Knopp seeks citizens for e-mail advisory committees

State Sen. Tim Knopp (R-Bend) issued an open invitation Tuesday for a new initiative to increase citizen involvement with the legislative process.

Senator Knopp’s Email Citizen Legislative Advisory Committees are issue-based groups made up of Oregonians interested in bills in the Oregon Legislature this session.

“The purpose of the citizen advisory committees are to hear thoughts from Oregonians on legislation that may come to a vote. The people elected the Legislature to listen to citizen input. The Oregon Legislature should be transparent and accountable to the people every day.” said Knopp.

Anyone can join an advisory committee. Those who are interested should email Senator Knopp (sen.timknopp@state.or.us) with their Zip code and which committees they are interested in joining.

Knopp provided more details on the committees, saying, “We’ll have committees on Jobs and Workforce, Education, & Health Care. These are important issues to many Oregonians. Citizens can serve one or more committees. I want everyone to be as involved as they can be. Citizen involvement is crucial in forming good public policy.”

Knopp previously served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005 for three terms, including one as Oregon House Majority Leader, where he led the PERS Reforms of 2003 that saved taxpayers billions. Knopp was elected to his first term in the Oregon State Senate in November 2012. He was appointed to the Education, Health Care, and Workforce committees for the 2015 Legislative Session. Senate District 27 encompasses the Central Oregon communities of Bend, Redmond, Sunriver, and Tumalo.