The HB 5077 (see my breakdown of the bill), the Oregon state bill that steals the $900,000 surplus from the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, has passed the Oregon House and is now sitting on the desk of the Oregon Senate President, Peter Courtney (D-Salem). This bill would have serious consequences for the program, essentially defunding the program as a way to virtually eliminate it.
The bill can die there on his desk. If the Senate President does not refer the bill to committee, the bill dies. So you can call the Senate President (503-986-1600) or fax him a letter (503-986-1004) or write to him at…
Senator Courtney
District: 11
900 Court St. NE
S-203
Salem, OR 97301
One activist, K. Greg Byers, has written a letter that might give you some good ideas for your letter…
Dear Senator Courtney,
Please keep HB5077 on your desk! It is a bad bill, using a short sighted, one time solution to a continuing biennial problem of funding DHS and all general fund supported services. It appears to be an under handed attempt to take $900,000 in fees collected by Oregon’s Medical Marijuana Program to fund taxpayer/general fund mandated DHS programs. Reallocating these fees, paid by some of Oregon’s most vulnerable patients, is tantamount to theft.
HB5077 will cripple the advances to OMMA proposed by DHS in SB772, meant to help make brighter lines for Law Enforcement. HB5077 will make LE’s job of trying to control illicit marijuana more difficult. Things like, a computer system for 24/7/365 verification of enrollment in the OMMP and others improvements making it easier and safer for patients to access and use the medicine that makes their quality of life worth living will probably not come to pass either. HB5077 will drive up the cost of fees paid by registrants, which were recently lowered a second time to a most reasonable rate, designed to not raise excess funds.
This money was generated from fees higher than were needed to fund the program prior to current enrollment levels. These funds should have been refunded or used for the advantage of the patients enrolled in the program. Instead, because of a mean spirited administration of the program it was bankrolled and saved for ill-defined purposes. Now those purposes seem to be defined with HB5077, cripple the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program by taking its funds! No funds, no program!
If the Republican leadership in the House wants to fund DHS services or anything else with money collected from the use of marijuana perhaps they should get real and talk about taxation and regulation of cannabis for the 21+ year old public? We already use tobacco, alcohol and gambling money to fund many indispensable programs and services, why not step up and change the paradigm? Less than 10,000 mostly low-income, many eligible for OHP people, paying $150/year accumulated the money wanted by HB5077. Fees taken from sick people to pay the wages of healthy people, a novel concept! Now, in our continuing times of low tax receipts and this States lack of fair taxation, we are looking at taking money raised by sick people and their LEGAL use of marijuana for what purpose in DHS we don’t exactly know.
Again this is a short sighted, one time solution to an ongoing problem with under funding of DHS due to excessive tax break concessions to groups that pay few if any taxes to do business in this state! Never again will we raise almost a million dollars in this program to be siphoned off when the account gets ripe again!
Please, stop HB5077!
Sincerely,
K. Greg Byers
