Article 1:

Bill of Responsibilities

Much like the “Bill of Rights” is designed to protect the People from the government, the “Bill of Responsibilities” is designed to protect the government from corruption, despotism, and tyranny. This is the first article because generally, each section applies to all three branches of government. Specific duties and responsibilities are covered within each Branch. The Goal of Article 1 is to define actions and prevent increasing size of government because of the lack of clear definitions of duties or responsibilities.

Section 1: Revenue Control; There shall be three separate and distinct levels of sources for revenues for the State of Oregon

Money is at the center of the problems facing our future and is a crucial part of the long term health and welfare of the State. This is why Revenues and subsequently Budgets are number 1 as they are both a source of corruption and a foundation for the future.

  1. A. Level 1 shall be revenues designated as “General Funds”.
    1. The Treasurer shall report the General Funds on the first and seventh month if each calendar year.
    2. The Legislature shall have full control of how and where all general Funds are used.
  2. Level 2 shall be revenues designated as “Dedicated Revenues”.
    1. The Treasurer shall report the Dedicated Revenues the ninth month of each calendar year.
    2. Dedicated Revenues shall be defined as funds used on activities and services that have no end date such as the following:
      1. Education
      2. Roads and bridges
    3. Dedicated Revenues shall not be considered as collateral for bonds, loans, or investment.
    4. The State shall be entitled to a maximum of 10% of the revenues collected for the simple fact that the State collected and distributed the funds. Any funding required beyond the 10% shall be paid from the General Fund and is subject to the Efficiency Clause. (Article X Section Y)
  3. Level 3 shall be funding from “Property Tax Revenues” and shall be dedicated to Police, Fire, and Property protection as defined by law such as city functions related to property archives and ownership.
    1. The Treasurer shall report Property Tax Revenues every third month of each calendar year.
    2. The Treasurer’s report shall be considered fiduciary.
      1. The Treasurer’s report shall reflect actual costs and shall be considered fiduciary.
    3. Under no circumstances will Property tax revenue be used to fund anything outside of property related Constitutional duties or those defined by law. The Legislature shall make no laws using property tax revenues for any other reason.
    4. The “Secretary of Property Tax Revenue” shall be responsible for collecting information ever two years as to the actual costs related to the operations of Police, Fire, and property protection as defined by law and shall publish a public report the sixth month of even numbered years. The report shall also be broken down by counties.
    5. There shall be a Secretary of Property Tax Revenue under the treasurer as described later. Article # Section X
Section 2: Revenues

Every time that a new source of revenue is proposed, a new section of government is opened up to collect the revenue. This section is designed to prevent the creation of taxes by bureaucratic entities that may be created by legislative action.

  1. Revenues shall be limited to the following sources:
    1. Income taxes
      1. The legislature shall not create taxes on Federal taxes paid.
      2. An absolute maximum of 10% tax shall be collected from any one person.
      3. An absolute maximum of un-taxed income shall be set by Law.
    2. Property taxes
      1. The Legislature shall not establish any funding outside of Dedicated revenues as spelled out in Article 1, Section 1.
      2. All City, County, State or any government owned facilities shall not pay property taxes.
      3. The Legislature shall not establish property taxes beyond Real property.
      4. As all healthcare is a necessary part of Life and Liberty for all People, Hospitals, health clinics, and Doctor owned offices shall not pay property taxes as prescribed by Law.
        1. Healthcare shall be virtually the only exception to paying property taxes.
    3. Use taxes
      1. The Legislature shall not create tolls for usage of the roads.
      2. The Legislature shall not create any form of exemptions or subsidies. All taxation shall be equal to all Citizens.
    4. Sales taxes
      1. The legislature shall not create any kind of sales taxes based on a percent or flat fee for any given article or service unless that tax is dedicated to an article or service by law.
      2. Dedicated Taxes or revenues as spelled out in Article 1, section 1, shall be the only tax considered as Sales Tax for a dedicated purpose.
      3. The legislature shall not create law that establishes a sales tax on any item or freedoms as listed in the United State Constitution.
        1. The Legislature shall not tax firearms or ammunition as defined by the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution.
      4. Fuel tax revenues shall be a percentage established by laws and collected at the point of sale to the Populous or business. Fuel consumed by Farms and businesses that do not normally use roads or bridges shall not be taxed.
      5. The State of Oregon shall receive 10% maximum for collecting the Tax Revenues. Further, 5% of the tax revenues shall be placed into the hands of the Treasurer for large costs that cross State boundaries and held outside of Legislative control for use on large projects as prescribed by law. All remaining fuel tax revenues are to be distributed to the Counties where the fuels were consumed. The County Commissioners shall have the sole authority for use of Fuel Tax revenues.
    5. Business income taxes
      1. The Legislature shall not create any form of exemptions to taxation of business.
      2. No exemptions by any City, County, or State will be allowed as incentives to attract business. Every business shall have the same opportunity no matter how large or small.
Section 3: All elected and appointed office holders (They) shall be defined as “Independence Contractors” representing the People of the State of Oregon

