By Debbie Raney
Burns Times-Herald

When the vote to approve funding for Measure 57 fell four votes shy of passing on June 19, Representative Cliff Bentz didn’t have to wonder what the constituents of his district were thinking about his “no” vote — the phone calls, e-mails and face-to-face comments said it all. But Bentz said he had to vote “no” in order for the bill to go back into discussion.

“The bill as crafted,” said Bentz, “had serious problems — it needed not to pass. I decided to ask the district attorneys and sheriffs for some direction that would make it work.”

Measure 57, which voters approved last November, would require mandatory minimum sentences for people convicted of certain nonviolent crimes. If the funding bill failed, the Eastern Oregon Youth Correctional Facility in Burns would have been on the list of cuts, and the facility was slated to be closed.

The top priority for Bentz in the passage of the bill was safety, with economics next on the list. The problem, said Bentz was everything that had been attached to the funding bill, such as raising the amount of methamphetamine that one could possess before it became a felony.

When the funding bill failed, it went back into reconsideration, and the negotiations began. On Wednesday, June 24, at about midnight, Bentz said the two sides came to an agreement that everyone could live with. The bill, HB 3508, went to the Ways and Means committee on Thursday, and on Friday a new vote was taken with the amendments, and funding was approved on a vote of 40-19, with Bentz voting “yes.”

In addition to the Burns OYA facility remaining open, Bentz said the bill will save about 40 positions with the Oregon State Police, including a crime lab in Malheur County.

Harney County Judge Steve Grasty said the people of Harney County are to be commended for making their voices heard in Salem. “The people in this area deserve a real pat on the back — they got real involved and everyone there [in Salem] knew what the impact would be for Burns,” Grasty said.