Anti-Employment 'Self-Serve' Bill Trounced, Again
Oddly enough, I was just this afternoon speaking about the dreaded push to bring self-serve gas to Oregon. Lo and behold (via the only-just-discovered Alexander B. Craghead, who got it from here), the self-serve bill is dead once more:
Self-service gasoline got self-promotion from sole sponsor Randy Miller -- but little more -- when it came up Monday in the Oregon House.
But the West Linn Republican took it in good humor, even as colleagues from both parties teased him by displaying photocopies of a sign that read: "Rep. Randy Miller can go to California to pump his gas ... and stay there."
...
Miller's comments amounted to the only discussion either chamber is likely to have this session about the perennial issue of Oregon's ban on self-service, which dates to 1951. Voters rejected a repeal attempt in 1982, when Miller was first elected to the Legislature.
Since 1989, Miller has sponsored attempts in the House or Senate to repeal the ban or a nonbinding policy statement supporting it, except for 1993 when he was out of office. None has become law.
I have never quite understood this persistent drive to bring self-serve to Oregon. While I have no way of verifying the numbers, the state AFL-CIO asserts that the bill would have cost 7,600 jobs. Whatever the number, it's probably safe to assume it would have some significant impact upon employment.
That has always been my argument against self-serve in Oregon, and it's only reinforced by the current economic climate. And I have never once heard a legitimate argument in favor of throwing a bunch of Oregonians out of work simply so that drivers can pump their own gas.
May 07, 2003 at 06:53 AM
Good to see that Oregonians are blogging -- I'm a former Portlander going to graduate school in the Midwest.
I suppose that I don't really see self-serve as a particularly burdensome thing, especially since I've moved from Oregon (hopefully not permanently). The whole process would be certainly faster and cheaper without the attendant. I realize that there might be people who indeed are earning their keep by pumping gas -- I just don't think there are that many in comparison to kids earning some extra cash.
May 07, 2003 at 09:10 AM
Agree re: losing jobs is bad thing, still, I do like pumping my own gas.
It was funny coming out to Portland and finding out that Oregon was the only state besides my home state (New Jersey) where you're not allowed to pump your own gas.
May 09, 2003 at 03:30 PM
I moved here from Idaho 6 years ago and I believe self service gas is banned because Oregonians are "dumb as moss on a tree". Repeal the ban on self service and prove me wrong.
May 09, 2003 at 03:31 PM
I moved here from Idaho 6 years ago and I believe self service gas is banned because Oregonians are "dumb as moss on a tree". Repeal the ban on self service and prove me wrong.
May 09, 2003 at 03:31 PM
I moved here from Idaho 6 years ago and I believe self service gas is banned because Oregonians are "dumb as moss on a tree". Repeal the ban on self service and prove me wrong.
May 09, 2003 at 03:31 PM
I moved here from Idaho 6 years ago and I believe self service gas is banned because Oregonians are "dumb as moss on a tree". Repeal the ban on self service and prove me wrong.
May 09, 2003 at 03:34 PM
I moved here from Idaho 6 years ago and I believe there is a ban on self serve gas because Oregonians are dumb as a box of rocks. Repeal the ban and prove me wrong.
May 09, 2003 at 03:43 PM
Well, which is it, moss on a tree or rocks in a box?
And what's the dumbness level in comparison to an ex-Idahoan who posts four comments in a row which all say the same thing, followed by another which says essentially the same thing?
October 31, 2003 at 11:00 PM
Dumb...er...really stupid,inbred people are a standard in Oregon, especially in Salem where the keyword is " duh "....be forewarned that Salem is a hotbed for unusally stupid, or should I say arrogantly stupid humans, I cannot drag myself to the point of calling them people, I'm sorry...not! I was badly destroyed on the job at Northwest Natural Gas Company in a crane accident that involved a 12,000 volt electrocution in which the voltage coming out of my right foot caused a brush fire, I lost 3 limbs and was burned 47 percent of the 3rd degree nature, I attribute all of my injuries to the total arrogant stupidity of the Oregonian inbreds, if you care to write me I can document every step of the crap that are typical Oregonians, now I have to depend on the very same human crap Oregonians as caregivers and one of them said to me today that she was doing " some wersh in the tub " ....SORRY BUT TO ME THAT IS PIGGO LANGUAGE FOR DOING THE LAUNDRY...some wersh in the tub my ass.....Good luck to everyone, McRae
October 31, 2003 at 11:00 PM
Dumb...er...really stupid,inbred people are a standard in Oregon, especially in Salem where the keyword is " duh "....be forewarned that Salem is a hotbed for unusally stupid, or should I say arrogantly stupid humans, I cannot drag myself to the point of calling them people, I'm sorry...not! I was badly destroyed on the job at Northwest Natural Gas Company in a crane accident that involved a 12,000 volt electrocution in which the voltage coming out of my right foot caused a brush fire, I lost 3 limbs and was burned 47 percent of the 3rd degree nature, I attribute all of my injuries to the total arrogant stupidity of the Oregonian inbreds, if you care to write me I can document every step of the crap that are typical Oregonians, now I have to depend on the very same human crap Oregonians as caregivers and one of them said to me today that she was doing " some wersh in the tub " ....SORRY BUT TO ME THAT IS PIGGO LANGUAGE FOR DOING THE LAUNDRY...some wersh in the tub my ass.....Good luck to everyone, McRae
October 31, 2003 at 11:05 PM
And once again someone calling Oregonians "dumb" manages to multiple-post their comments here, despite the clear and bold notice below the "POST" button regarding only clicking once.
November 12, 2003 at 09:43 AM
I think if you asked the "dumb" Oregonians where they came from, you would find that most came from out of state (California, etc..).
25 years ago it was a completly different place!
November 30, 2003 at 07:45 PM
Please let me pump my own gas. I spend hours detailing my car, only to risk an uncaring attendent spilling gas on the side of my car each time I need to refuel. Oregon prides itself on the personal rights of its citizens, from abortion to medical marijuana, so it makes no sense that I am prohibited from doing something that is legal in 48 other states. None of the anti-self-serve arguments sway me. Let's view this as adding a long-overdue right to all, rather than as a deprivation to some - we can easily structure it that way, as other states have!
November 20, 2004 at 10:03 PM
konrad is right. This is a right that everybody should have .
July 05, 2005 at 12:58 PM
If you're not in too much of a hurry, but are tired of the rude gas jockeys, you could always take a couple 5 gallon gas cans with you. Have them fill them, then pour it into your car. Is there a law against that? Sure it would tick them off, but what could they do?
September 05, 2005 at 06:35 PM
I believe that self-serve can live in harmony with jobs at gas stations in Oregon. Simply change the laws so that if one wishes, they may pump their own gas. However, in the event someone is disabled or simply does not want to pump their own gas, they can have an attendant do it for them. I have lived in Oregon my whole life and have never liked this law. I enjoy getting out to pump my own gas whenever I'm out of state and dislike the being baby-sat when I fill-up at home. I think it's time that the state legislature trust the general public to a task that the other 48 states trust their citizens to: pump their own gasoline.