Government in Oregon. a Resource on State and Local Government
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 137 903 EA 009 371 AUTHOR Arlington, David, Ed. TITLE Government in Oregon. A Resource on State and Local Government. Revised Edition. INSTITUTION Oregon State Dept. of Education, Salem. PUB DATE 76 NOTE 143p.; For a related document, see ED 091 299 ; Some pages may be marginally legible due to small print of original document - AVAILABLE FROM Documents Clerk, Oregon Department of Education, 942 Lancaster Drive N.F., Salem, Oregon 97310 (Oregon residents $2.00; others $3.00) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.83 HC-$7.35 Pius Postage. N\ DESCRIPTORS Decision Making; Elementary SecondarvEducation; *Humin Services; Instructional Materials; *Politics; Resource Guides; *State Agencies; *State Government; State Officials; *State. Programs; *Tax Allocation; Taxes IDENTIFIERS *Oregon ABSTRACT Textbooks on government invariably include sections on state and local government, but because of the diversity of political structures existing on the local level, most material is general and not very satisfactory in helping students understand their immediate political environment. This resource was put together to help teachers gather relevant information and put it into perspective. The document unfolds four major concepts--government has become the chief social institution charged with the responsibility of maintaining the stability of society, and this charge is made increasingly difficult as modern American society changes rapidly and intensely; an orderly procedure of self-taxal.ion supports government; government, like all institutions of society, must respond to change, and in our form of democracy the nature and direction of government response to change is conditioned by the extent of popular participation in political processes; and state and local government units are created and altered to meet specific needs of people within those units. The four parts of the document are on the challenges the state governments must meet, the financing of services, the political processes for decision-making, and the delivery of services. (Author/IRT) *********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort * * to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this aifects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC mdkes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS). EDRS is not * responsible for the quality of the original document. Reproductions * * supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original. *********************************************************************** U S OEPAR(MENT OFHEALTH. EDUCATION & WELFARE NATIuNAL INSTITUTE OE EOUCATION THIS DOCUMENT HA,, BEENREPRO. DUCED EXACTLY ASRECEIVED LOOM THE PERSON OP ORGANILAT:ONORIGIN- ATING IT POINTS OE VIEW citeOPINIONS STATED DO NOT NECESSXRIL REPRE- SENT OFFICIAL NATIONALINSTITUTE OL EDUCATION POSITION ORI POLICY grivecomest moOffireri A Resource on State and Local Government BEST COPY AVAILABLE Verne A. Duncan State Superintendent of PublicInstruction Department of Education 942 Lancaster Drive NE Salem, Oregon 97310 STATEMENT OF ASSURANCE Oregon Department of Edmation It is the policy of the Oregon Department Educationthatnoperscnbesubjectedto discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, religion, sex, age, handicap, or marital status in any program, seivice, or activity for which the Oregon Department of Educationisresponsible. The Department will comedy with the requirements of state and federal law concerning nondiscrimination and will strive by its actions to enhance thc dignity and worth of all persons. edited by David Arlington designed by Keith Rislove Revised Edition, 1976 26072197610090 3 CONTENTS ILLUSTRATIONS.. FOREWORD vii ACK/*OWLEDGM ENTS INTRODUCTION 1 PART I CHALLENGES TO MEET 3 Oregon's Diverse Heritage 5 More People Are Coming 7 Planning Land Use 7 Protecting Environment 9 Conserving Natural Resources 12 Planning Economic Development I 5 Conserving Human Resources 23 Improving Education 35 PART II FINANCING SERVICES 39 Deming the Issues at Stake 41 Resource Allocation: A Matter of PrioritieS 43 Current Revenue 46 Federal Aid: Largess with Strings 59 Charges, Licenses and Fees 60 Public Finance Administration 61 PART III POLITICAL PROCESSES FOR DECISION MAKING 67 Processes for participation 69 Voting: A Primary Responsibility 70 Politics: A Second Responsibility 72 Ad Hoc Citizen Power 77 Legislation as a Change Mechanism 81 Budgeting as a Legislative Device 89 Boards, Bureaus, anii-Other-Change-Agents ... ..... 