It has become clear that our Elected and Appointed Representatives have been converted from Representing the People to representing the government through the use of benefits such as retirement income for life, complete coverage of healthcare costs and insurance, or many other benefits too numerous to list. Of the list of benefits that has been the most corrupt is the retirement benefits that are going to be paid out by our grandchildren.

  1. They shall not have access to any form of retirement benefits (Public Employee Retirement System) or matching funds for retirement.
  2. They shall not be granted any form Health Care or Insurance covered by State funds.
  3. The Legislature shall not grant any form of compensation beyond the Salaries of the elected and appointed officials.
    1. No special benefit beyond a parking location and office space shall be granted or paid for by any Law.
  4. Salaries or compensation shall begin thirty days prior to taking an elected office and shall continue for 60 days after leaving an elected or appointed office whether by resignation, death, or removal. Compensation shall be done on a monthly basis only. No barrowing against future earnings shall be allowed.
  5. Time in office shall not be applicable for future employment in any government benefits applicable to government employees should the elected or appointed office holder chose to seek government employment after leaving office.
  6. No form of unemployment compensation shall be granted after leaving office.
  7. Compensation for all offices elected and appointed shall be set by the Legislative Assembly. Any changes in compensation will not apply until after the next biennial election. Any changes in compensation to appointed officials that require specialized training or professional degrees take effect immediately.
    1. Compensation shall be set by the Secretary of Compensation under the Treasurers control.
  8. The State of Oregon shall not offer any form of retirement for any government employee. All employees shall be required to set up retirement accounts at the bank of their choice as defined by law.
    1. There shall be a ten year window to pay out to retirement accounts under Federally allowed account such as 401K’s for all elected and appointed office holders and a 14 year window to pay out all government employees to 401K’s.
    2. All Judicial branch judges at all levels shall have their retirement accounts opened and funded within 100 days of the ratification of the Constitution. Funding shall be equal to 20 times the current salary.
Section 4: The Executive Branch of Government shall not have the ability to selectively enforce the Laws of the Land
  1. A. City, County, and State elected and appointed officials shall have authority to hire as required for safety and wellbeing of the People.
  2. No City, County, or State elected or appointed official shall selectively chose laws to enforce or ignore and shall be considered a violation of the Oath of office.
    1. Professional People that require a license to operate shall not have their license revoked for any reason other than actual crimes they are found guilty of in a Court of Law.

An example of this: A doctors license can be revoke by the “government” if do something like tell their patients to use a medication that someone in government does not want the public to use or tells the truth about how much the Oregon health plan actually pays Doctors or Healthcare providers that the plan paid out. In many cases, Healthcare providers pay less than a dollar on every $100 billed. And in some cases, the pennies on the dollar were paid out after 6 months or even years after the bills were submitted. People on the Oregon Health plan may get to see the Doctor, but those people are rendered worthless in the eyes of providers because they are never really paid for expertise or supplies.

