[PLUG] Re: HB 2892

[Kurt S. Harlan]

Rep. Mabrey,
It is my understanding that this bill is being held up by, literally, ONE
lobbyist who seems to "own" Karen Minnis:  Jim Craven of the American
Electronics Association.  AEA claims to have thousands of member companies
but their work on this bill is for the exclusive benefit of only
one of those members.

What can I/we do about resolving this problem with the democratic process?

Kurt S. Harlan
--------------
On 4/28/03 4:29 PM, "Rep Mabrey" <Mabrey.Rep at state.or.us> wrote:
> Dear Mr. Harlan, 
> 
> Thank you for contacting my office with your concerns, and I can assure
> you that I will remain mindful of these throughout the session.  If
> there is anything that I can do for you please feel free to email me
> again.  Have a great day.
> 
> Sincerely, 
> 
> Representative John Mabrey
> District 59
> 900 Court St NE H-285
> Salem, OR 97301
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Kurt S. Harlan [mailto:kurt at kurt-harlan.net]
> Sent: Friday, April 25, 2003 8:25 AM
> To: REP Minnis; REP Krummel; REP Nelson; REP Prozanski
> Cc: REP Avakian; REP Kitts; REP Mabrey; REP Wirth
> Subject: HB 2892
> 
> 
> Dear Elected Officials,
> 
> Hello, my name is Kurt Harlan, I reside in Molalla and I have been
> employed in the IT industry in Oregon for more than 20 years.  I am
> writing in hopes that Bill 2892 will not remain waylaid in the House
> General Government Committee for long, as I believe it will greatly
> benefit the Oregon public. In these budgetary times, I think it's wrong
> to not consider options for saving money that could be better spent on
> schools and healthcare. I am especially concerned that this bill has
> been waylaid by "back room tactics" in spite of its overwhelming
> support. Please use your influence to get this bill considered in the
> light of day.
> 
> I also believe the lobbying opposition has nothing to fear from this
> bill if their products are of the quality they claim they are.  They
> have deep pockets and have worked through paid lobbyists to defeat
> efforts of this nature worldwide.  I do not trust them to work in the
> best interests of our democracy.  Furthermore, one of the main
> organizations opposing the bill is a convicted monopolist in the United
> States and in the European Union.
> 
> I believe this bill will save the Oregon government money in the long
> run. Microsoft sometimes argues that organizations using
> Linux/OpenSource do not save money due to the cost of maintaining such
> software.  This may be true in the VERY SHORT run as employees learn to
> deploy Linux/OpenSource, but as skill in open source software increases
> among our very capable IT professionals in Oregon government, this cost
> associated with moving towards open source software will diminish.  The
> payoff of using software developed by communities for communities will
> be more than enough to offset this concern.
> 
> I feel that this matter will improve Oregon government in two ways:
> 
>   1.  It will save government money in the long run.
> 
>   2.  It will encourage convicted monopolists in the software industry
> to "play fair".
> 
> Please continue the hard work, especially with regard to this bill.
> Thank you for your time.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
> Kurt S. Harlan
> 815 E. 6th Street
> Molalla, OR 97038-9159
> USA
> http://www.kurt-harlan.net
> (503)730-2802
>