SALEM -- The Oregon Legislature could rewrite the title of a contentious measure on the November ballot asking voters whether to grant driver cards to residents who can’t prove they’re in the state legally...
...The 2013 Legislature approved granting four-year driver cards. Opponents, hoping voters will overturn the law, gathered enough signatures to suspend it and put it on the ballot.
Now, supporters of driver cards fear the measure’s title -- “Provides Oregon resident ‘driver card’ without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States” -- doesn’t reflect their goal of improving public safety...
Cynthia Kendoll, president of Oregonians For Immigration Reform, which gathered signatures to send the issue to voters, accused lawmakers of overstepping.
....she said. “I don’t think the people who wrote and passed the law should be the people writing the ballot title.”
Rep. Vic Gilliam, R-Silverton, disagreed. He said including “legal presence” in the ballot title is “a red herring.” The Legislature has a chance -- and the authority -- to change the title, he said. “It was not a fair or accurate statement,” he said.