Republican Government Core Principles

1. PROTECT OUR PEOPLE. The first objective of state government is to provide a safe environment for Oregon’s citizens, and especially its children. Public safety includes police, the courts, corrections and the National Guard.

2. EDUCATE OREGON CITIZENS—YOUNG AND OLD. Oregon’s Constitution, the will of the people and common sense all require Oregon schools provide an excellent education for our children. In addition, an educated adult workforce is necessary for economic growth. Our community colleges and universities must provide quality and affordable educational opportunities for all Oregonians.

3. PROVIDE FOR OREGONIANS WHO CANNOT CARE FOR THEMSELVES.

Society has a responsibility to care for those who cannot care for themselves. In recent decades the costs for health and human services have sky-rocketed as government has assumed more and more responsibility of caring for citizens from cradle to grave. Oregon taxpayers, through their votes on Measures 28 and 30 have instructed the Legislature to provide for the poor and needy, but to do it with current revenues. Since revenues for the ‘05-07 biennium are down, we must review how much and where Oregon spends its human services dollars. The goals are (a.) to assist the helpless, and help all others to help themselves, and (b.) to improve services while reducing costs.

4. PROMOTE A HEALTHY OREGON ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT. To provide a safe place to live and work and to provide a proper education and enough money to care for Oregon’s most needy requires tax revenue. Tax revenues require a growing economy and good job opportunities. Oregon must decrease unnecessary and burdensome regulations, become more business-friendly, and promote Oregon’s products abroad.

5. PROTECT OREGON’S NATURAL HERITAGE & ENVIRONMENT. Oregon state government should promote a healthy economy and good, family-wage paying jobs, without adversely affecting Oregon’s environment. Nevertheless, Oregon’s current “job-less” recovery and high unemployment rates, especially outside of the Portland-Eugene I-5 Corridor, have been aggravated by a failed natural resources policy. For example, timber is as much a crop to Oregon as corn is to Iowa. Oregon’s forests should be managed with wisdom, balancing concerns for both the environment and the economy.

6. PROVIDE OPEN, EFFECTIVE AND EFFICIENT GOVERNMENT. To provide the benefits inherent in the above Core Government Functions requires effective government administration. State government should be the efficient means to gaining the desired outcomes, not an ever-expanding bureaucracy that consumes precious state revenue. The people have lost confidence in their government and it is our duty to restore trust in government to the citizens of Oregon. The first step to restoring public trust is to make government more transparent. The people have a right to know where and how the government spends their money.