Oregon’s initiative king Kevin Mannix took a beating at the ballot this week, reports The Oregonian. Mannix’s measures to increase penalties for first-time burglary, drug-dealing, and identity theft went down, as did his initiative that would have set aside about $100 million a year in lottery money for law enforcement. The former Republican lawmaker took credit for forcing the legislature to come up with an alternative anti-crime proposal that includes drug treatment — Measure 57 — which did pass. “We’ve got progress on public safety,” Mannix said. “That’s a good thing.”
Mannix blamed the economy for the failure of his two anti-crime measures. “There was about a 10 to 12 percent reduction in support for all three of these measures when the economy soured,” he said. Mannix maintained that the passage of Measure 57, which received more than 60 percent of the vote, disputed any claim that voters are no longer enamored of tough-on-crime laws. Rather, the price tag — more than $1 billion in prison construction for Measure 61 — scared them away. “I don’t think voters have changed their attitude,” he said. “The financial situation dramatically changed.”
Link: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/voters_to_sizemore_mannix_no_6.html