What is it?

This measure is an amendment to the Oregon Constitution. It would divert a portion of the Oregon State Lottery proceeds to law enforcement.

Where did it come from?

Longtime ballot measure author Kevin Mannix wrote the initiative.

What it would do:

The measure would dedicate 15 percent of lottery proceeds to public safety as follows: 15 percent to investigations and field operations of county sheriffs, 15 percent to county district attorneys, 20 percent to early childhood programs for children at risk and 50 percent to criminal investigation and forensic operations of the Oregon State Police.

Reality check:

Mannix argues that creating a new allocation from Lottery proceeds will not crowd out other needs such as education and economic development. Opponents such as Steve Novick of Defend Oregon argue that we can expect the Lottery’s proceeds to flatten out, with the smoking ban in restaurants and bars. Thus, they say this new requirement would shrink the Lottery funds available to education and economic development.

Check the fine print:

The main funder of this measure is the reclusive Loren Parks, who has funded many of the measures by Bill Sizemore and Mannix. Parks now lives in Nevada.

Recommendation:

No. We sympathize with the need to boost the funding of district attorneys’ offices, but not at the expense of education.