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BOOZE WAR BEGINS: The Northwest Grocery Association has not made an official announcement yet, but campaign finance filings this week with the Oregon secretary of state show the organization is beginning to spend money on a November ballot measure to allow hard liquor sales in grocery stores. With a few exceptions in rural Oregon, all retail liquor sales currently go through state-licensed, stand-alone stores. On May 2, the Customer Choice and Convenience Act of 2022 paid $100,000 to Metronome Consulting, a signature-gathering firm run by industry veteran Tim Trickey. Oregon grocers have sought privatization since at least 2011, when Washington voters approved it there. The powerful Oregon Beer & Wine Distributors Association opposes privatization, which probably presages an expensive battle over the issue. “Oregon grocers are excited to get our petition in the hands of voters who know we are way behind the times when it comes to state control over liquor,” says Amanda Dalton, president and CEO of the NGA. “It’s time Oregonians join our neighbors in California and Washington, who can conveniently buy liquor and cocktails in a can at their local grocery stores.”
CANNABIS LICENSES PAUSED AGAIN: In other Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission news, the state agency in late April reinstated a moratorium on new cannabis licenses only three months after it expired. The OLCC reopened the licensing process at the end of 2021, after a pause of more than three years that stemmed from a huge influx of new entrants into the legal cannabis market in 2016. On March 2, the Oregon Legislature passed a bill enabling the OLCC to extend the moratorium until March 2024. It was signed by the governor on April 4. The bill also mandated that any applications received after Jan. 1 by prospective licensees would be retroactively inactivated, a move that enraged cannabis business hopefuls and their attorneys. In early February, a group of cannabis lawyers sent a letter to OLCC director Steve Marks and commissioners, bemoaning the bill. The lawyers wrote that applicant seeking new licenses after Jan. 1 were entering “long-term leases, purchasing real estate, and/or making other significant investments based upon the expectation that their applications will be processed.”
OREGON LEADERS DECRY SUPREME COURT ABORTION DRAFT: This week, Politico obtained an early draft of a U.S. Supreme Court opinion in the pending abortion rights case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The upshot: A majority of the court, based on preliminary responses to the pending case, is ready to overturn Roe v. Wade, which for nearly 50 years has made abortions legal under federal law. Pro-choice advocates, including U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) lashed out at the draft opinion. “This is a five-alarm fire,” Wyden said in a statement. An Do, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon, says the state’s protections of abortion rights are strong. “The rights that are codified into state statue are really robust, but none of us can rest on our laurels or assume there isn’t more to shore up,” Do says. “It can’t just be about a legal right to access to abortion; it has to be about the ability to access providers, pay for care, travel to care when you need it.”
DRAZAN DROPS OUT OF KEY PORTLAND DEBATE: The City Club of Portland, one of this city’s most venerable civic institutions, invited five Republican candidates for governor to a debate May 3. Former Oregon House Minority Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby) canceled the morning of the debate, as first reported by KGW. The Drazan campaign did not offer a reason. “Christine has participated in nearly a dozen public candidate forums, including two televised debates in the last two weeks,” says Trey Rosser, Drazan’s campaign manager. “She has also visited every corner of the state and hosted countless public events. While she is not participating today, she appreciates the forum provided by the Portland City Club and looks forward to the next opportunity.” Dr. Bud Pierce, Sandy Mayor Stan Pulliam, conservative writer Bridget Barton, and Medford businesswoman Jessica Gomez showed up for the debate moderated by KGW’s Laurel Porter and David Molko.
PEOPLE FOR PORTLAND LOBBIES DAN RYAN: People for Portland spent $69,000 on lobbying efforts in the first quarter of 2022. The advocacy group, which is attempting to reroute a large chunk of Metro homeless services measure dollars to emergency shelter beds and away from the creation of affordable housing, spent $69,000 on lobbying efforts in the first quarter of 2022, according to its quarterly report with the city. The only office the group communicated with, according to the report: that of Commissioner Dan Ryan, who oversees the Portland Housing Bureau and is the city’s liaison to the Joint Office of Homeless Services, a county and city agency. Nearly all the communications documented related to a forum on homelessness where Ryan spoke hosted by the group.