Oregon Measure 75 is Dead on Arrival, its public expense has just begun

by Sean Cruz

Portland, Oregon--

Proponents of Measure 75 and the Wood Village Casino have placed their bets on the “Pass” line, but they will come up craps regardless of how the November vote turns out.

Measure 75 is fatally flawed with several violations of the Oregon Constitution.

The first issue lies in this line: "The Legislative Assembly has no power to authorize, and shall prohibit, casinos from operation in the State of Oregon."

The Constitution clearly requires the Legislative Assembly to take action to prohibit this or any other non-Tribal proposed casino from operation in the State of Oregon.

Should M75 pass, the legislature "shall prohibit" its operation.

The second issue lies in Article I, Section 20 of the Oregon Constitution, which states: "No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens."

Rossman and Studer's casino measure stomps all over Section 20:

Under M 75, the only permissible casino location in the state would be at the former Multnomah County Kennel Club, specifically, at 944 NE 223rd Avenue, Wood Village, which just happens to be under the control of Rossman and Studer, for their exclusive benefit, a clear violation of the Oregon Constitution.

M 75 defines “gaming operator” as “The owner of the property identified in Section 14 of this 2010 Act”.

In addition, Section 17, Paragraph (5) of M 75 amends ORS 320.011, creating a special immunity from taxation for the Wood Village casino operators, specifically, from the $125 per-device excise tax.

If those aren’t flaws enough, M 75 would grant these exclusive privileges and immunities to Rossman and Studer for 15 years, renewable for another 15 exclusive years.

A better, more accurate ballot title would have been

"The Rossman-Studer Full Employment Act."

Both the coming court battle and the action of the legislature are going to cost a great deal of public money, and we can thank Rossman and Studer for sticking us with the bill. Remember that when they come back for another go in 2012.

You can eliminate much of that expense by voting "NO" on Measure 75.

Talk about problem gamblers….