BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- Governor Ted Kulongoski and Attorney General John Kroger announced Wednesday their intentions to proceed with legal action supporting the recently passed federal health care reform.

“Oregon has been a leader in expanding access to health care while containing costs, and the bill passed by Congress and signed by the President is essential for states like Oregon to advance this goal,” said Gov. Kulongoski.

Kroger is the first Attorney General to announce that he will be taking legal action to support the legislation. The Oregon Department of Justice now will proceed with working to create a coalition of states to file an amicus brief.

“Opponents of the bill seek to turn back the Constitutional clock 100 years, returning to a time when the United States Supreme Court routinely struck down legislation designed to protect the health, safety and well-being of the American people,” Kroger added. “As an Attorney General and law professor, I think it is critical that the courts hear not just from the opponents of the health care legislation, but from those states that believe it is constitutional.”

The Communications Director for the Department of Justice, Tony Green, stated that the Department is looking into ways of paying for this action that will not take money away from the State’s other agencies, but instead will pay for it internally.

BY SARAH ROSS

SALEM- Governor Ted Kulongoski released a statement this week announcing his signing a proclamation encouraging Oregonians to participate in the “Earth Hour” event to show concern for climate change.

“Earth Hour” is a time when people across the world turn off their lights for an hour to show their concern for climate change.

“Earth Hour symbolizes that by working together, each of us can make a positive impact in the fight against climate change, protecting our future and that of future generations,” said Gov. Kulongoski.

In the proclamation, the Governor called on Oregon to be a leader in the movement against climate change and asked all Oregonians to join him in turning off their lights, as he will be doing in the Governor’s Mansion on March 27 between 8:30pm and 9:30pm.

Todd Wynn, Policy Analyst at Cascade Policy Institute, Oregon Politico’s parent organization, had this to say about the Governor’s proclamation: “Oregonians should probably get used to the lights being out for hours on end if we continue to protest any reliable forms of energy in this state.”