There Ought to Be a Law That…

A chance to get community members involved in Oregon politics

Amber Eaton

Bella Mannray, a senior at Ashland High School, has been interning for Oregon representative Pam Marsh, and she has an interesting take on her senior project. In her time with Marsh, Mannray was awakened to the fact that Califor­nia annually holds a contest among high school students called “there ought to be a law” asking for submissions of possible laws, and so Mannray decided to bring this concept to Or­egon. For her senior project she is holding a contest of the same name in Jackson County, Oregon. The Ore­gon version of “There Ought to be a Law” is open to all Jackson County residents this year. The project started in early September, and is set to have a win­ner November of 2018. Participants are given a form with questions about their proposed law. Mannray expresses that the de­cision will be based off of practical applications and consideration of fi­nancial impact. Participants are also asked to point out political supporters and opposers of their pro­posal. After they have answered all the questions, whether in paragraph form or simply with links to articles supporting their law, they submit their forms by mail. After a submission is chosen, a bill is drafted and Marsh will guide it through the steps required to make it a law. The project has piqued a lot of interest, says Mannray “I have around 20 submissions so far.” Man­nray said the purpose of this project was to “get Oregon community members involved in state politics,” Let’s hope it does just that.