Kids and Families project; building coalition efforts in all 50 states to maximize the enrollment and retention of eligible, uninsured children and families in Oregon's publicly funded health care programs. Additionally, if I understand correctly, OHAP can spend up to 15% of its assets in direct advocacy for the HOPE ballot measure, directing volunteers to conduct the grassroots work that will be necessary to get the HOPE campaign in full motion engaging everyday voters in Oregon. Much of the eligible funding will also communicate the positive, hopeful message of the HOPE ballot measure campaign to inspire action that will guarantee health care coverage for Oregonians.

Information about the Presenter
Tom Powers is Legislative Director for Representative Mitch Greenlick. He also serves as Chief of Staff for Representative David Edwards and Campaign Manager for Friends of David Edwards. He has previously worked in the office of Congressman David Wu. Tom has been active in Washington County politics since he was 16. And yes, he is proud of the fact that he's from Beaverton.

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The HOPE Initiative

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