92 PART IV DELIVERING SERVICES 95 State Government Foundations 97 State Government Framework 100 State Government Functions 101 Local Government Foundations and Framework 117 Local Government Functions 119 School Government Foundations 124 School Government Framework and Functions 125 RESOURCES 133 1 III ILLUSTRATIONS PART I CHALLENGES TO MEET City and County Plannit g 8 Oregon's Sea Grant Program 15 State of Oregon Projected Occupational Employment by Broad Occupational Group: 1970-1980 21 Summary of Historical Findings cn Indian Education 26 The Issues of Criminal Justice 30 Oregon Circuit and District Court Bothularies 33 The Courts of Oregon 3e PART II FINANCING SERVICES State Goliernment ExpendituresAll Funds 43 Growth of Per Pupil'Costs: Elementary and Secondary Schools 45 [Effective Tax Rate Tables] For Single Person or Married Persons Filing Separately 48 For Married Persons Filing Jointly 49 Income Tax Flow Chart 49 Effective Tax Rates by Income Class 50 General Fund Revenues 52 General Fund Expenditures 53 How 6% Limitation Works 56 Tax Glossary 57 PART III POLITICAL PROCESSES FOR DECISION MAKINC Registering and Voting in Oregon 70 Voter Registration for General Election 1974 Compared w th Finary Election 1974 71 Compa:ative Voter Participation Primary Elections [1966-1974] 72 General Elections [1966-1974] 72 Qualificalion% of Cikiclidates 74 Steps in Enacting a House Bill in the Oregon Legislative Assembly 83 Steps in Enacting an Ordinance in an Oregon City 84 Budget Planning Chart 91 State of Oregon Salaries Set by Statute: 1975-76 93 A S'atement of Principles [American Society of Newspaper Editors] 94 PART IV DELIVERING SERVICES Congressional Districts 100 The People of the State of Oregon 102 Legislative Assembly 103 Legislative Glossary 103 Senate Districts 108 Representative Districts 109 Legal Glossary 111 Established Councils of Government in Oregon 115 A Statewide Concept of Planning 116 Functions of County Government in Oregon 121 Functions of C ity Government in Oregon , 121 Functions of Special Districts in Oregon 121 Forms of City Government 122 Typical County Organization 123 Community College Status Map 125 The Good )1d Days 130 FOREWORD When this country lowered the voting age to 18, it provided its schools witha challenging opportunity to assure that new voters will graduate with the skills and knowledge necessary to be confident and active participants in government at all levels. It is perhaps true that average Oregon citizens today know farmore about the national government, whose headquarters is 2500 miles away, than they do about government serving themon the local level. Teachers sometimes have easy access to educational materials designed to explore allfacets of the federal government; however, appropriate information for the study of state and localgovernment often is not readily available. Textbooks on government invariably include sectionson state and local government, but because of the diversity of political structures existingon the local level in this country, most material published for schools is general and therefore notvery satisfactory in terms of helping students understand their immediate political environment. The taSk of gathering relevant informationfrom a number of sources, putting it into perspective, and fitting it into the curriculum is simply too time-consuming for the classroom teacher to attempt. To help with the first two steps of this task, the information in thisresource has been organized around four key concepts to stress interrelationships among units of government. Additionalresources where teachers may turn for help may be found in a separate section, and teachersare encouraged to duplicate any matter herein they think useful. For example, most illustrations are suitable for transparencies. Clearly, the people creating this publication do not consider ita finished product. Continuous updating of information will of course be necessary as .hanges in government take place. Butbeyond such changes, these people need to know: Flow useful is this book? To help them reviseit, teachersand anyone elseusingGovernment in Oregonare encouraged to communicate their successes, faihres and additional needs to Herman A. Washington,Social Studies Specialist at the Oregon Department of Educatior.. VERNE A. DUNCAN State Superintendent of Public Instruction 6 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Publication of a resource such as this:one would be impossible without cooperation from government apncies at all levels and without generous contributions many persons in and out of government make. As the asymptote, so this book. It ambitiously undertftes to capture state and local government in Oregon. It doesn't do it. Nothing will hold still long enough. But credit must go to those who tried. Hopefully this revision improves upon the edition before; as may editions