Section 5: Electoral College of the Counties
  1. All State wide elections shall be done by the Counties.
    1. Each County shall have one vote per 40,000 residents towards each State wide election to a maximum of 5 votes per County.
    2. In the case of a tie within the Counties votes, the popular vote will be considered the tie breaker.
Section 6: Separation of Powers
  1. The powers of the Government shall be divided into three separate branches, the Legislative, the Executive, including the administrative, and the Judicial; and no person charged with official duties under one of these branches, shall exercise any of the functions of another, except as in this Constitution expressly provided.
  2. The Legislative branch shall not create, authorize, or make law that transfers, abrogate, or give authority outside the Legislature on matters of taxation, spending, or acquisition.
Section 6: Sponsorship
  1. No Bill of any kind shall be released from the Legislature to be signed into Law by the Governor without two Sponsors from the Senate and four sponsors from the House of Representatives.
  2. A Sponsor shall be an Elected office holder of the Senate or House and shall not be an appointed replacement due to death, retirement, or removal from office.
  3. Failure to have all of the necessary Sponsors will render the Bill null and void and unenforceable.
  4. Sponsorship may be removed by any Sponsor up to when the Governor signs the Bill into Law and may not be withdrawn after the Bill becomes Law.
  5. The State shall be held accountable for any and all actions for enforcing a null and void law that does not have the required Sponsors.
Section 7: Regulations
  1. A “Regulation” shall be defined as a tool necessary to enforce a law.
  2. Any regulation shall contain the law for which it was designed to enforce.
    1. Any regulation shall not be null and void and shall not be enforceable without a clear definition of the Law.
    2. No Regulation may exist without an existing law to support.
  3. All regulations shall be reviewed at the next Legislative session.
    1. Failure to review and incorporate the regulation into the original law renders the regulation null and void.
    2. Incorporating a regulation into the law it was intended to enforce requires the same conditions of sponsorship as Article 1, Section 6.
    3. No Regulation may be applied to a different law than intended.
Section 8: Public Employees Retirement System (PERS)
  1. The State shall NOT establish a retirement fund under the control of the State, as a promissory note, or pension to be paid by future tax payers in any way-shape-or-form.
  2. Government employees shall be required to establish their own retirement fund location of their choice. The Government shall fund to a maximum of 6% to the employee’s retirement as define by Federal Law and shall not offer or collect any form of insurance against loss of funds or guarantee retirement funds from loss.
  3. Transition from the current system to complete funding in the hands of employee chosen location shall not take longer than 10 years from the time of establishing this Constitution in the State of Oregon.
Section 9: Impeachment
  1. The House of Representatives and the People via referendum shall have to sole right to Impeach.
  2. In the case of the Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State;
    1. Only actual crimes that are considered to be at the level of Felonies and are punishable by more than one year of imprisonment may be considered by the House of Representatives.
    2. Referendum to impeach the Governor, Treasurer, or Secretary of State by a Vote of the People shall require;
      1. 50% +1 votes refers the Governor to trial by the Senate. 50%+1 votes removes the Treasurer or Secretary of State from the moment of certification.
      2. A conviction requires of 2/3rds of the Senate vote to convict and the Governor and is removed from office from that moment.
      3. 66% +1 vote of the People removes the governor from office at the moment the vote is certified.
      4. The Governor shall not have the Power of the Pardon from the time the People successfully file a petition for a vote of the People and his or her removal from office.
  3. In the case of a Legislator;
    1. Only actual crimes that are considered to be at the level of Felonies and are punishable by more than one year of imprisonment may be considered by the House of Representatives.
    2. Referendum to impeach a member of the Senate or House of Representatives by a Vote of the People will require;
      1. 50% +1 votes removes a Legislator from office.
    3. Removal from Office within the House of Representatives by the House of Representatives shall be defined as Impeachment.
      1. “Conduct Unbecoming” shall not be considered for removal within the House of Representatives.
    4. Removal from Office within the Senate by the Senate shall be defined as Impeachment.
      1. “Conduct Unbecoming” shall not be considered for removal within the Senate.
  4. In the case of a Judge or any appointed office holder within the Judicial Branch;
    1. Only actual crimes that are considered to be at the level of Felonies and are punishable by more than one year of imprisonment may be considered by the House of Representatives.
    2. Referendum to impeach a Judge at any level within the Judicial Branch by a Vote of the People will require;
      1. 50% +1 votes removes a Legislator from office.
    3. The Governor shall have the sole responsibly to remove from office any Judge that demonstrates bad behavior in Office. The House of Representatives by a simple majority signature vote my reinstate a Judge. Reinstatement of a Judge is grounds for a Special Session of the Legislature that may be called by Senate President or Speaker of the House for the sole purpose of addressing the removal from Office. Failure to call a Special Session within 45 working days or getting 50%+1 votes within the House shall support the removal from office.

