For Immediate Release
Contact: Molly Woon
(503) 367-4327
press [at] dpo [dot] org
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June 15, 2018
ICYMI: Knute Buehler’s week of pandering PORTLAND — Knute Buehler has been hitting the Portland event scene hard in recent weeks, attending events hosted by organizations seemingly at odds with his legislative record. “What Knute Buehler lacks in substance he is attempting to make up in photo ops,” said Jeanne Atkins, Chair of the Democratic Party of Oregon. Buehler’s campaign schedule has been chock-full of staged appearances and his social media accounts lately are full of carefully orchestrated photos of the Republican candidate talking to women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ community. Several people have complained that their pictures were posted onto Buehler’s social media accounts without their permission. “Since announcing his run for governor, Knute Buehler has worked hard to reinvent himself,” said Atkins. “The fact is, this charade is nothing but lip service. Buehler can’t back away from his record of voting against civil rights and equality, and we will be making sure that voters know he can’t be trusted.” Questions:
“If approached by Buehler, be prepared,” said Atkins “He has a lot of explaining to do before he comes anywhere close to gaining credibility with Oregon voters.”
BACKGROUND: Buehler scored a 56% in the 2015 Racial Equity scorecard. [Facing Race: Oregon, 3/16/18] In 2017 Buehler tried to weaken the Pay Equity law. In 2017 Buehler signed onto a letter endorsing Rep. Jodi Hack’s proposed amendments to HB 2005 (Pay Equity), which would have stripped down the protections and “limits the protected classes covered by the bill to sex, race, and color.” The original and ultimately adopted bill protects on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or age.” [Jodi Hack letter, 3/16/17]. On 3/28/17 Buehler voted against the Pay Equity law passed by the House. Buehler voted against HB 2005, which “provides definitions relating to comparable work for purposes of pay equity provisions.” The bill protects against wage discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status or age.” The bill passed the House 36-24. [Oregon House HB 2005 Floor Vote, 3/28/17] In 2015, Buehler voted against Ban the Box. On 4/29/2015, Buehler voted no on HB 3025, which made it an unlawful employment practice to inquire into or consider an applicant’s conviction history on application forms or prior to interview. Banning the box helps people who have paid their debt to society get a good job. The bill passed the House 34-25 and was signed into law. [Oregon House HB 3025 Floor Vote, 4/29/15] In 2017, Buehler voted against stopping racial profiling and reducing possession charges. On 7/5/17 Buehler voted no on HB 2355, which required data collection from law enforcement for all pedestrian and traffic stops, regular training in implicit bias and practical skills to reduce profiling, and annual reporting and review of stop data. The bill also reduces charges for possession of small amounts of certain drugs. This bill will reduce racial profiling and racial disparities in incarceration. The bill passed 36-23 and was signed into law. [Oregon House HB 2355 Floor Vote, 7/5/17] On May 11, 2018, Buehler said he agrees with Trump’s immigration policies. At the 5/11/18 GOP debate hosted by Lars Larson, Knute Buehler was asked if he takes back prior criticisms of Donald Trump. He replied “You know there’s lots of things that people say during campaigns… But I do agree with sometimes, with regards to his tax cuts, with regards to backing down on regulations, in terms securing our borders and having more reasonable immigration — those are the things I’ll work on cooperatively with President Trump.” [Lars Larson Show, 5/11/18] |