Kevin Stine and Julian Bell say "Yes.'

They said it clearly and decisively.  Yes.  

They would support the proposed amendment now before the Oregon State Senate:

"It is the obligation of the state to ensure that every resident of Oregon has access to cost-effective, medically appropriate and affordable health care as a fundamental right."

Kevin Stine said he would vote yes.  He said the amendment moves forward his agenda to expand health care access to every Oregonian, and the dangers warned about by DeBoer are not valid. It isn't a litigation risk and it won't break the state's budget.

Click: Stine Video. 75 Seconds

"Article VIII Section 8 of the Oregon Constitution states: "The Legislative Assembly shall appropriate in each biennium a sum of money sufficient to ensure that the state's system of public education meets quality goals established by law, and publish a report that either demonstrates the appropriation is sufficient, or identifies the reasons for the insufficiency, its extent, and its impact on the ability of the state's system of public education to meet those goals."

I don't know of anyone that believes that Oregon is sufficiently funding public education, but the State is not being litigated for any violation of the Oregon Constitution, and we get an interesting report every biennium about the education system funding. Placing the healthcare measure on the ballot is harmless. I would vote yes in the State Senate, and recommend a yes vote. I prefer we adopt my plan of Medicaid-for-All, single-payer buy-in system as it gets us much closer to accomplishing the goals of the proposed ballot measure, than the ballot measure does itself."

Stine described his overall plan this way:  

"We can all agree that healthcare should be a right, but I'm focused on solutions. I'm proposing a Medicaid-for-All, single-payer solution. This will allow people that do not otherwise qualify for the Oregon Health Plan to be able to be eligible if they pay to get into the system."

Kevin Stine is currently a Medford City Council Member, and works on behalf of fellow veterans at Access in Medford. At both the Medford City Council and in his campaign for the Oregon Senate, he advocates for affordable housing, saying current local and state laws drive up the cost of housing to crippling levels.

Website:  https://www.drjulianbell.com

Julian Bell said he would support the issue currently before the Oregon Senate.  He observes that it has problems unless the system of health care changes, but that he would vote yes.

"I would support the bill establishing health care as a basic human right - but it will be cripplingly expensive if it is just a beefed up version of the health care system we have at the moment.  For this to work, health insurance has to be state run, no-opt out, and not for profit.  Otherwise it'll kill us."

Click: Video, 92 Seconds

His website outlines his health care goal, reading, in its entirety:  Health Care of All Oregon.  A comprehensive, equitable, high quality, universal health care system serving everyone in Oregon.

The video below gives a bit more detail:

"I am running for office to build an all inclusive, government run, not for profit health insurance system, a single-payer health insurance system for Oregon.  It's the only rational thing to do for our state.  This will contain health insurance costs, and provide insurance for everybody in our state."

Julian Bell is a physician living in Ashland.  He previously ran for Oregon governor became closely identified with the issue of climate change.  The subtitle of his campaign website cites that issue, "It's time for action, not debate, on climate change."

Two other candidates. There are two other Democratic candidates for this seat, and this blog will report on their position on this issue in future posts.  Senator Alan DeBoer, a Republican, is the incumbent.  He opposes the proposed amendment.