Better Government Competition

Lars Larson, main anchor for KPTV-12 and Oregon's leading investigative journalist, is our confirmed keynote speaker, and Gerry Frank (Senator Hatfield's former chief of staff and a 1994 Competition judge) is the master of ceremonies. Lars will speak candidly on "Oregon Government in the Information Age: Open or Closed?".

The Awards Luncheon is the formal conclusion of another very successful Oregon Better Government Competition. This year, more than 200 diverse ideas were submitted. Among the finalists are a farmer, a "semi-retired housewife", a business owner, public employees, and a former professor. From its inception, the Oregon Better Government Competition received the support of leading members of the business and media communities, Governor Kitzhaber, Mayor Vera Katz, the major candidates, and a bi-partisan cross-section of state legislators. Of the ten winners chosen in the 1994 Competition, eight were introduced into the Legislature and two passed into law. Already, legislation based upon this year's ideas is being drafted.

The 1996 finalist ideas include: Privatizing select DMV functions; removing regulatory barriers to home-based businesses; establishing personal economic security accounts; land use reform; removing barriers to employment among welfare recipients; taxi deregulation; means tested vouchers for Medicaid recipients; a fieldtrip program for low-income youth; a trust fund for education through the sale of state lands; improved home care for elderly Medicaid recipients.