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structured to provide for elections at times when people traditionally expected them to happen. SB 0801 Responding to a question from Ms. Bettman regarding the status of the bill, Mr. Heuser indicated that Senate Bill (SB) 0801, related to taxation, would likely be ~dead" by Friday. He noted that April 8 was the deadline for Senate committees to have moved bills out of committee; bills that had not moved by that time were dead unless they had permission from the Senate President to do so. Ms. Bettman questioned why the bill had such a high priority. Priority 2 Bills HB 2608 Mr. Pap6 noted the staff recommendation to oppose the bill, which would require a person to be a citizen of the United States or be legally in the country to secure a driver's license, and asked why the State should not make that requirement. Mr. Cushman said it was a philosophical debate, but the police preferred that people have a driver's license to demonstrate their ability to drive a vehicle safely. If people did not have a driver's license, they would drive anyway without insurance, creating a hazard to others. Mr. Rikhoff suggested that the bill was not the right way to make immigration policy. He said the issue was, once people were here, how to make the best of the situation as opposed to creating a subclass of people who will continue to drive but about whom the community had less knowledge. Responding to a follow-up question from Mr. Pap6, Mr. Rikhoff said the bill included those holding green cards. Mr. Cushman noted that the bill also required those Oregon citizens renewing their licenses to prove their citizenship. Mr. Pap6 asked if a constitutional issue existed in regard to the bill. Mr. Lidz said no. Mr. Pap6, seconded by Ms. Taylor, moved to change the status of the bill to Support with an amendment deleting the requirement related proof of citizenship for Oregon citizens re- newing their licenses. The motion passed, 2:1; Ms. Bettman voting no. HB 2638 There was brief discussion of the priority assigned to the bill, which would allow cities and counties to conduct instant run-off elections. The committee agreed to retain the status of Priority 2, Support with the amendment proposed earlier by Mr. Tollenaar. Ms. Walston noted that City Recorder Mary Feldman assigned the bill a status of Priority 2 because she believed the City already had the authority to conduct instant runoff elections. Mr. Heuser said the bill had been referred to a committee but no hearing had been held. He asked what the City's position would be if it could not secure the amendments, adding that the chair of the committee was not supportive of the bill and was likely to resist the amendments. Ms. Bettman asked the financial magnitude of the City paying for the elections. Mr. Lidz noted that review MINUTES--Council Committee on INtergovernmental Relations April 7, 2005 Page 4