Our View: Gov. Brown’s funding delay for Measure 110 raises same old questions

Published 6:00 am Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Oregonians passed Measure 110 by a wide margin in November. It means decriminalization of personal possession of small amounts of illegal drugs, including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and oxycodone as of Feb. 1.

That’s going ahead as planned. But something else is missing.

Measure 110 was also supposed to kick off more funding for drug treatment options for Oregonians. Gov. Kate Brown’s budget delays that for more than a year.

The measure approved by voters clearly says things such as: Addiction recovery centers “within each coordinated care organization service area shall be established and operational by October 1, 2021.” Brown’s budget doesn’t allow the money part of the measure to start until July 2022.

What’s Brown’s game? Thwarting the will of voters?

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It could be read that way. She does have her reasons. They aren’t bad ones.

The way the measure was written, it swipes all the money from marijuana tax above $11,250,000 quarterly and puts it toward addiction services. That money currently goes to things like schools and state police. The measure didn’t create new money for treatment. It took money away from other worthy causes.

And so Brown decided to delay the funding switch.

“In the Governor’s budget we have found ways to fill the funding gaps created for schools, public safety, and existing health services in the second year of the biennium,” Charles Boyle, a press secretary for the governor, said in a statement to OPB. “It wasn’t possible to fill those funding gaps immediately while still maintaining critical services during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Legislators could step in and change the governor’s plan. Her budget is just a starting point for debate. They also could rewrite Measure 110 by passing a bill that changes how it works or find another way to fund it.

Elections have consequences, as they say. And no matter how you may feel about the wisdom of decriminalization of some illegal drugs and taking money from schools for drug treatment, Brown’s move again raises questions about her use of power. Even the pandemic does not make it OK for the governor to undermine the will of the voters.

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