Ballot Measures Ballot Measures Increasingly, public policy is determined by legislative referrals or citizen-initiated measures. In fact, ballot measures on everything from assisted suicide to tax reform have become a cottage industry.
Industries can be crippled.
School funding can be devastated. Lives can be altered. And when flaws are discovered in these profound changes, they are hard to correct because they have been etched into the Oregon Constitution. Just as you would want the most skilled surgeon to undertake an intricate procedure to save your life, so should you demand the most experienced political hands to craft a campaign to pass or defeat a ballot measure. Defeat in November 1996 of Measure 35, a proposal to prohibit health plans from paying doctors and other providers based on the number of subscribers the provider serves.