      Selective Denial of Constitutional rights of an individual is grounds for the governor to remove from office any Judge without impeachment. Failure to protect a Judge’s personal integrity by not following the Law, twisting the Law for political gain, or denying Constitutionally guaranteed rights are grounds for the Governor to remove any judge from office.

  5. In the case of an Appointed Official in any branch of government;
    1. Only actual crimes that are considered to be at the level of Felonies and are punishable by more than one year of imprisonment may be considered by the House of Representatives.
    2. Referendum to impeach any appointed office holder will require;
    3. 50% +1 votes removes the appointed office holder.
  6. In the case of all other State-Wide elected office holders. Congressional District Representatives and US Senators are State-Wide Office holders:
    1. Only actual crimes that are considered to be at the level of Felonies and are punishable by more than one year of imprisonment may be considered by the House of Representatives.
    2. Referendum to impeach the State-Wide office holders by a Vote of the People will require;
      1. 50% +1 votes refers the State-Wide office holders to trial by the Senate
      2. A conviction requires of 2/3rds of the Senate vote to convict and the State-wide office holder is removed from office from that moment.
      3. 66% +1 vote of the People removes the State-Wide office holder from office.
  7. In all cases:
    1. Campaign contributions found to be from sources outside the United States or from corporations that conduct business that solely handles money shall be grounds for impeachment from the House and Referendum.
    2. Dissatisfaction, excessive loss of life, incompetence, or any other action not covered by law shall not be a consideration for impeachment.
    3. Impeachment shall not be considered as punishment for High Crimes and Misdemeanors. “Double Jeopardy” does not apply due to the only action that can be taken is removal from office.
    4. Selective enforcement, Selective Ignorance, and Selective denial of Constitutional rights shall be grounds for impeachment.

The amount of signatures required is not addressed yet in the section 9.

Section 10: All elected and Appointed offices shall be partisan
  1. There shall not be any elected or appoint office holder that do not have a party affiliation.
    1. All elections shall have party affiliation shown on the ballot and voter’s guide. There shall not be any “non-partisan” positions anyplace on any ballot.
Section X: List of Other concepts and ideas
  1. Complete removal of any kind of “Emergency” powers.
    1. OR; A clear definition of what an emergency actually is.
      1. Natural disaster like the “Big One” finally happening.
    2. And-Or; A clear definition of emergencies to exclude.
      1. i.e. Declaring and emergency because “we have got to get more money for schools” is no an emergency.
  2. Reduce the Supreme Court of Oregon to 3 judges.
    1. Not sure how we got to seven.
Section LAST; Responsibilities not detailed in the Bill of responsibilities are reserved to the People
  1. Any and All services, actions, or activities shat be referred to a Vote of the People.
  2. The Legislature shall not abrogate its responsibility to any outside group, out of state group, or create any separate authority that has self-control outside of Legislative oversight.